Its interesting that they have managed to get a DX sized sensor into a relatively small form camera. Certainly in doing that they have bridged a part of the gap towards DSLR quality. Having said that, I often bemoan the fact that the DX sized sensor gives notably less impressive results than DSLRs with the even larger FX sized sensor.

But there are other drawbacks to the smaller camera. One of the other primary advantages of a DSLR is its speed. Speed to turn on, and speed to respond when you press the button.

Startup delay 300 ms vs 1000 ms
Shutter lag 208 ms vs 441 ms

So if something interesting starts running across the road, the D90 has been turned on, started up and got off a shot within half a second, as opposed to about 3 times as long with the small form Sony. I have missed too many shots in the past with cameras that take too long to boot up, and then the shutter lag is too slow to capture that key action shot.

Also despite the advantage of the same size sensor, the 4 actual image quality scores (rather than stats) at the bottom of the page are all in favour of the DSLR.

So you still dont really have the image quality, or that critical speed of operation. And a very limited supply of lenses (3) that are specially made for the smaller form cameras, which may or may not be compatible with future models. At least with Nikon or Canon DSLRs you pretty much KNOW any lens you buy will work going forward. There must be thousands of lenses that will fit a D90.

And on lenses, lenses are as much or bigger part of the bulk and weight than the actual camera body. The advantage of the smaller body is diluted the more lenses you take.


I see the attraction of smaller form cameras, but I also see a lot of downsides to them. For someone who just wants to take one camera and not have it too large, yet still get good quality, stuff like this or the lumix gf2 can be great options. But for me, I prefer to take 2 foto cameras. A small one, and a good one. And for me, there is no substitute for a DSLR when it comes to that "good one". If anything I would prefer to go up in size (and weight and performance) to an FX camera, rather than down. I chose the D90 because its the cheapest and lightest of the possible DSLRs I would want to use on the road ... so already, the D90 is a compromise in favour of cost, size and weight. It already is my cheaper, smaller and lighter "good" camera. I would like to be using a D700.

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