Nikon Z30 vs Sigma SD15

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Nikon Z30 and the Sigma SD15, highlighting the advantages of each over the other, discussing their pros and cons, shared strengths and weaknesses, and providing a rating based on their available features and specifications to assist you in choosing the one that best suits your needs.

Nikon Z30 was introduced in June 2022 and Sigma SD15 was introduced in February 2010. Let us first list highlights of the models.

Now that we've looked at the most essential specifications and gained a basic understanding of these cameras, we can delve into more details and see the differences between them.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Nikon Z30 over Sigma SD15.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Sigma SD15 over Nikon Z30.

We already listed pros and cons of each model. However, you may also find useful to look at their common strengths and weaknesses shown side-by-side.

Screen

Nikon Z30 and Sigma SD15 have 3.0" screens with 1,040k dot and 460k dot resolutions respectively. Nikon Z30 has a Fully Articulated screen which makes it selfie and vlogger friendly and generally very useful for video shooting. Sigma SD15 has a Fixed screen Nikon Z30 also features touchscreen which has advantages such as easy menu navigation, intuitive controls, quick setting adjustment and most importantly a Touch-to-Focus functionality allowing users to select a specific point on the screen where they want the camera to focus. This feature can be helpful for achieving precise focus in both photo and video recording.

Optical (pentaprism) Viewfinder on Sigma SD15

Sigma SD15 has a built-in Optical (pentaprism) viewfinder. It has a 96% coverage and 0.90x (0.60x 35mm equivalent) magnification. There is no built-in or optional viewfinder available on Nikon Z30.

Nikon Z30 features a 20.9 megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor with dimensions of 23.5 x 15.7 mm and a total area of 369 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 51,200 and expands to 100 - 204,800 in boosted mode. Sigma SD15 features a 5 megapixel APS-C CMOS (Foveon X3) sensor with dimensions of 20.7 x 13.8 mm and a total area of 190.4 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 1,600 and expands to 50 - 3,200 in boosted mode.

Here is a sensor size comparison chart where you can see how different sensors compare with each other:

Sensor size chart

	Sensor	Dimensions	Area	Aspect Ratio	Crop Factor
	Medium Format	44 x 33 mm	1452 mm2	4:3	0.79x
	Full Frame	36 x 24 mm	864 mm2	3:2	1x
	APS-H	27 x 18 mm	486 mm2	3:2	1.3x
	APS-C	23.6 x 15.6 mm	368.2 mm2	3:2	1.5x
	APS-C (Canon)	22.3 x 14.9 mm	332.3 mm2	3:2	1.6x
	Micro Four Thirds	17.4 x 13 mm	226.2 mm2	4:3	2x
	1-inch	13.2 x 8.8 mm	116.2 mm2	3:2	2.7x
	1/1.7-inch	7.44 x 5.58 mm	41.5 mm2	4:3	4.7x
	1/2.3-inch	6.17 x 4.55 mm	28.1 mm2	4:3	5.6x

Nikon Z30 is equipped with EXPEED 6 processor and can take pictures up to 5568 x 3712 resolution. Sigma SD15 is equipped with TRUE II processor and can take pictures up to 2640 x 1760 resolution. It can also take pictures with lower resolution like 1776 x 1184, 1296 x 864 with 3:2 aspect ratios.

Lens Mount

Nikon Z30 has Nikon Z lens mount and Sigma SD15 has Sigma SA lens mount. They both have APS-C sensor but because of a small size difference their crop factors (also called lens multiplier) differ from each other. Nikon Z30 has the crop factor of 1.5x which means that a 35mm equivalent focal length of the mounted lens will be equal to its actual focal length times 1.5. Sigma SD15 has the crop factor of 1.7x which means that a 35mm equivalent focal length of the mounted lens will be equal to its actual focal length times 1.7.

No Low-Pass Filter

There is no optical low-pass filter (OLPF), also known as an anti-aliasing filter, in front of the sensor on either of the cameras. This results in a slightly sharper image but may also introduce moiré patterns and aliasing artifacts when photographing subjects with fine, repetitive patterns or details.

No Image Stabilization

The cameras do not have image stabilization. On Nikon Z30 it means that you need lenses with optical image stabilization for vibration reduction. As for Sigma SD15 nothing can be done. On Sigma SD15 it means that you need lenses with optical image stabilization for vibration reduction. As for Nikon Z30 nothing can be done.

Built-in Wi-Fi on Nikon Z30

Nikon Z30 has a built-in Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi 5, 802.11ac/b/g/n, 2.4/5 GHz) which allows to easily transfer photos and videos from the camera to other Wi-Fi-enabled devices, such as smartphones, tablets, printers, or computers. This eliminates the need for cables and allows for quick and convenient media sharing and social media integration. It gives you the ability to control your camera remotely using a smartphone or tablet. This is particularly useful for taking self-portraits, group shots, or capturing images in challenging conditions without having to touch the camera. Firmware updates can also be downloaded and installed wirelessly.
  Check out the cameras in our database that have built-in WiFi.

Bluetooth on Nikon Z30

Nikon Z30 has a built-in Bluetooth (version 4.2) which lets you to connect the camera to a smartphone or a dedicated remote control device. This allows you to remotely trigger the camera, adjust settings and controls remotely through a paired mobile app. While Wi-Fi is generally faster for transferring larger files, Bluetooth can be used for small, selective transfers, it can provide real-time information about your camera's battery status, memory card capacity, and other key settings directly on your paired smartphone or smartwatch.
  Check out the cameras in our database that have built-in Bluetooth.

USB Inputs and HDMI Outputs

Both models have USB inputs for data transfer. Nikon Z30 has a Micro HDMI and Sigma SD15 has an HDMI connector for video signal output.

Battery

Nikon Z30 comes with EN-EL25 battery pack with battery life of 330 shots.

External Storage Slots

Nikon Z30 has a single SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-I) card slot. Sigma SD15 has a single SD/SDHC card slot.

Shutter

Nikon Z30 has Electronic shutter and Mechanical Focal Plane shutter. Shutter speed can go up to 1/4000 sec on Nikon Z30, and up to 1/4000 sec on Sigma SD15. Nikon Z30 can shoot continuously up to 11.0 fps. Sigma SD15 can shoot continuously up to 3.0 fps.

Focusing

Nikon Z30 has Hybrid phase-detection/contrast AF system with 209 focusing points and Sigma SD15 has . Nikon Z30 has detection range from -4.5 to +19 EV.

Exposure

Exposure meterings of Nikon Z30 ranges from -4 to +17 EV and you can set the exposure compensation within the ±5 EV range on Nikon Z30 and ±3 EV range on Sigma SD15. You can also do exposure lock, exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Nikon Z30 and and manual exposure adjustment on Sigma SD15.

Flash

Sigma SD15 has a built-in flash and also accepts external flash which can be connected via Hot Shoe. Nikon Z30 has no built-in flash but an external flash may be connected via Hot Shoe. The fastest flash synchronization speed is 1/200 sec on Nikon Z30 and 1/180 sec on Sigma SD15.

Nikon Z30 body has dimensions of 128 x 74 x 60 mm (5.04 x 2.91 x 2.36") and Sigma SD15 body has dimensions of 144 x 107 x 81 mm (5.67 x 4.21 x 3.19"). Nikon Z30 weighs 405 g (0.89 lb / 14.29 oz) and Sigma SD15 weighs 750 g (1.65 lb / 26.46 oz).

Nikon Z30

Sigma SD15

128 mm

74 mm

144 mm

107 mm

74 mm

107 mm

60 mm

81 mm