Canon SD980 IS vs Ricoh GR Digital III

Let's look much closer at the Canon SD980 IS versus Ricoh GR Digital III, both Small Sensor Compact digital cameras by companies Canon and Ricoh. The sensor resolution of the SD980 IS (12MP) and the GR Digital III (10MP) is fairly well matched but the SD980 IS (1/2.3") and GR Digital III (1/1.7") offer different sensor dimensions.

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The SD980 IS was released very close to the GR Digital III so they are of a similar age. Both of these cameras feature the same body design (Compact).

Before diving into a more detailed comparison, here is a concise summary of how the SD980 IS grades versus the GR Digital III when considering portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

This is a sample of the gallery pictures for Canon PowerShot SD980 IS & Ricoh GR Digital III. The complete galleries are provided at Canon SD980 IS Gallery & Ricoh GR Digital III Gallery.

If you're going to travel with your camera often, you'll need to factor in its weight and volume. The Canon SD980 IS features outer dimensions of 100mm x 53mm x 23mm (3.9" x 2.1" x 0.9") along with a weight of 150 grams (0.33 lbs) while the Ricoh GR Digital III has sizing of 109mm x 59mm x 26mm (4.3" x 2.3" x 1.0") and a weight of 208 grams (0.46 lbs).

Analyze the Canon SD980 IS versus Ricoh GR Digital III in our newest Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Don't forget, the weight of an ILC will change depending on the lens you have at the time. Below is a front view scale comparison of the SD980 IS against the GR Digital III.

Taking into consideration size and weight, the portability grade of the SD980 IS and GR Digital III is 95 and 92 respectively.

Generally, it is tough to picture the contrast between sensor dimensions merely by reading through technical specs. The picture below will help provide you a far better sense of the sensor dimensions in the SD980 IS and GR Digital III.

As you have seen, each of the cameras feature different megapixels and different sensor dimensions. The SD980 IS featuring a tinier sensor is going to make getting shallow DOF more difficult and the Canon SD980 IS will give you greater detail as a result of its extra 2 Megapixels. Greater resolution will allow you to crop images way more aggressively.