Pentax XG-1 vs Ricoh WG-70

Let's look a little more in depth at the Pentax XG-1 and Ricoh WG-70, one being a Small Sensor Superzoom and the other is a Waterproof by companies Pentax and Ricoh. The resolution of the XG-1 (16MP) and the WG-70 (16MP) is very close and both cameras offer the same sensor sizes (1/2.3").

Photography Glossary

The XG-1 was announced 6 years earlier than the WG-70 and that is a fairly big gap as far as camera technology is concerned. Both of these cameras have different body design with the Pentax XG-1 being a SLR-like (bridge) camera and the Ricoh WG-70 being a Compact camera.

Before delving right into a complete comparison, here is a quick view of how the XG-1 matches up vs the WG-70 when considering portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Here is a sample of the gallery pics for Pentax XG-1 and Ricoh WG-70. The whole galleries are provided at Pentax XG-1 Gallery and Ricoh WG-70 Gallery.

For those who are planning to lug around your camera frequently, you will have to factor its weight and volume. The Pentax XG-1 has exterior dimensions of 119mm x 89mm x 98mm (4.7" x 3.5" x 3.9") having a weight of 567 grams (1.25 lbs) whilst the Ricoh WG-70 has sizing of 123mm x 62mm x 30mm (4.8" x 2.4" x 1.2") accompanied by a weight of 193 grams (0.43 lbs).

Check the Pentax XG-1 and Ricoh WG-70 in the new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember that, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change depending on the lens you have at that moment. Below is a front view size comparison of the XG-1 against the WG-70.

Looking at dimensions and weight, the portability score of the XG-1 and WG-70 is 66 and 91 respectively.

Quite often, it is hard to visualise the gap in sensor measurements purely by viewing a spec sheet. The visual here may give you a far better sense of the sensor sizes in the XG-1 and WG-70.

Clearly, both of the cameras have the same sensor dimensions and the same resolution and you should expect comparable quality of pictures but you will need to take the production date of the cameras into account. The older XG-1 will be disadvantaged in sensor technology.