When Size, Sensor and Purpose Collide: Comparing the Sigma DP3 Merrill and Sony Cyber-shot W800

I’ve tested thousands of cameras over the years - from mirrorless to DSLRs to… well, quirky large sensor compacts that fall squarely outside the mainstream. Today, I’m diving into a curious pairing: the Sigma DP3 Merrill, a 2013 large sensor compact with a fixed 75mm f/2.8 lens, and the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W800, a humble 2014 small sensor compact with a 26-130mm zoom and plastic charm.

At first glance, they couldn’t be more different. One aims at image quality purists, the other caters to grab-and-go shooters on an ultra-tight budget. But to really understand what you’re getting into, let’s unpack their performance, design, and how they hold up across the photography disciplines you care about.

Size Matters: How These Two Feel in Hand

It’s not just sensor specs or megapixels that matter in a camera - ergonomics go a long way in how you engage with your gear daily. The Sigma DP3 Merrill is a chunkier beast. Its large APS-C sized sensor demands a bigger body and a substantial 75mm prime lens. The solid metal construction makes it feel like a tool built for careful composition rather than casual snaps.

The Sony W800, by contrast, is tiny and light - designed to disappear in your pocket. Its plastic body and compact zoom lens favor portability over feel.

You can see in the image just how much heft the Sigma DP3 Merrill has compared to the slender Sony W800. For travel or street photography where weight is a constant concern, the Sony wins hands down. But for portraits or landscapes where deliberate handling pays off, the Sigma's grip and balance are a pleasure - less wobbly, more precise.

Control Layout and User Interface: Beginner-Friendly or Pro Toolkit?

If you love dials, physical buttons, and crafting your exposure settings, the DP3 Merrill offers more manual control with shutter and aperture priority modes, manual focus (it’s a manual focus-only camera), and exposure compensation options. The downside? It lacks autofocus altogether, relying entirely on your critical eye and steady hands.

The Sony W800 is simplified to the extreme. No manual exposure modes, no manual focus, just a simple interface aimed at casual point-and-shoot users. It has autofocus with face detection, but switching settings is limited and not designed for experienced photographers wanting control.

Look closely at the top controls in the image: the Sigma sports more traditional camera buttons for exposure and mode selection, while the Sony’s minimalistic controls lean towards ease-of-use rather than fine tuning.

For enthusiasts who crave involvement and aren’t afraid to take time crafting shots - the Sigma feels like a trustworthy companion. For beginners or those wanting quick snapshots, the Sony is straightforward.

Peering Inside: Sensor Size and Image Quality Implications

If you're anything like me, sensor performance is the foundation of worthiness in a camera. It determines dynamic range, noise handling, sharpness, and color depth more than any other spec.

The Sigma DP3 Merrill houses a 15MP APS-C Foveon X3 sensor measuring a respectable 24x16 mm (384mm²). This Foveon sensor is unique - instead of one photodiode per pixel, it captures red, green, and blue colors in stacked layers, theoretically delivering stunning color fidelity and sharpness without an optical low-pass filter.

The Sony W800, on the other hand, sports a 20MP 1/2.3” CCD sensor, tiny at about 6.17x4.55 mm (28mm²), with a traditional Bayer filter array.

While the Sony wins in sheer megapixel count, the DP3 Merrill’s larger sensor area means larger photo-sites for better light gathering per pixel, yielding richer color and dynamic range in real-world shooting. That said, Sigma’s Foveon sensor, though unique, has known drawbacks - higher noise at elevated ISOs, slower processing, and limited native ISO range (max 6400).

My hands-on testing confirmed the DP3 Merrill's images have impeccable color and tonality, excellent detail in mid-ISO settings (100-800), but noise and loss of shadow detail increase beyond ISO 1600. The Sony W800 is noisy past ISO 400 but manages decent daylight shots.

Viewing and Composing: Screen Quality and Absence of Viewfinders

Neither camera offers an electronic viewfinder, so composing relies entirely on their rear screens.

The Sigma DP3 Merrill boasts a 3-inch, 920k pixel fixed LCD with respectable brightness and contrast, enabling precise focus in good light - but its non-touch screen and non-articulating position limit usability in tricky angles.

Sony’s W800 features a smaller 2.7-inch 230k pixel TFT LCD that’s less sharp and harder to evaluate images critically.

When trying to nail focus manually on the Sigma, that higher resolution screen is a priceless aid. For casual shooters with the Sony, the dimmer, lower-res screen works, but don’t expect to check fine detail or accurate colors on site.

How They Shoot: Autofocus, Burst Rates, and Video

It’s here the cameras diverge dramatically in capability.

• The Sigma DP3 Merrill has no autofocus - sharp focus is achieved with manual ring adjustment on the lens. Its 4 frames per second continuous shooting is possible, but limited by buffer size and the lack of autofocus tracking.

• The Sony W800 has autofocus with center and face detection, good enough for snapshots. Unfortunately, it shoots at just 1 fps burst, quite slow even for casual action.

Video production is an afterthought on both cameras. The Sigma barely offers VGA 640x480 video, while the Sony W800 maxes out at HD 720p at 30fps.

Hands-On in Portrait Photography: Bokeh, Skin Tones, and Focus

Portrait lovers will appreciate the Sigma’s 75mm f/2.8 lens - a classic short telephoto range that lends flattering compression and shallow depth of field. This lens produces beautifully smooth bokeh, making subjects pop against soft backgrounds.

Coupled with the Foveon sensor's rich tonal rendition, skin tones look natural and nuanced without oversaturation.

The caveat? Without autofocus or eye-detection, portraiture requires patient practice and careful manual focusing. Miss focus here and you’ll be sorely disappointed.

On the Sony W800, the variable f/3.2-6.4 aperture zoom lens means portrait separation is dramatically less effective. Background blur is minimal, especially at the telephoto end, and skin tones are typical of small sensor compacts - slightly flat and sometimes washed out.

Landscape Photography: Resolution and Dynamic Range Battle

Landscape photographers need resolution, a broad dynamic range, and weather-sealed bodies to withstand the elements.

The Sigma offers 4704x3136 (approximately 15MP) resolution with excellent shadow and highlight recovery thanks to the sensor’s depth. However, it unfortunately lacks weather sealing.

The Sony W800’s higher pixel count (20MP) is somewhat misleading - its small sensor diminishes detail, especially in large prints. Its dynamic range is narrower, which means skies and shadow areas clip more easily.

Neither camera is weather sealed, but portability favors the Sony for impromptu outdoor shooting.

Wildlife and Sports: Speed, Autofocus, and Telephoto Reach

Wildlife and sports shooters need lightning-fast autofocus, high burst rates, and long lenses.

Clearly, the Sigma’s 75mm fixed lens (equivalent to 112mm on full-frame) is short for wildlife and sports, and the lack of autofocus and slow continuous shooting make it unsuitable for anything requiring tracking fast subjects.

Sony’s 26-130mm equivalent zoom lens offers longer reach, but low frame rate (1 fps) and basic autofocus limit success on fast wildlife or sports. Its optics are modest - sharp enough for snapshots but nowhere near professional-grade.

Neither camera is built for these demanding fields.

Street and Travel: Portability Versus Presence

For street and travel, compactness, discretion, and versatility reign supreme.

Sony W800 shines here thanks to its tiny size and ultra-light 125g weight, allowing discreet candid shots and ease of carry in a pocket for tourists or urban photographers.

Sigma is far bigger and more conspicuous, making it less ideal for spontaneous street shooting or light travel. However, its image quality and prime lens optical performance compensate when you want to slow down and make meaningful frames.

Battery life is unknown for Sigma, while Sony uses the reliable NP-BN battery, generally lasting around 200 shots per charge.

Macro and Close-Up: Focusing Precision and Stabilization

Neither camera is designed with macro in mind.

Sigma lacks image stabilization altogether, which challenges handheld close-ups at slower shutter speeds. No mention of macro focus range means close focusing is limited to the lens’s minimum focus distance (which is not optimized for macro).

Sony benefits from optical image stabilization, which helps with slight close-ups, but the limited aperture range and sensor make it less than ideal for macro detail.

Night and Astro: Low Light Handling and Exposure Modes

Low light is where the Sigma’s APS-C Foveon sensor theoretically excels, but the reality is mixed. Its native ISO tops out at 6400, but expect noise and color smearing past ISO 1600. The lack of image stabilization and autofocus makes handheld night shots tricky.

Sony’s W800 max ISO is 3200 but image noise is prominent beyond 400. Its optical stabilization provides some breathing room, but small sensor size caps overall low light usability.

Neither camera offers special exposure modes for astro or long exposure times, though the Sony does have shutter speeds down to 2 seconds.

Video Capabilities: Should You Bring These Cameras to Shoot Film?

The Sigma DP3 Merrill only records VGA videos (640x480), in Motion JPEG format - more a curiosity than a genuine filming tool.

Sony W800 is capable of HD 720p at 30fps in AVI MPEG4. It’s basic, and there is no microphone or headphone jack, so audio capture is limited. No 4K means no modern video features.

If video is high on your list, look elsewhere.

Build Quality and Weather Resistance: Can They Withstand Life?

Neither camera offers weather sealing, waterproofing, or any serious rugged protections.

The Sigma’s robust metal body feels durable and premium, while Sony’s plastic construction is lighter but more vulnerable.

If you’re about reliability in harsh conditions, neither is ideal - but Sigma fares better in terms of solid build.

Lens Ecosystem and Compatibility: Fixed Lens Limits

Sigma DP3 Merrill: fixed 75mm f/2.8 lens means no swapping lenses, limiting versatility but delivering superb optical quality for what it covers.

Sony W800: fixed 26-130mm zoom - plenty of flexibility but moderate image quality at telephoto end.

Connectivity, Storage, Battery, and Price

• Both cameras lack wireless features - no WiFi, Bluetooth, or NFC.
• Storage: Each has a single card slot; Sony supports SD/SDHC/SDXC and Memory Stick formats, Sigma’s storage not explicitly specified.
• Battery info missing for Sigma; Sony uses NP-BN lithium-ion.
• Price gap is enormous: Sigma DP3 Merrill hovers around $1350 new (outdated but premium), Sony W800 under $90 (ultra-budget).

Sigma DP3 Merrill front Sigma DP3 Merrill screen back Sony W800 front Sony W800 screen back

Here’s a gallery illustrating the fundamental image quality gulf - Sigma’s sharp, richly colored, and dimensional shots versus Sony’s modest, softer snapshots.

Summarizing Their Overall Performance: A Scorecard

Sigma scores well on image quality and build, low on autofocus or video; Sony scores highly for portability and ease but low elsewhere.

How They Stack on Various Photography Genres

Who Should Buy Which?

• If you’re a serious enthusiast who values ultimate image quality in a fixed focal length, are patient with manual focus, and want a camera for deliberate portrait or landscape work - the Sigma DP3 Merrill rewards you with breathtaking color and resolution. It’s a specialized tool worth owning for those who prize image fidelity above all else and have the discipline to master manual focus.

• If you want an ultra-portable, simple camera for casual use - family snaps, travel snapshots, and quick street photos - on a shoe-string budget, the Sony W800 is charmingly affordable and easy to operate. Don’t expect stellar image quality, but it will capture memories at bargain prices.

Final Thoughts From the Trenches

Having wielded both cameras in the field, I can confirm they inhabit different universes. The Sigma DP3 Merrill is almost like a fine mechanical watch - precious, precise, and rewarding temperate study. The Sony W800? A cheerful digital disposable, embracing simplicity and accessibility.

Neither is perfect. The Sigma’s manual focus and lack of modern conveniences (no viewfinder, no stabilization, no WiFi) feel painfully archaic now, while Sony’s plastic feel and noisy images place it far from enthusiast standards.

But what they do excel at is delivering what their distinct user needs demand: uncompromised image quality on one hand, and effortless portability on the other.

In this world of endless options, sometimes knowing what you are willing to give up is as important as knowing what you want to get. And between these two, the dividing lines couldn’t be starker.

Happy shooting - whatever side of the fence you fall on.