Size and weight is a big decision factor when you are trying to find the ideal camera for your needs.
In this section, We are going to illustrate Canon G12 and Canon A800 side-by-side from the front, back and top in their relative dimensions. Canon G12 has external dimensions of 112 x 76 x 48 mm (4.41 x 2.99 x 1.89″) and weighs 401 g (0.88 lb / 14.14 oz) (including batteries). Canon A800 has external dimensions of 94 x 61 x 31 mm (3.7 x 2.4 x 1.22″) and weighs 186 g (0.41 lb / 6.56 oz) (including batteries).
Below you can see the front view size comparison of Canon G12 and Canon A800. Canon A800 is clearly the smaller of the two cameras. Its body is 18mm narrower, 15mm shorter and 17mm thinner than Canon G12.
![Canon G12 vs Canon A800 Camera Size Comparison - Front View]()
Comparison image of Canon G12 and Canon A800 Size, Weight and External Dimensions - Front View
Now lets look at the top view comparison of Canon G12 and Canon A800.
![Canon G12 vs Canon A800 Camera Size Comparison - Top View]()
Top View Comparison image of Canon G12 and Canon A800 Size
Weight is another important factor especially when deciding on a camera that you want to carry with you all day.
Canon A800 is significantly lighter (215g ) than the Canon G12 which may become a big advantage especially on long walking trips.
Weight Comparison
Compact Cameras
Thickness Comparison
Compact Cameras
Weather Sealing
Unfortunately neither Canon PowerShot G12 nor Canon PowerShot A800 provides any type of weather sealing in their body, so you have to give extra care especially when you are shooting outdoors. If weather sealing is a must-have feature for you, check these sections: Top Compact Cameras with Weather Sealing
LCD Screen Size and Features
Canon G12's 2.8" LCD screen is slightly larger than Canon A800's 2.5" screen.
Moreover, Canon G12 sports a
Fully Articulated screen which you can change the angle and position of the screen almost freely, making it possible to shoot from waist or over the head levels, and especially very useful for shooting selfies and video. On the other hand, Canon A800 has a fixed type screen which provides almost no flexibility in shooting positions compared to G12.
Both Canon G12 and Canon A800 have 10.0 MP resolution sensors but Canon G12's sensor is 1/1.7" (7.44 x 5.58 mm ) and Canon A800's sensor is 1/2.3" (6.17 x 4.55 mm ).
Since Canon G12's has a larger sensor area with the same resolution, this means that it also has a larger pixel area hence better light collecting capacity for a given aperture compared to Canon A800.
Below you can see the G12 and A800 sensor size comparison.
![Canon G12 vs Canon A800 Sensor Size Comparison]()
Sensor Size and Resolution Comparison image of Canon G12 and Canon A800 Cameras
As seen above, Canon G12 has a 1.5x Larger sensor area than Canon A800. Larger sensors give photographer more control on the depth of field and blurry background compared to smaller sensor when shot in same focal length and aperture.
Canon G12 features a 28-140 mm F2.8-4.5 5× zoom lens whereas Canon A800 features a 37-122 mm F3.0-5.8 3.3× zoom lens.
Canon G12 has 9mm wider coverage than the Canon A800. At f2.80, it is also faster at widest end.
On the tele end, Canon G12 has 18mm longer reach than the Canon A800. At f4.50, it is also faster at tele end.
Wide Coverage
Compact Cameras
Max Aperture at Tele
Compact Cameras
Fastest - Ricoh GR Digital IV
Max Aperture at Wide
Compact Cameras
In this section, we rank and compare Canon G12 and Canon A800 for five different photography types in order to make your decision process easier in case you are specifically interested in one or more of these areas.
Canon G12 for Portrait Photography
Canon A800 for Portrait Photography
Image Stabilization
RAW shooting capability
External Flash Shoe
Optical Built-in Viewfinder
Manual Focus Mode
Manual Exposure Mode
Small 1/1.7" (7.44 x 5.58 mm) sensor
Very Low Resolution Sensor: 10.0MP
Not so good Ergonomics&Handling
Read the details
Small 1/2.3" (6.17 x 4.55 mm) sensor
Very Low Resolution Sensor: 10.0MP
No Image Stabilization
No RAW shooting capability
No External Flash Shoe
No Built-in Viewfinder
No Manual Focus Mode
No Manual Exposure Mode
Not so good Ergonomics&Handling
Read the details
Canon G12 for Street Photography
Canon A800 for Street Photography
Image Stabilization
RAW shooting capability
Optical Built-in Viewfinder
Manual Focus Mode
Small Body
Live-view
Face-Detection Focusing
Fully Articulated LCD Screen
Fast Lens at Wide: f2.80
28 mm - Good Wide Angle Coverage
Small 1/1.7" (7.44 x 5.58 mm) sensor
Read the details
Small Body
Live-view
Face-Detection Focusing
Small 1/2.3" (6.17 x 4.55 mm) sensor
No Image Stabilization
No RAW shooting capability
No Built-in Viewfinder
No Manual Focus Mode
37 mm - Poor Wide Angle Coverage
Read the details
Canon G12 for Sports Photography
Canon A800 for Sports Photography
Image Stabilization
RAW shooting capability
External Flash Shoe
Optical Built-in Viewfinder
Manual Focus Mode
Manual Exposure Mode
Fast Max shutter speed: 1/4000s
140 mm Tele Lens
Not so good Ergonomics&Handling
Slow Continuous Shooting: 1.0fps
Environmental Sealings
9 Focus Points
Read the details
Average Max shutter speed: 1/2000s
122 mm Tele Lens
No Image Stabilization
No RAW shooting capability
No External Flash Shoe
No Built-in Viewfinder
No Manual Focus Mode
No Manual Exposure Mode
Not so good Ergonomics&Handling
Slow Continuous Shooting: 1.0fps
Environmental Sealings
9 Focus Points
Slow Lens at Tele: f5.80
Read the details
Canon G12 for Daily Photography
Canon A800 for Daily Photography
RAW shooting capability
Compact Body
5.0X Optical Zoom
Small 1/1.7" (7.44 x 5.58 mm) sensor
401g
Body Thickness 48mm
Read the details
Compact Body
186g
Small 1/2.3" (6.17 x 4.55 mm) sensor
No RAW shooting capability
3.3X Optical Zoom
Read the details
Canon G12 for Landscape Photography
Canon A800 for Landscape Photography
RAW shooting capability
Manual Focus Mode
Manual Exposure Mode
28 mm - Good Wide Angle Coverage
Small 1/1.7" (7.44 x 5.58 mm) sensor
Very Low Resolution Sensor: 10.0MP
No Environmental Sealings
Read the details
Small 1/2.3" (6.17 x 4.55 mm) sensor
Very Low Resolution Sensor: 10.0MP
No RAW shooting capability
No Manual Focus Mode
No Manual Exposure Mode
No Environmental Sealings
37 mm - Poor Wide Angle Coverage
Read the details
You may have already made your decision about which camera suits better for your needs and your budget so far but in case you wonder how we rated Canon G12 and Canon A800, below you can find their scores in five different aspects.
Our Decision Algorithm dynamically scores cameras using 63 different specs, current price and DxO Mark scores (where possible) in order to make a more objective and consistent comparison.
Here is a summary of how Canon G12 and Canon A800 scores compare:
Canon G12
Ranked
#29 out of 475 in Compact cameras
Ranked
#396 out of 1220 in all Cameras
Canon A800
Ranked
#423 out of 475 in Compact cameras
Ranked
#1121 out of 1220 in all Cameras
Canon G12 is the overall winner of this comparison. It has a higher Overall Score and beats Canon A800 in all criteria except one: Portability. But the size difference between these cameras are negligible in real world so it is not a big disadvantage for Canon G12.
| General |
Canon PowerShot G12 |
Canon PowerShot A800 |
| Brand |
Canon |
Canon |
| Announced |
2011-01-19 |
2011-01-05 |
| Body Type |
Compact |
Compact |
Sensor |
|
|
| Type |
CCD |
CCD |
| Size |
1/1.7" |
1/2.3" |
| Dimensions |
7.44 x 5.58 mm |
6.17 x 4.55 mm |
| Area |
41.52mm2 |
28.07mm2 |
| Megapixels |
10 megapixels |
10 megapixels |
| Max Resolution |
3648 x 2736 |
3648 x 2736 |
| Max Native Light sensitivity |
3,200 ISO |
1,600 ISO |
| Min Native Light sensitivity |
80 ISO |
80 ISO |
| RAW Support |
|
|
Autofocus |
|
|
| AF Touch |
|
|
| AF Continuous |
|
|
| AF Single |
|
|
| AF Tracking |
|
|
| AF Selective |
|
|
| AF Center |
|
|
| AF Multi Area |
|
|
| AF Live View |
|
|
| AF Face Detection |
|
|
| AF Contrast Detection |
|
|
| AF Phase Detection |
|
|
| Number of Focus Points |
9 |
9 |
Lens |
|
|
| Manual Focus |
|
|
| Lens Mount |
fixed lens |
fixed lens |
| Lens Focal Range |
28-140 mm (5×) |
37-122 mm (3.3×) |
| Max Aperture |
F2.8-4.5 |
F3.0-5.8 |
| Macro Focus Range |
1cm |
1cm |
Screen |
|
|
| Type |
Fully Articulated |
Fixed type |
| Size |
2.8" |
2.5" |
| Resolution |
461k dots |
115k dots |
| Touch Screen |
|
|
Viewfinder |
|
|
| Viewfinder |
Optical (tunnel) |
None |
Photography Features |
|
|
| Max Mechanical Shutter |
1/4000s |
1/2000s |
| Shutter Priority |
|
|
| Aperture Priority |
|
|
| Manual Exposure Mode |
|
|
| Custom White Balance |
|
|
| Image Stabilization |
Optical |
No |
| Built-in Flash |
|
|
| Flash Range |
7.00 m |
3.00 m |
| Max Flash Sync |
1/2000s |
n/a |
| External Flash |
|
|
| Continuous Shooting |
1.0 fps |
1.0 fps |
| Multi-Segment |
|
|
| Average |
|
|
| Spot |
|
|
| Partial |
|
|
| AF-Area |
|
|
| Center Weighted |
|
|
| AE Bracketing |
|
|
| WB Bracketing |
|
|
Video Features |
|
|
| Max Video Resolution |
1280 x 720 |
640 x 480 |
| Video Formats |
H.264 |
Motion JPEG |
| Microphone Port |
|
|
| Headphone Port |
|
|
Connectivity |
|
|
| Wireless Connectivity |
Eye-Fi Connected |
None |
| HDMI |
|
|
Physical |
|
|
| Environmental Sealing |
|
|
| Weight |
401g |
186g |
| Dimensions |
112 x 76 x 48mm |
94 x 61 x 31mm |
| Battery Life |
370 shots |
300 shots |
Other Features |
|
|
| Timelapse Recording |
|
|
| GPS |
None |
None |
DxO Sensor Scores |
|
|
| DxO Overall Score |
47 |
not tested |
| DxO Color Depth |
20.4 |
not tested |
| DxO Dynamic Range |
11.2 |
not tested |
| DxO Low Light ISO |
161 |
not tested |
|
Report a correction |
Report a correction |