Canon Digital IXUS i7 vs. Canon PowerShot SX740 HS

Comparison

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Canon Digital IXUS i7

Canon PowerShot SX740 HS

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Megapixels

7.10

20.30

Max. image resolution

3072 x 2304

5184 x 3888

Sensor

Sensor type

CCD

CMOS

Sensor size

1/2.5" (~ 5.75 x 4.32 mm)

1/2.3" (~ 6.16 x 4.62 mm)

Sensor resolution

3072 x 2310

5196 x 3907

Diagonal

7.19 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

Note: Actual size is set to screen → change »

	vs
1	:	1.15
(ratio)

Canon Digital IXUS i7		Canon PowerShot SX740 HS

Surface area:

24.84 mm²

28.46 mm²

Difference: 3.62 mm² (15%)

SX740 HS sensor is approx. 1.15x bigger than IXUS i7 sensor.

Note: You are comparing sensors of vastly different generations. There is a gap of 12 years between Canon IXUS i7 (2006) and Canon SX740 HS (2018). Twelve years is a huge amount of time, technology wise, resulting in newer sensor being much more efficient than the older one.

Pixel pitch

1.87 µm

1.19 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: 0.68 µm (57%)

Pixel pitch of IXUS i7 is approx. 57% higher than pixel pitch of SX740 HS.

Pixel area

3.5 µm²

1.42 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: 2.08 µm² (146%)

A pixel on Canon IXUS i7 sensor is approx. 146% bigger than a pixel on Canon SX740 HS.

Pixel density

28.54 MP/cm²

71.15 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: 42.61 µm (149%)

Canon SX740 HS has approx. 149% higher pixel density than Canon IXUS i7.

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

Specs

Canon IXUS i7

Canon SX740 HS

Crop factor

6.02

5.62

Total megapixels

7.10

21.10

Effective megapixels

7.10

20.30

Optical zoom

2.4x

40x

Digital zoom

Yes

ISO sensitivity

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

Auto, 100-3200

RAW

Manual focus

Normal focus range

45 cm

5 cm

Macro focus range

10 cm

1 cm

Focal length (35mm equiv.)

38 - 90 mm

24 - 960 mm

Aperture priority

Yes

Max. aperture

f3.2 - f5.4

f3.3 - f6.9

Max. aperture (35mm equiv.)

f19.3 - f32.5

f18.5 - f38.8

Metering

Multi, Center-weighted, Spot

Exposure compensation

±2 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)

±3 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)

Shutter priority

Yes

Min. shutter speed

15 sec

Max. shutter speed

1/1600 sec

1/3200 sec

Built-in flash

External flash

Viewfinder

None

White balance presets

Screen size

1.8"

Screen resolution

118,000 dots

921,600 dots

Video capture

Max. video resolution

3840x2160 (30p/25p)

Storage types

SD/MMC card

SD/SDHC/SDXC

USB

USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)

HDMI

Wireless

GPS

Battery

Lithium-Ion NB-4L battery

NB-13L lithium-ion battery

Weight

120 g

299 g

Dimensions

96 x 45 x 24 mm

110.1 x 63.8 x 39.9 mm

Year

2006

2018

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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 i7 diagonal

The diagonal of IXUS i7 sensor is not 1/2.5 or 0.4" (10.2 mm) as you might expect, but approximately two thirds of that value - 7.19 mm. If you want to know why, see sensor sizes.

w = 5.75 mm
h = 4.32 mm

Diagonal = √

5.75² + 4.32²

= 7.19 mm

Canon SX740 HS diagonal

The diagonal of SX740 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 i7 sensor area

Width = 5.75 mm
Height = 4.32 mm

Surface area = 5.75 × 4.32 = 24.84 mm²

SX740 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 i7 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 5.75 mm
Sensor resolution width = 3072 pixels

Pixel pitch =	5.75	× 1000	= 1.87 µm
	3072

SX740 HS pixel pitch

Sensor width = 6.16 mm
Sensor resolution width = 5196 pixels

Pixel pitch =	6.16	× 1000	= 1.19 µm
	5196

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 i7 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 1.87 µm

Pixel area = 1.87² = 3.5 µm²

SX740 HS pixel area

Pixel pitch = 1.19 µm

Pixel area = 1.19² = 1.42 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 i7 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 3072 pixels
Sensor width = 0.575 cm

Pixel density = (3072 / 0.575)² / 1000000 = 28.54 MP/cm²

SX740 HS pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 5196 pixels
Sensor width = 0.616 cm

Pixel density = (5196 / 0.616)² / 1000000 = 71.15 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 i7 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 5.75 mm
Sensor height = 4.32 mm
Effective megapixels = 7.10

r = 5.75/4.32 = 1.33

X = √	7.10 × 1000000	= 2310
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 2310 × 1.33 = 3072
Resolution vertical: X = 2310

Sensor resolution = 3072 x 2310

SX740 HS sensor resolution

Sensor width = 6.16 mm
Sensor height = 4.62 mm
Effective megapixels = 20.30

r = 6.16/4.62 = 1.33

X = √	20.30 × 1000000	= 3907
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 3907 × 1.33 = 5196
Resolution vertical: X = 3907

Sensor resolution = 5196 x 3907

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 i7 crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 7.19 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 6.02
	7.19

SX740 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 i7 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 6.02
Aperture = f3.2 - f5.4

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f3.2 - f5.4) × 6.02 = f19.3 - f32.5

SX740 HS equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 5.62
Aperture = f3.3 - f6.9

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f3.3 - f6.9) × 5.62 = f18.5 - f38.8

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