Sony A380 has a
14.0MP APS-C (23.6 x 15.8 mm ) sized CCD sensor and features Bionz processor. On the other hand, Sony A7R has a
36.0MP Full frame (35.9 x 24 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Bionz X processor.
Sony A7R's sensor provides 22MP more than Sony A380's sensor, which gives a significant advantage in real life. You can print your images larger or crop more freely.
On the other hand, please keep in mind that Max sensor resolution is not the only determinant of resolving power. Factors such as the optical elements, low pass filter, pixel size and sensor technology also affects the final resolution of the captured image.
One other difference between these two cameras that is worth mentioning is that Sony A7R's sensor doesn't have an anti-alias (Low-Pass) filter. Removing anti-alias filter increases the sharpness and level of detail but at the same time, it increases the chance of moiré occurring in certain scenes.
Below you can see the A380 and A7R sensor size comparison.
As seen above, Sony A7R has a 2.3x Larger sensor area than Sony A380. Larger sensors give photographer more control on the depth of field and blurry background compared to smaller sensor when shot in same focal length and aperture.
DxOMark Sensor Scores
DxOMark is a benchmark that scientifically assesses image quality of camera sensors. It scores camera sensors for color depth (DXO Portrait), dynamic range (DXO Landscape) and low-light sensitivity (DXO Sports), and also gives them an overall score. Sony A380 and Sony A7R sensors have been tested by DxO and the results show that A7R has a better overall score of 95, 28 points higher compared to A380's score of 67.
Model |
Overall |
Color Depth |
Dynamic Range |
Low-light ISO |
Sony A380 |
67 |
22.6 bits |
11.8 Evs |
614 ISO |
Sony A7R |
95 |
25.6 bits |
14.1 Evs |
2746 ISO |