Canon Digital IXUS 980 IS vs. Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W100

Comparison

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Canon Digital IXUS 980 IS

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W100

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Megapixels

14.70

8.10

Max. image resolution

4416 x 3312

3264 x 2448

Sensor

Sensor type

CCD

Sensor size

1/1.7" (~ 7.53 x 5.64 mm)

1/1.8" (~ 7.11 x 5.33 mm)

Sensor resolution

4438 x 3312

3282 x 2468

Diagonal

9.41 mm

8.89 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

Note: Actual size is set to screen → change »

	vs
1.12	:	1
(ratio)

Canon Digital IXUS 980 IS		Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W100

Surface area:

42.47 mm²

37.90 mm²

Difference: 4.57 mm² (12%)

IXUS 980 IS sensor is approx. 1.12x bigger than W100 sensor.

Note: You are comparing cameras of different generations. There is a 2 year gap between Canon IXUS 980 IS (2008) and Sony W100 (2006). All things being equal, newer sensor generations generally outperform the older.

Pixel pitch

1.7 µm

2.17 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: 0.47 µm (28%)

Pixel pitch of W100 is approx. 28% higher than pixel pitch of IXUS 980 IS.

Pixel area

2.89 µm²

4.71 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:

Pixel area difference: 1.82 µm² (63%)

A pixel on Sony W100 sensor is approx. 63% bigger than a pixel on Canon IXUS 980 IS.

Pixel density

34.74 MP/cm²

21.31 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: 13.43 µm (63%)

Canon IXUS 980 IS has approx. 63% higher pixel density than Sony W100.

To learn about the accuracy of these numbers, click here.

Specs

Canon IXUS 980 IS

Sony W100

Crop factor

4.6

4.87

Total megapixels

Effective megapixels

14.70

Optical zoom

3.7x

Digital zoom

Yes

ISO sensitivity

Auto, 80 ,100, 200, 400, 800, 1600

Auto, 80, 100, 400, 800, 1250

RAW

Manual focus

Normal focus range

50 cm

Macro focus range

5 cm

6 cm

Focal length (35mm equiv.)

36 - 133 mm

38 - 114 mm

Aperture priority

Yes

Max. aperture

f2.8 - f5.8

f2.8 - f5.2

Max. aperture (35mm equiv.)

f12.9 - f26.7

f13.6 - f25.3

Metering

Multi, Center-weighted, Spot

Centre weighted, Multi-pattern, Spot

Exposure compensation

±2 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)

Shutter priority

Yes

Min. shutter speed

15 sec

30 sec

Max. shutter speed

1/1600 sec

1/1000 sec

Built-in flash

External flash

Viewfinder

Optical (tunnel)

White balance presets

Screen size

2.5"

Screen resolution

230,000 dots

115,000 dots

Video capture

Max. video resolution

Storage types

SD/SDHC/MMC card

Memory Stick Duo, Memory Stick Pro Duo

USB

USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)

HDMI

Wireless

GPS

Battery

Lithium-Ion NB-5L battery

Lithium-Ion NP-BG1 rechargeable

Weight

205 g

192 g

Dimensions

98 x 62 x 28 mm

94.2 x 60.6 x 24.8 mm

Year

2008

2006

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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 980 IS diagonal

The diagonal of IXUS 980 IS sensor is not 1/1.7 or 0.59" (14.9 mm) as you might expect, but approximately two thirds of that value - 9.41 mm. If you want to know why, see sensor sizes.

w = 7.53 mm
h = 5.64 mm

Diagonal = √

7.53² + 5.64²

= 9.41 mm

Sony W100 diagonal

The diagonal of W100 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

Surface area

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

IXUS 980 IS sensor area

Width = 7.53 mm
Height = 5.64 mm

Surface area = 7.53 × 5.64 = 42.47 mm²

W100 sensor area

Width = 7.11 mm
Height = 5.33 mm

Surface area = 7.11 × 5.33 = 37.90 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 980 IS pixel pitch

Sensor width = 7.53 mm
Sensor resolution width = 4438 pixels

Pixel pitch =	7.53	× 1000	= 1.7 µm
	4438

W100 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 7.11 mm
Sensor resolution width = 3282 pixels

Pixel pitch =	7.11	× 1000	= 2.17 µm
	3282

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 980 IS pixel area

Pixel pitch = 1.7 µm

Pixel area = 1.7² = 2.89 µm²

W100 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 2.17 µm

Pixel area = 2.17² = 4.71 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 980 IS pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 4438 pixels
Sensor width = 0.753 cm

Pixel density = (4438 / 0.753)² / 1000000 = 34.74 MP/cm²

W100 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 3282 pixels
Sensor width = 0.711 cm

Pixel density = (3282 / 0.711)² / 1000000 = 21.31 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 980 IS sensor resolution

Sensor width = 7.53 mm
Sensor height = 5.64 mm
Effective megapixels = 14.70

r = 7.53/5.64 = 1.34

X = √	14.70 × 1000000	= 3312
	1.34

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 3312 × 1.34 = 4438
Resolution vertical: X = 3312

Sensor resolution = 4438 x 3312

W100 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 7.11 mm
Sensor height = 5.33 mm
Effective megapixels = 8.10

r = 7.11/5.33 = 1.33

X = √	8.10 × 1000000	= 2468
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 2468 × 1.33 = 3282
Resolution vertical: X = 2468

Sensor resolution = 3282 x 2468

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 980 IS crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 9.41 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 4.6
	9.41

W100 crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 8.89 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 4.87
	8.89

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 980 IS equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 4.6
Aperture = f2.8 - f5.8

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f2.8 - f5.8) × 4.6 = f12.9 - f26.7

W100 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 4.87
Aperture = f2.8 - f5.2

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f2.8 - f5.2) × 4.87 = f13.6 - f25.3

More comparisons of Canon IXUS 980 IS:

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