Ricoh WG-30 vs Sigma DP1 Merrill

Its time to take a closer look at the Ricoh WG-30 vs Sigma DP1 Merrill, former is a Waterproof while the latter is a Large Sensor Compact by companies Ricoh and Sigma. The sensor resolution of the WG-30 (16MP) and the DP1 Merrill (15MP) is pretty comparable but the WG-30 (1/2.3") and DP1 Merrill (APS-C) feature different sensor sizes.

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The WG-30 was unveiled 2 years after the DP1 Merrill which is a fairly big difference as far as camera tech is concerned. Each of these cameras come with different body type with the Ricoh WG-30 being a Compact camera and the Sigma DP1 Merrill being a Large Sensor Compact camera.

Before we go straight into a more detailed comparison, below is a concise overview of how the WG-30 scores against the DP1 Merrill with regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

Here is a preview of the gallery images for Ricoh WG-30 & Sigma DP1 Merrill. The full galleries are viewable at Ricoh WG-30 Gallery & Sigma DP1 Merrill Gallery.

For anybody who is looking to travel with your camera regularly, you will have to factor in its weight and proportions. The Ricoh WG-30 has got outer measurements of 123mm x 62mm x 30mm (4.8" x 2.4" x 1.2") along with a weight of 192 grams (0.42 lbs) and the Sigma DP1 Merrill has measurements of 122mm x 67mm x 64mm (4.8" x 2.6" x 2.5") accompanied by a weight of 330 grams (0.73 lbs).

Contrast the Ricoh WG-30 vs Sigma DP1 Merrill in our completely new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into account, the weight of an ILC will change based on the lens you are employing during that time. Below is the front view over all size comparison of the WG-30 against the DP1 Merrill.

Using size and weight, the portability rating of the WG-30 and DP1 Merrill is 91 and 82 respectively.

Often, it is very hard to visualize the difference in sensor dimensions only by seeing specifications. The pic below will help give you a much better sense of the sensor measurements in the WG-30 and DP1 Merrill.

To sum up, both of these cameras posses different megapixel count and different sensor dimensions. The WG-30 having a smaller sensor is going to make getting shallow DOF more difficult and the Ricoh WG-30 will show more detail having an extra 1 Megapixels. Higher resolution will also enable you to crop shots somewhat more aggressively. The more recent WG-30 provides an edge when it comes to sensor innovation.