Ricoh GR vs Sony NEX-7

Here is a in depth assessment of the Ricoh GR and Sony NEX-7, one being a Large Sensor Compact and the other is a Advanced Mirrorless by rivals Ricoh and Sony. There exists a huge gap among the image resolutions of the GR (16MP) and NEX-7 (24MP) but they enjoy the exact same sensor sizing (APS-C).

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The GR was manufactured 17 months later than the NEX-7 making the cameras a generation apart from one another. Both cameras come with different body type with the Ricoh GR being a Large Sensor Compact camera and the Sony NEX-7 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera.

Before getting straight into a in depth comparison, below is a simple highlight of how the GR scores vs the NEX-7 with regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall rating.

Here is a sample of the gallery pics for Ricoh GR and Sony Alpha NEX-7. The entire galleries are available at Ricoh GR Gallery and Sony NEX-7 Gallery.

When you are intending to carry your camera frequently, you have to take into account its weight and size. The Ricoh GR has got external dimensions of 117mm x 61mm x 35mm (4.6" x 2.4" x 1.4") along with a weight of 245 grams (0.54 lbs) whilst the Sony NEX-7 has specifications of 120mm x 67mm x 43mm (4.7" x 2.6" x 1.7") accompanied by a weight of 400 grams (0.88 lbs).

Analyze the Ricoh GR and Sony NEX-7 in the all new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change depending on the lens you have chosen at that time. The following is the front view sizing comparison of the GR compared to the NEX-7.

Using dimensions and weight, the portability score of the GR and NEX-7 is 90 and 84 respectively.

Quite often, it can be tough to visualise the contrast in sensor sizing only by researching specs. The visual here should give you a far better sense of the sensor sizes in the GR and NEX-7.

As you can plainly see, the two cameras have got the exact same sensor measurements but not the same resolution. You should expect to see the Sony NEX-7 to render greater detail due to its extra 8 Megapixels. Greater resolution will also make it easier to crop photos much more aggressively. The more recent GR will have an edge when it comes to sensor technology.