Sigma DP1 Merrill vs Sony W230

Its time to look a little more in depth at the Sigma DP1 Merrill and Sony W230, former is a Large Sensor Compact while the other is a Small Sensor Compact by manufacturers Sigma and Sony. There is a considerable difference among the resolutions of the DP1 Merrill (15MP) and W230 (12MP) and the DP1 Merrill (APS-C) and W230 (1/2.3") provide different sensor measurements.

Photography Glossary

The DP1 Merrill was revealed 3 years after the W230 which is a fairly large difference as far as camera tech is concerned. Both of these cameras feature different body design with the Sigma DP1 Merrill being a Large Sensor Compact camera and the Sony W230 being a Compact camera.

Before going right into a complete comparison, here is a brief highlight of how the DP1 Merrill scores versus the W230 for portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

This is a sample of the gallery pics for Sigma DP1 Merrill & Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W230. The full galleries are available at Sigma DP1 Merrill Gallery & Sony W230 Gallery.

In case you're intending to travel with your camera regularly, you should take into account its weight and volume. The Sigma DP1 Merrill offers outside dimensions of 122mm x 67mm x 64mm (4.8" x 2.6" x 2.5") having a weight of 330 grams (0.73 lbs) whilst the Sony W230 has sizing of 95mm x 57mm x 22mm (3.7" x 2.2" x 0.9") along with a weight of 156 grams (0.34 lbs).

Check out the Sigma DP1 Merrill and Sony W230 in our completely new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Always remember, the weight of an ILC will vary based on the lens you are utilizing at that moment. Underneath is a front view over all size comparison of the DP1 Merrill versus the W230.

Looking at size and weight, the portability grade of the DP1 Merrill and W230 is 82 and 95 respectively.

In many cases, its difficult to visualize the difference in sensor dimensions only by seeing specifications. The pic below might provide you a much better sense of the sensor sizes in the DP1 Merrill and W230.

To sum up, each of these cameras feature different resolutions and different sensor dimensions. The DP1 Merrill using its larger sensor is going to make getting shallow DOF simpler and the Sigma DP1 Merrill will produce more detail because of its extra 3MP. Greater resolution will help you crop images way more aggressively. The younger DP1 Merrill should have a benefit when it comes to sensor tech.