Canon SX540 HS vs Sigma SD1 Merrill

Let's look much closer at the Canon SX540 HS and Sigma SD1 Merrill, former being a Small Sensor Superzoom while the latter is a Advanced DSLR by rivals Canon and Sigma. There exists a large gap between the image resolutions of the SX540 HS (20MP) and SD1 Merrill (15MP) and the SX540 HS (1/2.3") and SD1 Merrill (APS-C) come with different sensor sizes.

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The SX540 HS was introduced 3 years later than the SD1 Merrill and that is quite a serious difference as far as technology is concerned. Both of the cameras come with different body type with the Canon SX540 HS being a SLR-like (bridge) camera and the Sigma SD1 Merrill being a Mid-size SLR camera.

Before delving in to a thorough comparison, below is a brief summary of how the SX540 HS matches up vs the SD1 Merrill when it comes to portability, imaging, features and an overall rating.

The following is a preview of the gallery images for Canon PowerShot SX540 HS & Sigma SD1 Merrill. The whole galleries are provided at Canon SX540 HS Gallery & Sigma SD1 Merrill Gallery.

For anyone who is aiming to carry your camera frequently, you have to factor in its weight and measurements. The Canon SX540 HS offers outside measurements of 120mm x 82mm x 92mm (4.7" x 3.2" x 3.6") having a weight of 442 grams (0.97 lbs) while the Sigma SD1 Merrill has proportions of 146mm x 113mm x 80mm (5.7" x 4.4" x 3.1") and a weight of 790 grams (1.74 lbs).

Compare the Canon SX540 HS and Sigma SD1 Merrill in our brand new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into account, the weight of an ILC will change dependant on the lens you choose at the time. The following is the front view dimension comparison of the SX540 HS vs the SD1 Merrill.

Factoring in dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the SX540 HS and SD1 Merrill is 69 and 57 respectively.

Typically, its difficult to visualize the contrast between sensor sizing simply by going over specs. The visual here will help offer you a clearer sense of the sensor sizing in the SX540 HS and SD1 Merrill.

As you can plainly see, both of these cameras posses different megapixel count and different sensor sizing. The SX540 HS using its tinier sensor is going to make getting shallow DOF more challenging and the Canon SX540 HS will offer you extra detail using its extra 5MP. Higher resolution will help you crop pictures somewhat more aggressively. The more recent SX540 HS should have a benefit in sensor tech.