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 Panasonic G9 and Sigma SD1 Merrill side-by-side from the front, back and top in their relative dimensions. Panasonic G9 has external dimensions of 137 x 97 x 92 mm (5.39 x 3.82 x 3.62″) and weighs 658 g (1.45 lb / 23.21 oz) (including batteries). Sigma SD1 Merrill has external dimensions of 146 x 113 x 80 mm (5.75 x 4.45 x 3.15″) and weighs 790 g (including batteries).
Below you can see the front view size comparison of Panasonic G9 and Sigma SD1 Merrill. Panasonic G9 is 9mm narrower and 16mm shorter than Sigma SD1 Merrill but it is also 12mm thicker.
![Panasonic G9 vs Sigma SD1 Merrill Camera Size Comparison - Front View]()
Comparison image of Panasonic G9 and Sigma SD1 Merrill Size, Weight and External Dimensions - Front View
Here is the back view size comparison of Panasonic G9 and Sigma SD1 Merrill.
![Panasonic G9 vs Sigma SD1 Merrill Camera Size Comparison - Back View]()
Comparison image of Panasonic G9 and Sigma SD1 Merrill Size and Weight - Back View
Now lets look at the top view comparison of Panasonic G9 and Sigma SD1 Merrill.
![Panasonic G9 vs Sigma SD1 Merrill Camera Size Comparison - Top View]()
Top View Comparison image of Panasonic G9 and Sigma SD1 Merrill Size
Weight is another important factor especially when deciding on a camera that you want to carry with you all day.
Panasonic G9 is significantly lighter (132g ) than the Sigma SD1 Merrill which may become a big advantage especially on long walking trips.
Also keep in mind that body weight is not the only deciding factor when comparing two interchangeable camera bodies, you have to also take into account the lenses that you will be using with these bodies. Since Sigma SD1 Merrill has an APS-C sized sensor and Panasonic G9 has a smaller Four Thirds sensor, Panasonic G9's lenses for a similar focal length and aperture will generally be lighter and smaller than the Sigma SD1 Merrill lenses.
Weight Comparison
DSLR Cameras
Thickness Comparison
DSLR Cameras
Weather Sealing
Both G9 and SD1 Merrill have weather sealings in their body, making them resistant to water and dust.
LCD Screen Size and Features
Panasonic G9 and Sigma SD1 Merrill's LCD screens has the same diagonal size of 3".
On the other hand, Panasonic G9 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. Sigma SD1 Merrill's LCD screen is a fixed type which provides almost no flexibility in shooting positions compared to G9.
Panasonic G9 has a 20.0MP Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm ) sized CMOS sensor . On the other hand, Sigma SD1 Merrill has a 15.0MP APS-C (24 x 16 mm ) sized CMOS (Foveon X3) sensor and features Dual True II processor.
Panasonic G9's sensor provides 5MP more than Sigma SD1 Merrill's sensor, which gives a significant advantage in real life. You can print your images larger or crop more freely.
On the other hand, please keep in mind that Max sensor resolution is not the only determinant of resolving power. Factors such as the optical elements, low pass filter, pixel size and sensor technology also affects the final resolution of the captured image.
Another difference between these two cameras is that Panasonic G9's sensor lacks anti-alias (Low-Pass) filter. Removing anti-alias filter increases the sharpness and level of detail but at the same time, it increases the chance of moire occurring in certain scenes.
Below you can see the G9 and SD1 Merrill sensor size comparison.
![Panasonic G9 vs Sigma SD1 Merrill Sensor Size Comparison]()
Sensor Size and Resolution Comparison image of Panasonic G9 and Sigma SD1 Merrill Cameras
As seen above, Sigma SD1 Merrill has a 1.7x Larger sensor area than Panasonic G9. 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.
Number of available lenses is a big decision factor while choosing your interchangeable lens camera. When we look at the available lenses for these two cameras, we see that Panasonic G9 has an advantage over Sigma SD1 Merrill. There are 107 lenses for Panasonic G9's Micro Four Thirds mount, on the other hand there are only 76 lenses for Sigma SD1 Merrill's Sigma SA Bayonet lens mount.
Another important factor is the availability of image stabilization. Panasonic G9 has a big advantage in this regard because it has a sensor based image stabilization (IS) which means that all the lenses mounted to this body will be stabilized. G9's built-in Image stabilization system is effective to compensate vibration up to 6.5-stops according to CIPA standards.28 lenses for Sigma SA Bayonet mount with Optical Image Stabilization features.
| Lens Type |
# of Panasonic G9 Lenses |
# of Sigma SD1 Merrill Lenses |
| Standard Zoom |
15 |
9 |
| Standard Prime |
13 |
5 |
| Wideangle Zoom |
5 |
8 |
| Wideangle Prime |
29 |
8 |
| Telephoto Zoom |
18 |
18 |
| Telephoto Prime |
9 |
8 |
| SuperZoom |
8 |
9 |
| Wideangle Fisheye Prime |
5 |
4 |
| Macro Prime |
4 |
7 |
| Perspective Control Prime |
n/a |
n/a |
| Telephoto Mirror Prime |
1 |
n/a |
| TOTAL |
107 |
76 |
In this section, we rank and compare Panasonic G9 and Sigma SD1 Merrill 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.
Panasonic G9 for Portrait Photography
Sigma SD1 Merrill for Portrait Photography
Large Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm) sensor
Very High Resolution Sensor: 20.0MP
Image Stabilization
Electronic Built-in Viewfinder
Good Ergonomics&Handling
Read the details
Large APS-C (24 x 16 mm) sensor
Optical Built-in Viewfinder
Good Ergonomics&Handling
Average Resolution Sensor: 15.0MP
No Image Stabilization
Read the details
Panasonic G9 for Street Photography
Sigma SD1 Merrill for Street Photography
Large Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm) sensor
Image Stabilization
Electronic Built-in Viewfinder
Live-view
Face-Detection Focusing
Fully Articulated LCD Screen
Medium sized Body
Read the details
Large APS-C (24 x 16 mm) sensor
Optical Built-in Viewfinder
No Image Stabilization
No Live-view
Large Body
Read the details
Panasonic G9 for Sports Photography
Sigma SD1 Merrill for Sports Photography
Image Stabilization
Electronic Built-in Viewfinder
Good Ergonomics&Handling
Fast Continuous Shooting: 20.0fps
Environmental Sealings
Fast Max shutter speed: 1/8000s
225 Focus Points
Wireless Connection
Read the details
Optical Built-in Viewfinder
Good Ergonomics&Handling
Environmental Sealings
No Image Stabilization
Slow Max shutter speed: 1/s
Focus Points
Read the details
Panasonic G9 for Daily Photography
Sigma SD1 Merrill for Daily Photography
Large Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm) sensor
Environmental Sealings
Medium size Body
658g
Body Thickness 92mm
Read the details
Large APS-C (24 x 16 mm) sensor
Environmental Sealings
Large Body
790g
Body Thickness 80mm
Read the details
Panasonic G9 for Landscape Photography
Sigma SD1 Merrill for Landscape Photography
Large Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm) sensor
Very High Resolution Sensor: 20.0MP
Environmental Sealings
Live-view
Read the details
Large APS-C (24 x 16 mm) sensor
Environmental Sealings
Average Resolution Sensor: 15.0MP
No Live-view
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 Panasonic G9 and Sigma SD1 Merrill, 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 Panasonic G9 and Sigma SD1 Merrill scores compare:
Panasonic G9
Ranked
#35 out of 85 in SLR-style mirrorless cameras
Ranked
#59 out of 1219 in all Cameras
Sigma SD1 Merrill
Ranked
#83 out of 94 in Mid-size SLR cameras
Ranked
#779 out of 1219 in all Cameras
Panasonic G9 is the clear winner of this comparison. It has a higher Overall Score and beats Sigma SD1 Merrill in all criteria. It has better general image quality, more features, more compact body and offers more value for the money
| General |
Panasonic Lumix DC-G9 |
Sigma SD1 Merrill |
| Brand |
Panasonic |
Sigma |
| Announced |
2017-11-08 |
2012-04-10 |
| Body Type |
SLR-style mirrorless |
Mid-size SLR |
Sensor |
|
|
| Type |
CMOS |
CMOS (Foveon X3) |
| Size |
Four Thirds |
APS-C |
| Dimensions |
17.3 x 13 mm |
24 x 16 mm |
| Area |
224.90mm2 |
384.00mm2 |
| Megapixels |
20 megapixels |
15 megapixels |
| Max Resolution |
5184 x 3888 |
4800 x 3200 |
| Max Native Light sensitivity |
25,600 ISO |
6,400 ISO |
| Min Native Light sensitivity |
200 ISO |
100 ISO |
| Min Boosted Light Sensitivity |
100 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 |
225 |
n/a |
Lens |
|
|
| Manual Focus |
|
|
| Lens Mount |
Micro Four Thirds |
Sigma SA Bayonet |
| Number of Available Lenses |
107 |
76 |
Screen |
|
|
| Type |
Fully Articulated |
Fixed type |
| Size |
3" |
3" |
| Resolution |
1,040k dots |
460k dots |
| Touch Screen |
|
|
Viewfinder |
|
|
| Viewfinder |
Electronic |
Optical (pentaprism) |
| Viewfinder Resolution |
3,680k dots |
no electronic viewfinder |
| Viewfinder Coverage |
100% |
96% |
| Viewfinder Magnification |
0.83x |
0.64x |
Photography Features |
|
|
| Max Mechanical Shutter |
1/8000s |
n/a |
| Max Electronic Shutter |
1/32000s |
n/a |
| Shutter Priority |
|
|
| Aperture Priority |
|
|
| Manual Exposure Mode |
|
|
| Custom White Balance |
|
|
| Image Stabilization |
Sensor-shift |
No |
| Built-in Flash |
|
|
| Max Flash Sync |
n/a |
s |
| External Flash |
|
|
| Continuous Shooting |
20.0 fps |
n/a |
| Multi-Segment |
|
|
| Average |
|
|
| Spot |
|
|
| Partial |
|
|
| AF-Area |
|
|
| Center Weighted |
|
|
| AE Bracketing |
|
|
| WB Bracketing |
|
|
Video Features |
|
|
| Max Video Resolution |
3840 x 2160 |
None |
| Video Formats |
MPEG-4, AVCHD, H.264 |
n/a |
| Microphone Port |
|
|
| Headphone Port |
|
|
Connectivity |
|
|
| Wireless Connectivity |
Built-In |
None |
| HDMI |
|
|
Physical |
|
|
| Environmental Sealing |
|
|
| Weight |
658g |
790g |
| Dimensions |
137 x 97 x 92mm |
146 x 113 x 80mm |
| Battery Life |
400 shots |
n/a |
Other Features |
|
|
| Timelapse Recording |
|
|
| GPS |
None |
None |
DxO Sensor Scores |
|
|
|
Report a correction |
Report a correction |