Ricoh WG-6 vs Sigma SD1 Merrill

Its time to take a closer look at the Ricoh WG-6 vs Sigma SD1 Merrill, one is a Waterproof and the latter is a Advanced DSLR by companies Ricoh and Sigma. There is a crucial difference among the sensor resolutions of the WG-6 (20MP) and SD1 Merrill (15MP) and the WG-6 (1/2.3") and SD1 Merrill (APS-C) boast different sensor size.

Photography Glossary

The WG-6 was released 5 years after the SD1 Merrill which is a fairly serious gap as far as camera tech is concerned. Both of these cameras have different body design with the Ricoh WG-6 being a Compact camera and the Sigma SD1 Merrill being a Mid-size SLR camera.

Before getting straight to a full comparison, here is a brief overview of how the WG-6 grades versus the SD1 Merrill with regard to portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

The following is a preview of the gallery images for Ricoh WG-6 and Sigma SD1 Merrill. The complete galleries are available at Ricoh WG-6 Gallery and Sigma SD1 Merrill Gallery.

If you are planning to carry around your camera regularly, you'll have to think about its weight and dimensions. The Ricoh WG-6 comes with outside dimensions of 118mm x 66mm x 33mm (4.6" x 2.6" x 1.3") having a weight of 246 grams (0.54 lbs) whilst the Sigma SD1 Merrill has dimensions of 146mm x 113mm x 80mm (5.7" x 4.4" x 3.1") and a weight of 790 grams (1.74 lbs).

Compare the Ricoh WG-6 vs Sigma SD1 Merrill in the all new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will vary dependant on the lens you use at the time. Below is a front view scale comparison of the WG-6 and the SD1 Merrill.

Taking into account size and weight, the portability rating of the WG-6 and SD1 Merrill is 89 and 57 respectively.

In many cases, it's difficult to imagine the difference in sensor sizes simply by viewing a spec sheet. The picture here will help give you a stronger sense of the sensor dimensions in the WG-6 and SD1 Merrill.

Clearly, the two cameras provide different megapixel count and different sensor sizes. The WG-6 featuring a smaller sensor is going to make getting shallower DOF more difficult and the Ricoh WG-6 will render greater detail as a result of its extra 5 Megapixels. Higher resolution will let you crop photographs more aggressively. The younger WG-6 provides a benefit when it comes to sensor innovation.