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 Sigma SD1 Merrill 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). 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 Sony A7S and Sigma SD1 Merrill. Sony A7S is clearly the smaller of the two cameras. Its body is 19mm narrower, 19mm shorter and 32mm thinner than Sigma SD1 Merrill.
![Sony A7S vs Sigma SD1 Merrill Camera Size Comparison - Front View]()
Comparison image of Sony A7S and Sigma SD1 Merrill Size, Weight and External Dimensions - Front View
Here is the back view size comparison of Sony A7S and Sigma SD1 Merrill.
![Sony A7S vs Sigma SD1 Merrill Camera Size Comparison - Back View]()
Comparison image of Sony A7S and Sigma SD1 Merrill Size and Weight - Back View
Now lets look at the top view comparison of Sony A7S and Sigma SD1 Merrill.
![Sony A7S vs Sigma SD1 Merrill Camera Size Comparison - Top View]()
Top View Comparison image of Sony A7S 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.
Sony A7S is significantly lighter (301g ) 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 Sony A7S has a Full frame sensor and Sigma SD1 Merrill has a smaller APS-C sensor, Sigma SD1 Merrill's lenses for a similar focal length and aperture will generally be lighter and smaller than the Sony A7S lenses.
Weight Comparison
DSLR Cameras
Thickness Comparison
DSLR Cameras
Weather Sealing
Both A7S and SD1 Merrill have weather sealings in their body, making them resistant to water and dust.
LCD Screen Size and Features
Sony A7S and Sigma SD1 Merrill'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 Sigma SD1 Merrill has a fixed type screen which provides less flexibility in shooting positions compared to A7S.
Sony A7S has a 12.0MP Full frame (35.8 x 23.9 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Bionz X processor. 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.
Below you can see the A7S and SD1 Merrill sensor size comparison.
![Sony A7S vs Sigma SD1 Merrill Sensor Size Comparison]()
Sensor Size and Resolution Comparison image of Sony A7S and Sigma SD1 Merrill Cameras
As seen above, Sony A7S has a 2.2x Larger sensor area than Sigma SD1 Merrill. 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 Sony A7S has an advantage over Sigma SD1 Merrill. There are 128 lenses for Sony A7S's Sony E 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. None of these bodies have sensor based image stabilization so you have to buy lenses with Optical stabilization feature. Currently there are 31 lenses for Sony E mount and 28 lenses for Sigma SA Bayonet mount with IS.
| Lens Type |
# of Sony A7S Lenses |
# of Sigma SD1 Merrill Lenses |
| Standard Zoom |
12 (9 Full Frame) |
9 |
| Standard Prime |
18 (9 Full Frame) |
5 |
| Wideangle Zoom |
7 (6 Full Frame) |
8 |
| Wideangle Prime |
42 (26 Full Frame) |
8 |
| Telephoto Zoom |
9 (7 Full Frame) |
18 |
| Telephoto Prime |
18 (14 Full Frame) |
8 |
| SuperZoom |
8 (1 Full Frame) |
9 |
| Wideangle Fisheye Prime |
2 (0 Full Frame) |
4 |
| Macro Prime |
8 (7 Full Frame) |
7 |
| Perspective Control Prime |
2 (2 Full Frame) |
n/a |
| Telephoto Mirror Prime |
n/a |
n/a |
| TOTAL |
128 (81 Full Frame) |
76 |
In this section, we rank and compare Sony A7S 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.
Sony A7S for Portrait Photography
Sigma SD1 Merrill for Portrait Photography
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
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
Sony A7S for Street Photography
Sigma SD1 Merrill for Street Photography
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
Large APS-C (24 x 16 mm) sensor
Optical Built-in Viewfinder
No Image Stabilization
No Live-view
Large Body
Read the details
Sony A7S for Sports Photography
Sigma SD1 Merrill for Sports Photography
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
Optical Built-in Viewfinder
Good Ergonomics&Handling
Environmental Sealings
No Image Stabilization
Slow Max shutter speed: 1/s
Focus Points
Read the details
Sony A7S for Daily Photography
Sigma SD1 Merrill for Daily Photography
Large Full frame (35.8 x 23.9 mm) sensor
Environmental Sealings
Medium size Body
489g
Body Thickness 48mm
Read the details
Large APS-C (24 x 16 mm) sensor
Environmental Sealings
Large Body
790g
Body Thickness 80mm
Read the details
Sony A7S for Landscape Photography
Sigma SD1 Merrill for Landscape Photography
Large Full frame (35.8 x 23.9 mm) sensor
Environmental Sealings
Live-view
Average Resolution Sensor: 12.0MP
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 Sony A7S 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 Sony A7S and Sigma SD1 Merrill scores compare:
Sony A7S
Ranked
#39 out of 86 in SLR-style mirrorless cameras
Ranked
#71 out of 1220 in all Cameras
Sigma SD1 Merrill
Ranked
#83 out of 94 in Mid-size SLR cameras
Ranked
#780 out of 1220 in all Cameras
Sony A7S 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 |
Sony Alpha A7S |
Sigma SD1 Merrill |
| Brand |
Sony |
Sigma |
| Announced |
2014-04-06 |
2012-04-10 |
| Body Type |
SLR-style mirrorless |
Mid-size SLR |
Sensor |
|
|
| Type |
CMOS |
CMOS (Foveon X3) |
| Size |
Full frame |
APS-C |
| Dimensions |
35.8 x 23.9 mm |
24 x 16 mm |
| Area |
855.62mm2 |
384.00mm2 |
| Megapixels |
12 megapixels |
15 megapixels |
| Max Resolution |
4240 x 2832 |
4800 x 3200 |
| Max Native Light sensitivity |
409,600 ISO |
6,400 ISO |
| Min Native Light sensitivity |
100 ISO |
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 |
25 |
n/a |
Lens |
|
|
| Manual Focus |
|
|
| Lens Mount |
Sony E |
Sigma SA Bayonet |
| Number of Available Lenses |
128 |
76 |
Screen |
|
|
| Type |
Tilting |
Fixed type |
| Size |
3 |
3" |
| Resolution |
1,230k dots |
460k dots |
| Touch Screen |
|
|
Viewfinder |
|
|
| Viewfinder |
Electronic |
Optical (pentaprism) |
| Viewfinder Resolution |
2,359k dots |
no electronic viewfinder |
| Viewfinder Coverage |
100% |
96% |
| Viewfinder Magnification |
0.71x |
0.64x |
Photography Features |
|
|
| Max Mechanical Shutter |
1/8000s |
n/a |
| Shutter Priority |
|
|
| Aperture Priority |
|
|
| Manual Exposure Mode |
|
|
| Custom White Balance |
|
|
| Image Stabilization |
No |
No |
| Built-in Flash |
|
|
| Max Flash Sync |
n/a |
s |
| External Flash |
|
|
| Continuous Shooting |
5.0 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, XAVC |
n/a |
| Microphone Port |
|
|
| Headphone Port |
|
|
Connectivity |
|
|
| Wireless Connectivity |
Built-In |
None |
| HDMI |
|
|
Physical |
|
|
| Environmental Sealing |
|
|
| Weight |
489g |
790g |
| Dimensions |
127 x 94 x 48mm |
146 x 113 x 80mm |
| Battery Life |
360 shots |
n/a |
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 |
|
Report a correction |
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