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Sony A7S vs Nikon S9100 Comparison

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Sony A7S

12 MP | Full frame (35.8 x 23.9 mm) CMOS Sensor

Sony A7S
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Nikon S9100

12 MP | 1/2.3" (6.17 x 4.55 mm) BSI-CMOS Sensor

Nikon S9100
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Sony A7S vs Nikon S9100 Comparison Overview

Here we are comparing two cameras with different body types: Sony A7S, which was introduced in April 2014 is a Pro Mirrorless camera with a 12.0MP Full frame sensor whereas Nikon S9100, which was introduced in July 2011 is a Small Sensor Superzoom camera with a 12.0MP 1/2.3" sensor. As you can see, S9100 is 3 years older than A7S. Let's see if this age difference between two cameras makes a big difference.

Comparing an interchangeble lens camera to a fixed lens camera is a bit tricky but we will do our best to make this a fair comparison.

Here is a brief look at the main features of Sony A7S and Nikon S9100 before getting into our more detailed comparison.

Sony A7S Key Specs

  • Announcement Date: 2014-04-06
  • 12MP - Full frame CMOS Sensor
  • ISO 100 - 409600
  • Sony E Mount
  • 3 Tilting Screen
  • 2359k dot Electronic viewfinder
  • 5 fps continuous shooting
  • 4K (UHD) - 3840 x 2160 video resolution
  • 120 fps High-Speed Video
  • Built-in Wireless
  • 489g. 127 x 94 x 48 mm
  • Weather Sealed Body

Nikon S9100 Key Specs

  • Announcement Date: 2011-07-19
  • 12MP - 1/2.3" BSI-CMOS Sensor
  • ISO 160 - 3200
  • 25-450 mm F3.5-5.9 Zoom Lens
  • Sensor-shift Image Stabilization
  • 3" Fixed Type Screen
  • 10 fps continuous shooting
  • Full HD - 1920 x 1080 video resolution
  • 240 fps High-Speed Video
  • 214g. 105 x 62 x 35 mm

Sony A7S was replaced by Sony Alpha 7S II. You may also be interested in these comparisons:
Sony Alpha 7S II vs Sony Alpha A7S
Sony Alpha 7S II vs Nikon Coolpix S9100

Nikon S9100 was replaced by Nikon Coolpix S9300. You may also be interested in these comparisons:
Nikon Coolpix S9300 vs Nikon Coolpix S9100
Nikon Coolpix S9300 vs Sony Alpha A7S

Let's read on the following sections in order to better understand in detail how Sony A7S and Nikon S9100 compares and hopefully end up with enough arguments to decide which one is better for you.

Reasons to choose Sony Alpha A7S over Nikon Coolpix S9100
Wireless Connection
Built-In vs None Better connectivity
LCD Screen
Tilting vs Fixed Type Flexible shooting positions
External Flash Shoe
Yes vs No Better for flash photography
Viewfinder
Electronic vs None Better framing and control
RAW Support
Yes vs No Better image quality
Max ISO
409.600 vs 3.200 12700% higher Max ISO
Number of Focus Points
25 vs 9 16 more focus points
LCD Screen Resolution
1.230k dots vs 921k dots 33% higher resolution screen
Max Mech. Shutter
1/8000s vs 1/2000s faster mechanical shutter
Battery Life
360 shots vs 270 shots 90 more frames with a single charge
Manual Exposure
Yes vs No better exposure control
Microphone Port
Yes vs No High quality audio recording option
Headphone Port
Yes vs No better video control
Environmental Sealing
Yes vs No shoot at tough conditions
Sensor Pixel Area
71.24µm2 vs 2.34µm2 2944% larger pixel area
Max Video Resolution
3840 x 2160 vs 1920 x 1080 Higher Resolution Video
AE Bracketing
Yes vs No Useful for tough lighting conditions and HDR
NFC Connection
Yes vs No Easy wireless connectivity with compatible devices
Smartphone Remote
Yes vs No Remote control your camera with a smartphone


Reasons to choose Nikon Coolpix S9100 over Sony Alpha A7S
Image Stabilization
Sensor-shift vs None Sharper images at longer focal lengths and long exposures
Built-in Flash
Yes vs No Useful in low-light
Continuous Shooting
10.0fps vs 5.0fps 5 fps faster
Weight
214 g vs 489 g 275 g lighter

Common Strengths of Sony Alpha A7S and Nikon Coolpix S9100
Face Detection Focus
Yes vs Yes very handy for portraits
Common Weaknesses of Sony Alpha A7S and Nikon Coolpix S9100
Sony A7S vs Nikon S9100: Physical Specs and Body features Comparison

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 Sony A7S and Nikon S9100 side-by-side from the front, back and top in their relative dimensions. Sony A7S has external dimensions of 127 x 94 x 48 mm (5 x 3.7 x 1.89″) and weighs 489 g (1.08 lb / 17.25 oz) (including batteries). Nikon S9100 has external dimensions of 105 x 62 x 35 mm (4.13 x 2.44 x 1.38″) and weighs 214 g (0.47 lb / 7.55 oz) (including batteries).

Below you can see the front view size comparison of Sony A7S and Nikon S9100. Nikon S9100 is clearly the smaller of the two cameras. Its body is 22mm narrower, 32mm shorter and 13mm thinner than Sony A7S. As you can tell, actually this is not a fair size comparison since Nikon S9100 has a built-in lens but Sony A7S doesn't. Once you put a lens on A7S, its thickness will increase significantly.

Sony A7S vs Nikon S9100 Camera Size Comparison - Front View
Comparison image of Sony A7S and Nikon S9100 Size, Weight and External Dimensions - Front View

Here is the back view size comparison of Sony A7S and Nikon S9100.

Sony A7S vs Nikon S9100 Camera Size Comparison - Back View
Comparison image of Sony A7S and Nikon S9100 Size and Weight - Back View

Now lets look at the top view comparison of Sony A7S and Nikon S9100.
Sony A7S vs Nikon S9100 Camera Size Comparison - Top View
Top View Comparison image of Sony A7S and Nikon S9100 Size

Weight is another important factor especially when deciding on a camera that you want to carry with you all day. Nikon S9100 is significantly lighter (275g ) than the Sony A7S which may become a big advantage especially on long walking trips.

Again, this comparison may not be very useful in real life as we are comparing the weight of a camera with a built-in lens to the body-only weight of an interchangeable lens camera. Once you put a lens on A7S, the total kit will weigh much higher.

Weather Sealing

With its weather sealed body, we believe that A7S has a big advantage over S9100 which doesn't provide any kind of environmental sealing.

LCD Screen Size and Features

Sony A7S and Nikon S9100's LCD screens has the same diagonal size of 3.

On the other hand, Sony A7S features a Tilting screen where you can change the angle of the screen to make it easier to shoot from waist or over the head levels whereas the Nikon S9100 has a fixed type screen which provides less flexibility in shooting positions compared to A7S.
Sony A7S vs Nikon S9100: Sensor Comparison

Both Sony A7S and Nikon S9100 have 12.0 MP resolution sensors but Sony A7S's sensor is Full frame (35.8 x 23.9 mm ) and Nikon S9100's sensor is 1/2.3" (6.17 x 4.55 mm ).

Since Sony A7S'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 Nikon S9100.

Below you can see the A7S and S9100 sensor size comparison.

Sony A7S vs Nikon S9100 Sensor Size Comparison
Sensor Size and Resolution Comparison image of Sony A7S and Nikon S9100 Cameras


As seen above, Sony A7S has a 30.5x Larger sensor area than Nikon S9100. 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.

What types of Photography are Sony A7S and Nikon S9100 Good for?
In this section, we rank and compare Sony A7S and Nikon S9100 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.

Sony A7S for Portrait Photography

GOOD

Nikon S9100 for Portrait Photography

POOR
Large Full frame (35.8 x 23.9 mm) sensor
Electronic Built-in Viewfinder
Good Ergonomics&Handling
Average Resolution Sensor: 12.0MP
No Image Stabilization
Read the details
Image Stabilization
Average Resolution Sensor: 12.0MP
Small 1/2.3" (6.17 x 4.55 mm) sensor
No RAW shooting capability
No External Flash Shoe
No Built-in Viewfinder
No Manual Exposure Mode
Not so good Ergonomics&Handling
Read the details

Sony A7S for Street Photography

GOOD

Nikon S9100 for Street Photography

GOOD
Large Full frame (35.8 x 23.9 mm) sensor
Electronic Built-in Viewfinder
Live-view
Face-Detection Focusing
Tilting LCD Screen
Medium sized Body
No Image Stabilization
Read the details
Image Stabilization
Small Body
Live-view
Face-Detection Focusing
25 mm - Good Wide Angle Coverage
Small 1/2.3" (6.17 x 4.55 mm) sensor
No RAW shooting capability
No Built-in Viewfinder
Read the details

Sony A7S for Sports Photography

GOOD

Nikon S9100 for Sports Photography

POOR
Electronic Built-in Viewfinder
Good Ergonomics&Handling
Environmental Sealings
Fast Max shutter speed: 1/8000s
25 Focus Points
Good Low Light ISO
Wireless Connection
Average Continuous Shooting: 5.0fps
No Image Stabilization
Read the details
Image Stabilization
Fast Continuous Shooting: 10.0fps
450 mm Tele Lens
Average Max shutter speed: 1/2000s
No RAW shooting capability
No External Flash Shoe
No Built-in Viewfinder
No Manual Exposure Mode
Not so good Ergonomics&Handling
Environmental Sealings
9 Focus Points
Poor Battery Life: 270 shots
Slow Lens at Tele: f5.90
Read the details

Sony A7S for Daily Photography

EXCELLENT

Nikon S9100 for Daily Photography

GOOD
Large Full frame (35.8 x 23.9 mm) sensor
Environmental Sealings
Medium size Body
489g
Body Thickness 48mm
Read the details
Compact Body
214g
18.0X Optical Zoom
Small 1/2.3" (6.17 x 4.55 mm) sensor
No RAW shooting capability
Read the details

Sony A7S for Landscape Photography

AVERAGE

Nikon S9100 for Landscape Photography

POOR
Large Full frame (35.8 x 23.9 mm) sensor
Environmental Sealings
Live-view
Average Resolution Sensor: 12.0MP
Read the details
25 mm - Good Wide Angle Coverage
Average Resolution Sensor: 12.0MP
Small 1/2.3" (6.17 x 4.55 mm) sensor
No RAW shooting capability
No Manual Exposure Mode
No Environmental Sealings
Read the details

Sony A7S vs Nikon S9100: OUR DECISION

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 Sony A7S and Nikon S9100, 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 Sony A7S and Nikon S9100 scores compare:

Sony A7S
Imaging
Features
Value
Portability
Overall
Ranked #39 out of 86 in SLR-style mirrorless cameras
Ranked #71 out of 1220 in all Cameras
Nikon S9100
Imaging
Features
Value
Portability
Overall
Ranked #174 out of 475 in Compact cameras
Ranked #724 out of 1220 in all Cameras

Sony A7S is the overall winner of this comparison. It has a higher Overall Score and beats Nikon S9100 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 Sony A7S.

Sony A7S
Sony A7S
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Nikon S9100
Nikon S9100
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Nikon S9100 vs Sony A7S Specs Table
Detailed comparison of specifications
General Sony Alpha A7S Nikon Coolpix S9100
Brand Sony Nikon
Announced 2014-04-06 2011-07-19
Body Type SLR-style mirrorless Compact
Sensor
Type CMOS BSI-CMOS
Size Full frame 1/2.3"
Dimensions 35.8 x 23.9 mm 6.17 x 4.55 mm
Area 855.62mm2 28.07mm2
Megapixels 12 megapixels 12 megapixels
Max Resolution 4240 x 2832 4000 x 3000
Max Native Light sensitivity 409,600 ISO 3,200 ISO
Min Native Light sensitivity 100 ISO 160 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 25 9
Lens
Manual Focus
Lens Mount Sony E fixed lens
Lens Focal Range no lens 25-450 mm (18×)
Max Aperture no lens F3.5-5.9
Macro Focus Range no lens 4cm
Screen
Type Tilting Fixed type
Size 3 3"
Resolution 1,230k dots 921k dots
Touch Screen
Viewfinder
Viewfinder Electronic None
Viewfinder Resolution 2,359k dots no electronic viewfinder
Viewfinder Coverage 100% n/a
Viewfinder Magnification 0.71x n/a
Photography Features
Max Mechanical Shutter 1/8000s 1/2000s
Shutter Priority
Aperture Priority
Manual Exposure Mode
Custom White Balance
Image Stabilization No Sensor-shift
Built-in Flash
Flash Range no built-in flash 4.00 m
External Flash
Continuous Shooting 5.0 fps 10.0 fps
Multi-Segment
Average
Spot
Partial
AF-Area
Center Weighted
AE Bracketing
WB Bracketing
Video Features
Max Video Resolution 3840 x 2160 1920 x 1080
Video Formats MPEG-4, AVCHD, XAVC MPEG-4, H.264
Microphone Port
Headphone Port
Connectivity
Wireless Connectivity Built-In None
HDMI
Physical
Environmental Sealing
Weight 489g 214g
Dimensions 127 x 94 x 48mm 105 x 62 x 35mm
Battery Life 360 shots 270 shots
Other Features
Timelapse Recording With Downloadable App
GPS None None
DxO Sensor Scores
DxO Overall Score 87 not tested
DxO Color Depth 23.9 not tested
DxO Dynamic Range 13.2 not tested
DxO Low Light ISO 3702 not tested
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