Olympus Stylus SH-1 vs Canon PowerShot SD980 IS

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Olympus Stylus SH-1 and the Canon PowerShot SD980 IS, 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.

Olympus Stylus SH-1 was introduced in March 2014 and Canon PowerShot SD980 IS was introduced in August 2009. 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 Olympus Stylus SH-1 over Canon PowerShot SD980 IS.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Canon PowerShot SD980 IS over Olympus Stylus SH-1.

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

Olympus Stylus SH-1 and Canon PowerShot SD980 IS have 3.0" Fixed screens with 460k dot and 230k dot resolutions respectively. Both models feature touchscreen which has advantages such as easy menu navigation, intuitive controls, quick setting adjustment and most importantly a Touch-to-Focus functionality (available only on Olympus Stylus SH-1) 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.

Olympus Stylus SH-1 features a 16 megapixel 1/2.3-inch BSI-CMOS sensor with dimensions of 6.17 x 4.55 mm and a total area of 28.1 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 6,400 and expands to 100 - 12,800 in boosted mode. Canon PowerShot SD980 IS features a 12.1 megapixel 1/2.3-inch CCD sensor with dimensions of 6.17 x 4.55 mm and a total area of 20.7 mm². Its native ISO range is 80 - 1,600.

Olympus Stylus SH-1 has BSI-CMOS sensor, short for Backside Illuminated Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor sensor. In traditional CMOS sensors, the wiring and circuitry are located on the front side of the sensor, which can block some of the incoming light. BSI technology flips this design by placing the photosensitive elements (pixels) on the backside of the sensor, allowing more light to reach the pixels. This significantly enhances light sensitivity and improves low-light performance. BSI-CMOS sensors are particularly effective in low-light conditions, as they can capture more light, resulting in brighter and less noisy images. This makes them well-suited for indoor and night photography. BSI-CMOS sensors deliver a higher SNR and reduced cross-talk.

Olympus Stylus SH-1 is equipped with TruePic VII processor and can take pictures up to 4608 x 3456 resolution. Canon PowerShot SD980 IS is equipped with DIGIC 4 processor and can take pictures up to 4000 x 3000 resolution. It can also take pictures with lower resolution like 4000 x 2248, 3264 x 2448, 2592 x 1944, 1600 x 1200, 640 x 480, 320 x 240 with 4:3, 16:9 aspect ratios.

Image Stabilization

The cameras have a built-in image stabilization.

Built-in Wi-Fi on Olympus Stylus SH-1

Olympus Stylus SH-1 has a built-in Wi-Fi (802.11, 2.4 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.

USB Inputs and HDMI Outputs

Both models have USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec) inputs for data transfer. Olympus Stylus SH-1 has a Micro HDMI and Canon PowerShot SD980 IS has an HDMI connector for video signal output.

Battery

Olympus Stylus SH-1 comes with LI-92B battery pack with battery life of 380 shots and Canon PowerShot SD980 IS comes with NB-6L battery pack.

External Storage Slots

Olympus Stylus SH-1 has a single SD/SDHC/SDXC Memory card slot. Canon PowerShot SD980 IS has a single SD/SDHC/MMC/MMCplus/HC MMCplus card slot.

Shutter

Shutter speed can go up to 1/2000 sec on Olympus Stylus SH-1, and up to 1/3000 sec on Canon PowerShot SD980 IS. Olympus Stylus SH-1 can shoot continuously up to 11.5 fps. Canon PowerShot SD980 IS can shoot continuously up to 0.8 fps.

Flash

Cameras have built-in flash with maximum range of 6.50 m on Canon PowerShot SD980 IS..

Olympus Stylus SH-1 body has dimensions of 109 x 63 x 42 mm (4.29 x 2.48 x 1.65") and Canon PowerShot SD980 IS body has dimensions of 100 x 53 x 23 mm (3.94 x 2.09 x 0.91"). Olympus Stylus SH-1 weighs 271 g (0.60 lb / 9.56 oz) and Canon PowerShot SD980 IS weighs 150 g (0.33 lb / 5.29 oz).

Olympus Stylus SH-1

Canon PowerShot SD980 IS

109 mm

63 mm

100 mm

53 mm

63 mm

53 mm