Ricoh GR Digital III vs Sony A55

Its time to look much closer at the Ricoh GR Digital III and Sony A55, former is a Small Sensor Compact while the latter is a Entry-Level DSLR by manufacturers Ricoh and Sony. There is a large difference between the resolutions of the GR Digital III (10MP) and A55 (16MP) and the GR Digital III (1/1.7") and A55 (APS-C) provide totally different sensor measurements.

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The GR Digital III was manufactured 13 months prior to the A55 which makes them a generation away from each other. Both of these cameras feature different body design with the Ricoh GR Digital III being a Compact camera and the Sony A55 being a Compact SLR camera.

Before getting into a more detailed comparison, here is a quick introduction of how the GR Digital III matches up versus the A55 for portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

Here is a preview of the gallery photos for Ricoh GR Digital III & Sony SLT-A55. The entire galleries are viewable at Ricoh GR Digital III Gallery & Sony A55 Gallery.

If you are planning to travel with your camera, you are going to need to think about its weight and volume. The Ricoh GR Digital III offers outside dimensions of 109mm x 59mm x 26mm (4.3" x 2.3" x 1.0") with a weight of 208 grams (0.46 lbs) whilst the Sony A55 has sizing of 124mm x 92mm x 85mm (4.9" x 3.6" x 3.3") and a weight of 500 grams (1.10 lbs).

Analyze the Ricoh GR Digital III and Sony A55 in our completely new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember, the weight of an ILC will change dependant on the lens you have attached at the time. The following is a front view dimensions comparison of the GR Digital III vs the A55.

Taking into account size and weight, the portability rating of the GR Digital III and A55 is 92 and 67 respectively.

Oftentimes, it is hard to envision the gap between sensor dimensions just by looking at a spec sheet. The picture below should give you a greater sense of the sensor dimensions in the GR Digital III and A55.

Clearly, both of those cameras feature different resolutions and different sensor dimensions. The GR Digital III due to its tinier sensor will make achieving shallower depth of field more challenging and the Sony A55 will resolve greater detail due to its extra 6 Megapixels. Higher resolution will also enable you to crop pictures way more aggressively. The more aged GR Digital III is going to be disadvantaged when it comes to sensor technology.