Sony S980

Sony S980 is Sony's Small Sensor Compact digital camera initially announced on February of 2009. It uses a 12 MegaPixel, CCD 1/2.3" sized sensor and has a full resolution of 4000 x 3000.

The S980 is rated #226 out of 261 in Small Sensor Compact cameras & overall #1202 out of 1465 for digital cameras in our collection. Please try out our Advanced camera filter to get camera ratings based on your custom criteria.

Here is a diagram of multiple factors used in the rating system.

The Sony S980 is part of a family of cameras. You can view the complete range below.

You can check the S980 from several angles in the gallery below.

Below is a checklist of benefits and drawbacks of the Sony S980 based on criterias that are typically regarded as necessary in a digital camera.

The dimension of the sensor in the Sony S980 is 6.17mm x 4.55mm (1/2.3"). The 28 mm² sensor is able to capture 4000 x 3000 pixels and aspect ratios of 4:3, 3:2 and 16:9.

Photography Glossary

The CCD sensor has 12 megapixels and supports a standard ISO range of 80 - 3200. Sadly, RAW format is not saved so the user has less margin for error.

The picture below displays the S980's sensor dimensions in comparison to other popular sizes. The S980 sensor has a crop factor of 5.8 and is outlined in green.

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To get a sense of specific aspect ratios, you can refer to the graphic below.

Sony S980 weighs in at 0.37 lb (167 grams / 5.89 ounces) & the volume of the camera is 93mm x 56mm x 24mm (3.7" x 2.2" x 0.9"). The weight of average Small Sensor Compact camera is 174 grams so the Sony S980 is similar when compared with various rivals.

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Listed below is a visual of the Sony S980 alongside a softdrink so you can get a sense of its scale.

The top view below will provide the button design on the S980.

The S980 houses a built-in lens and it has a focal range of 33-132mm giving it a 4.0 x zoom which isn't ideal but it is going to be useful in some conditions.

At the widest 33mm, the lens has an aperture of f3.3 which is quite slow and not the best for low light conditions and you might struggle to get good bokeh. You will probably also need to raise the ISO which results in noisy photos. On the tele end, 132mm comes with f5.2 which is really slow and you would need to set slower shutter speeds.

The S980 has the following connectivity:

• USB Yes
• HDMI Yes

Digital cameras that have NFC and / or Bluetooth connectivity can be used wirelessly with smartphones. You will be able to copy files and usually adjust camera settings without the hassle of connecting straight to the camera.

A few applications even provide a Liveview and release the shutter whenever you are not near the camera. If the camera includes a HDMI port, it can be hooked up to an external monitor. Most cameras will allow you to recharge the battery pack with the USB port.

The highest possible video resolution in the Sony S980 is 1280 x 720 and you can shoot in Motion JPEG file format. 720p is awful for today's standards. You really should shoot for at least FUll HD resolution for good video. The camera does not offer a microphone and / or headphone socket so you have got little control over the sound. It is perhaps a better idea to take a look at an alternative camera in case you need good sound for your videos.

There is no environment sealing on the Sony S980 so you need to be careful in rainy or dusty situations.

The Sony S980 houses a 2.7 inch fixed display supporting a resolution of 230 thousand dots.

Please note that the display screen has no touch support.

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The View Finder details for Sony S980 are the following:

• ViewFinder None

Viewfinders can be pretty helpful during bright outdoor situations which might make the camera screen washed out and hard to see.

Sony S980 continuous shooting speed is 1.0 fps. The highest shutter speed is 1/1600s.

Sony S980 has only in-built flash lacking external flash support.

Sony S980 has just Contrast Based Autofocus & doesn't have Phase Detect Autofocus. Phase Detection focusing is more faster & exact in comparison with Contrast Based focusing.

The Sensor boasts 9 focus points to choose from. Sony S980 features manual focusing when needed during low light scenarios or you need more exact control on focusing.

The average Small Sensor Compact camera battery life is 241. Fujifilm X30 has the best (470) battery life within this type of cameras.

Here is a listing of Small Sensor Compact cameras having the highest battery life:

ModelVisualizeBattery LifeRAWNFCBluetooth

Fujifilm X30
S980 vs Fujifilm X30470 yesnono

Casio EX-10
S980 vs EX-10455 yesnono

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Ricoh GR Digital IV
S980 vs GR Digital IV390 yesnono

Canon G12
S980 vs G12370 yesnono

Canon G16
S980 vs G16360 yesnono

The following diagram provides a summary of the Sony S980 for specific categories of photography. To look at more, check out the specific section below.

The Sony S980 receives a points tally of 27 which is horrible, meaning that it is simply not good to use for portraits. Photographing portraits leans heavily to sensor resolution, RAW support plus the potential to work with off-camera lighting.

Coming in at a average score of 47, the Sony S980 is fairly suitable for street photography. A very good street photography camera has a fine balance of image quality plus portability.

A horrible sports photography score of 17 suggests the Sony S980 is simply not good for shooting sports. A camera needs fantastic autofocus and fast continuous shooting for sports photography.

Size is really important in buying a travel camera. All things considered, the Sony S980 gets a average 51 for a travel camera which makes it somewhat appropriate to purchase for your journeys.

In case you're planning to choose a camera for landscape pictures, the most important aspect is going to be image quality. The Sony S980 at it's horrible rating of 27 for a landscape camera is simply not good among it's rivals.

A vlogging camera should have a moving screen, mic port and if possible IBIS. Taking everything into account, the Sony S980 is simply not good as a vlog camera as it receives a horrible rating of 22.

If you need replacements to the S980, here is a collection of the top placed cameras that fall into the class of Small Sensor Compact.

The line graph followed below will give you a bird's eye view of the S980 compared to it's highest ranking competitors listed above.

There are more cameras you may see as alternatives. To go through a detailed comparison, click the "compare" link.