Canon Digital IXUS 500 vs. Canon IXUS 510 HS

Comparison

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Digital IXUS 500 image
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IXUS 510 HS image
Canon Digital IXUS 500 Canon IXUS 510 HS
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Megapixels
5.00
10.10
Max. image resolution
2592 x 1944
3648 x 2736

Sensor

Sensor type
CCD
CMOS
Sensor size
1/1.8" (~ 7.11 x 5.33 mm)
1/2.3" (~ 6.16 x 4.62 mm)
Sensor resolution
2579 x 1939
3665 x 2756
Diagonal
8.89 mm
7.70 mm
Sensor size comparison
Sensor size is generally a good indicator of the quality of the camera. Sensors can vary greatly in size. As a general rule, the bigger the sensor, the better the image quality.

Bigger sensors are more effective because they have more surface area to capture light. An important factor when comparing digital cameras is also camera generation. Generally, newer sensors will outperform the older.

Learn more about sensor sizes »

Actual sensor size

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vs
1.33 : 1
(ratio)
Canon Digital IXUS 500 Canon IXUS 510 HS
Surface area:
37.90 mm² vs 28.46 mm²
Difference: 9.44 mm² (33%)
IXUS 500 sensor is approx. 1.33x bigger than IXUS 510 HS sensor.
Note: You are comparing sensors of very different generations. There is a gap of 8 years between Canon IXUS 500 (2004) and Canon IXUS 510 HS (2012). Eight years is a lot of time in terms of technology, meaning newer sensors are overall much more efficient than the older ones.
Pixel pitch
2.76 µm
1.68 µm
Pixel pitch tells you the distance from the center of one pixel (photosite) to the center of the next. It tells you how close the pixels are to each other.

The bigger the pixel pitch, the further apart they are and the bigger each pixel is. Bigger pixels tend to have better signal to noise ratio and greater dynamic range.
Difference: 1.08 µm (64%)
Pixel pitch of IXUS 500 is approx. 64% higher than pixel pitch of IXUS 510 HS.
Pixel area
7.62 µm²
2.82 µm²
Pixel or photosite area affects how much light per pixel can be gathered. The larger it is the more light can be collected by a single pixel.

Larger pixels have the potential to collect more photons, resulting in greater dynamic range, while smaller pixels provide higher resolutions (more detail) for a given sensor size.
Relative pixel sizes:
vs
Pixel area difference: 4.8 µm² (170%)
A pixel on Canon IXUS 500 sensor is approx. 170% bigger than a pixel on Canon IXUS 510 HS.
Pixel density
13.16 MP/cm²
35.4 MP/cm²
Pixel density tells you how many million pixels fit or would fit in one square cm of the sensor.

Higher pixel density means smaller pixels and lower pixel density means larger pixels.
Difference: 22.24 µm (169%)
Canon IXUS 510 HS has approx. 169% higher pixel density than Canon IXUS 500.
To learn about the accuracy of these numbers, click here.



Specs

Canon IXUS 500
Canon IXUS 510 HS
Crop factor
4.87
5.62
Total megapixels
5.20
16.80
Effective megapixels
5.00
10.10
Optical zoom
3x
12x
Digital zoom
Yes
Yes
ISO sensitivity
Auto, 50, 100, 200, 400
Auto, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200
RAW
Manual focus
Normal focus range
46 cm
Macro focus range
5 cm
1 cm
Focal length (35mm equiv.)
36 - 108 mm
28 - 336 mm
Aperture priority
No
No
Max. aperture
f2.8 - f4.9
f3.4 - f5.6
Max. aperture (35mm equiv.)
f13.6 - f23.9
f19.1 - f31.5
Metering
Multi, Center-weighted, Spot
Multi, Center-weighted, Spot
Exposure compensation
±2 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)
±2 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)
Shutter priority
No
No
Min. shutter speed
15 sec
15 sec
Max. shutter speed
1/2000 sec
1/4000 sec
Built-in flash
External flash
Viewfinder
Optical (tunnel)
None
White balance presets
5
6
Screen size
1.5"
3.2"
Screen resolution
118,000 dots
461,000 dots
Video capture
Max. video resolution
Storage types
Compact Flash (Type I)
microSD/microSDHC/microSDXC
USB
USB 1.0
USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)
HDMI
Wireless
GPS
Battery
Lithium-Ion NB-1LH Battery
Lithium-Ion NB-9L rechargeable battery
Weight
215 g
163 g
Dimensions
87 x 57 x 28 mm
86 x 54 x 20 mm
Year
2004
2012




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Diagonal

Diagonal is calculated by the use of Pythagorean theorem:
Diagonal = √  w² + h²
where w = sensor width and h = sensor height

Canon IXUS 500 diagonal

The diagonal of IXUS 500 sensor is not 1/1.8 or 0.56" (14.1 mm) as you might expect, but approximately two thirds of that value - 8.89 mm. If you want to know why, see sensor sizes.

w = 7.11 mm
h = 5.33 mm
Diagonal = √  7.11² + 5.33²   = 8.89 mm

Canon IXUS 510 HS diagonal

The diagonal of IXUS 510 HS sensor is not 1/2.3 or 0.43" (11 mm) as you might expect, but approximately two thirds of that value - 7.7 mm. If you want to know why, see sensor sizes.

w = 6.16 mm
h = 4.62 mm
Diagonal = √  6.16² + 4.62²   = 7.70 mm


Surface area

Surface area is calculated by multiplying the width and the height of a sensor.

IXUS 500 sensor area

Width = 7.11 mm
Height = 5.33 mm

Surface area = 7.11 × 5.33 = 37.90 mm²

IXUS 510 HS sensor area

Width = 6.16 mm
Height = 4.62 mm

Surface area = 6.16 × 4.62 = 28.46 mm²


Pixel pitch

Pixel pitch is the distance from the center of one pixel to the center of the next measured in micrometers (µm). It can be calculated with the following formula:
Pixel pitch =   sensor width in mm  × 1000
sensor resolution width in pixels

IXUS 500 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 7.11 mm
Sensor resolution width = 2579 pixels
Pixel pitch =   7.11  × 1000  = 2.76 µm
2579

IXUS 510 HS pixel pitch

Sensor width = 6.16 mm
Sensor resolution width = 3665 pixels
Pixel pitch =   6.16  × 1000  = 1.68 µm
3665


Pixel area

The area of one pixel can be calculated by simply squaring the pixel pitch:
Pixel area = pixel pitch²

You could also divide sensor surface area with effective megapixels:
Pixel area =   sensor surface area in mm²
effective megapixels

IXUS 500 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 2.76 µm

Pixel area = 2.76² = 7.62 µm²

IXUS 510 HS pixel area

Pixel pitch = 1.68 µm

Pixel area = 1.68² = 2.82 µm²


Pixel density

Pixel density can be calculated with the following formula:
Pixel density =  ( sensor resolution width in pixels )² / 1000000
sensor width in cm

One could also use this formula:
Pixel density =   effective megapixels × 1000000  / 10000
sensor surface area in mm²

IXUS 500 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 2579 pixels
Sensor width = 0.711 cm

Pixel density = (2579 / 0.711)² / 1000000 = 13.16 MP/cm²

IXUS 510 HS pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 3665 pixels
Sensor width = 0.616 cm

Pixel density = (3665 / 0.616)² / 1000000 = 35.4 MP/cm²


Sensor resolution

Sensor resolution is calculated from sensor size and effective megapixels. It's slightly higher than maximum (not interpolated) image resolution which is usually stated on camera specifications. Sensor resolution is used in pixel pitch, pixel area, and pixel density formula. For sake of simplicity, we're going to calculate it in 3 stages.

1. First we need to find the ratio between horizontal and vertical length by dividing the former with the latter (aspect ratio). It's usually 1.33 (4:3) or 1.5 (3:2), but not always.

2. With the ratio (r) known we can calculate the X from the formula below, where X is a vertical number of pixels:
(X × r) × X = effective megapixels × 1000000    →   
X = √  effective megapixels × 1000000
r
3. To get sensor resolution we then multiply X with the corresponding ratio:

Resolution horizontal: X × r
Resolution vertical: X

IXUS 500 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 7.11 mm
Sensor height = 5.33 mm
Effective megapixels = 5.00
r = 7.11/5.33 = 1.33
X = √  5.00 × 1000000  = 1939
1.33
Resolution horizontal: X × r = 1939 × 1.33 = 2579
Resolution vertical: X = 1939

Sensor resolution = 2579 x 1939

IXUS 510 HS sensor resolution

Sensor width = 6.16 mm
Sensor height = 4.62 mm
Effective megapixels = 10.10
r = 6.16/4.62 = 1.33
X = √  10.10 × 1000000  = 2756
1.33
Resolution horizontal: X × r = 2756 × 1.33 = 3665
Resolution vertical: X = 2756

Sensor resolution = 3665 x 2756


Crop factor

Crop factor or focal length multiplier is calculated by dividing the diagonal of 35 mm film (43.27 mm) with the diagonal of the sensor.
Crop factor =   43.27 mm
sensor diagonal in mm


IXUS 500 crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 8.89 mm
Crop factor =   43.27  = 4.87
8.89

IXUS 510 HS crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 7.70 mm
Crop factor =   43.27  = 5.62
7.70

35 mm equivalent aperture

Equivalent aperture (in 135 film terms) is calculated by multiplying lens aperture with crop factor (a.k.a. focal length multiplier).

IXUS 500 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 4.87
Aperture = f2.8 - f4.9

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f2.8 - f4.9) × 4.87 = f13.6 - f23.9

IXUS 510 HS equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 5.62
Aperture = f3.4 - f5.6

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f3.4 - f5.6) × 5.62 = f19.1 - f31.5

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