Canon SX40 HS vs Sony RX100

In this write-up, we will be evaluating the Canon SX40 HS vs Sony RX100, former being a Small Sensor Superzoom while the latter is a Large Sensor Compact by brands Canon and Sony. There exists a substantial gap between the image resolutions of the SX40 HS (12MP) and RX100 (20MP) and the SX40 HS (1/2.3") and RX100 (1") feature totally different sensor dimensions.

Photography Glossary

The SX40 HS was manufactured 11 months earlier than the RX100 so they are both of a similar age. Both cameras offer different body type with the Canon SX40 HS being a SLR-like (bridge) camera and the Sony RX100 being a Large Sensor Compact camera.

Before getting straight into a complete comparison, below is a simple highlight of how the SX40 HS matches up versus the RX100 in regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

This is a preview of the gallery photos for Canon PowerShot SX40 HS & Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100. The entire galleries are viewable at Canon SX40 HS Gallery & Sony RX100 Gallery.

In case you're intending to lug around your camera often, you'll need to factor its weight and size. The Canon SX40 HS features physical dimensions of 123mm x 92mm x 108mm (4.8" x 3.6" x 4.3") with a weight of 600 grams (1.32 lbs) and the Sony RX100 has specifications of 102mm x 58mm x 36mm (4.0" x 2.3" x 1.4") and a weight of 240 grams (0.53 lbs).

See the Canon SX40 HS vs Sony RX100 in our brand new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Keep in mind, the weight of an ILC will vary dependant on the lens you have at that time. Underneath is the front view overall size comparison of the SX40 HS and the RX100.

Taking into consideration dimensions and weight, the portability rating of the SX40 HS and RX100 is 64 and 91 respectively.

Quite often, its difficult to visualise the gap between sensor measurements merely by reading through technical specs. The photograph here will help provide you a much better sense of the sensor dimensions in the SX40 HS and RX100.

As you can tell, each of these cameras offer different megapixels and different sensor measurements. The SX40 HS because of its tinier sensor will make getting shallow depth of field tougher and the Sony RX100 will give you more detail due to its extra 8 Megapixels. Higher resolution can also let you crop photographs a little more aggressively. The older SX40 HS is going to be behind with regard to sensor innovation.