Olympus SZ-12 vs Ricoh GR Digital IV

Lets look more closely at the Olympus SZ-12 vs Ricoh GR Digital IV, former being a Small Sensor Superzoom while the latter is a Small Sensor Compact by companies Olympus and Ricoh. There is a noticeable difference between the sensor resolutions of the SZ-12 (14MP) and GR Digital IV (10MP) and the SZ-12 (1/2.3") and GR Digital IV (1/1.7") offer different sensor dimensions.

Photography Glossary

The SZ-12 was launched 4 months later than the GR Digital IV so they are both of a similar age. Each of these cameras feature the same body design (Compact).

Before diving right into a complete comparison, here is a short view of how the SZ-12 scores against the GR Digital IV with respect to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

This is a preview of the gallery images for Olympus SZ-12 & Ricoh GR Digital IV. The complete galleries are viewable at Olympus SZ-12 Gallery & Ricoh GR Digital IV Gallery.

In case you're going to lug around your camera, you will need to think about its weight and measurements. The Olympus SZ-12 has outside dimensions of 106mm x 69mm x 40mm (4.2" x 2.7" x 1.6") with a weight of 226 grams (0.50 lbs) and the Ricoh GR Digital IV has proportions of 109mm x 59mm x 33mm (4.3" x 2.3" x 1.3") accompanied by a weight of 190 grams (0.42 lbs).

See the Olympus SZ-12 vs Ricoh GR Digital IV in our brand new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember that, the weight of an ILC will differ based on the lens you select at that time. Underneath is a front view dimensions comparison of the SZ-12 vs the GR Digital IV.

Looking at size and weight, the portability grade of the SZ-12 and GR Digital IV is 89 and 92 respectively.

In many cases, it can be difficult to picture the difference between sensor measurements just by reading through a spec sheet. The graphic underneath will help provide you a more clear sense of the sensor sizes in the SZ-12 and GR Digital IV.

As you can see, each of the cameras come with different resolutions and different sensor measurements. The SZ-12 because of its tinier sensor is going to make getting shallow DOF more difficult and the Olympus SZ-12 will resolve extra detail utilizing its extra 4 Megapixels. Higher resolution will let you crop photographs a good deal more aggressively.