Canon SD990 IS vs Nikon A100

Let's look more closely at the Canon SD990 IS and Nikon A100, both Ultracompact digital cameras by companies Canon and Nikon. There is a significant difference between the sensor resolutions of the SD990 IS (15MP) and A100 (20MP) and the SD990 IS (1/1.7") and A100 (1/2.3") boast different sensor size.

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The SD990 IS was released 8 years before the A100 and that is quite a sizable gap as far as tech is concerned. Both the cameras feature the same body design (Ultracompact).

Before delving straight to a complete comparison, here is a short view of how the SD990 IS scores versus the A100 with regard to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Below is a sample of the gallery pics for Canon PowerShot SD990 IS and Nikon Coolpix A100. The complete galleries are provided at Canon SD990 IS Gallery and Nikon A100 Gallery.

For those who are aiming to lug around your camera regularly, you should consider its weight and dimensions. The Canon SD990 IS provides outside measurements of 98mm x 62mm x 28mm (3.9" x 2.4" x 1.1") accompanied by a weight of 205 grams (0.45 lbs) whilst the Nikon A100 has dimensions of 95mm x 59mm x 20mm (3.7" x 2.3" x 0.8") accompanied by a weight of 119 grams (0.26 lbs).

See the Canon SD990 IS and Nikon A100 in the new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember that, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will differ dependant on the lens you are using at the time. Here is a front view dimension comparison of the SD990 IS and the A100.

Taking into consideration size and weight, the portability rating of the SD990 IS and A100 is 92 and 96 respectively.

Generally, it is hard to imagine the gap between sensor measurements purely by reading through a spec sheet. The graphic below may offer you a clearer sense of the sensor sizing in the SD990 IS and A100.

As you can see, both of these cameras feature different resolutions and different sensor measurements. The SD990 IS featuring a larger sensor is going to make getting shallower depth of field simpler and the Nikon A100 will resolve more detail as a result of its extra 5MP. Greater resolution will also let you crop pics way more aggressively. The older SD990 IS is going to be behind in sensor technology.