Canon EOS-1Ds vs. Canon EOS 5D

Comparison

change cameras »

Canon EOS-1Ds

Canon EOS 5D

check price »

Megapixels

11.00

12.70

Max. image resolution

4064 x 2704

4368 x 2912

Sensor

Sensor type

CMOS

Sensor size

35.8 x 23.8 mm

Sensor resolution

4062 x 2708

4365 x 2910

Diagonal

42.99 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
(ratio)

Canon EOS-1Ds		Canon EOS 5D

Surface area:

852.04 mm²

Difference: 0 mm² (0%)

-1Ds and 5D sensors are the same size.

Note: You are comparing cameras of different generations. There is a 3 year gap between Canon -1Ds (2002) and Canon 5D (2005). All things being equal, newer sensor generations generally outperform the older.

Pixel pitch

8.81 µm

8.2 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: 0.61 µm (7%)

Pixel pitch of -1Ds is approx. 7% higher than pixel pitch of 5D.

Pixel area

77.62 µm²

67.24 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: 10.38 µm² (15%)

A pixel on Canon -1Ds sensor is approx. 15% bigger than a pixel on Canon 5D.

Pixel density

1.29 MP/cm²

1.49 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: 0.2 µm (16%)

Canon 5D has approx. 16% higher pixel density than Canon -1Ds.

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

Specs

Canon -1Ds

Canon 5D

Crop factor

1.01

Total megapixels

11.40

13.30

Effective megapixels

11.00

12.70

Optical zoom

Digital zoom

ISO sensitivity

100 - 1250 in 1/3 stops, plus 50 as option

Auto, 50 - 3200

RAW

Manual focus

Normal focus range

Macro focus range

Focal length (35mm equiv.)

Aperture priority

Yes

Max. aperture

Max. aperture (35mm equiv.)

n/a

Metering

Evaluative, Multi Spot, Spot, Spot-AF

Centre weighted, Matrix, Multi-segment, Spot

Exposure compensation

±3 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)

±2 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)

Shutter priority

Yes

Min. shutter speed

30 sec

Max. shutter speed

1/8000 sec

Built-in flash

External flash

Viewfinder

Optical (pentaprism)

White balance presets

Screen size

2.5"

Screen resolution

120,000 dots

230,000 dots

Video capture

Max. video resolution

Storage types

CompactFlash type I, CompactFlash type II, Microdrive

USB

USB 1.0

USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)

HDMI

Wireless

GPS

Battery

Canon Lithium-Ion

Lithium-Ion BP-511A rechargeable battery

Weight

1585 g

895 g

Dimensions

156 x 157.6 x 79.9 mm

152 x 113 x 75 mm

Year

2002

2005

Choose cameras to compare

Popular comparisons:

Diagonal

Diagonal is calculated by the use of Pythagorean theorem:

Diagonal = √

w² + h²

where w = sensor width and h = sensor height

Canon -1Ds diagonal

w = 35.80 mm
h = 23.80 mm

Diagonal = √

35.80² + 23.80²

= 42.99 mm

Canon 5D diagonal

w = 35.80 mm
h = 23.80 mm

Diagonal = √

35.80² + 23.80²

= 42.99 mm

Surface area

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

-1Ds sensor area

Width = 35.80 mm
Height = 23.80 mm

Surface area = 35.80 × 23.80 = 852.04 mm²

5D sensor area

Width = 35.80 mm
Height = 23.80 mm

Surface area = 35.80 × 23.80 = 852.04 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

-1Ds pixel pitch

Sensor width = 35.80 mm
Sensor resolution width = 4062 pixels

Pixel pitch =	35.80	× 1000	= 8.81 µm
	4062

5D pixel pitch

Sensor width = 35.80 mm
Sensor resolution width = 4365 pixels

Pixel pitch =	35.80	× 1000	= 8.2 µm
	4365

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

-1Ds pixel area

Pixel pitch = 8.81 µm

Pixel area = 8.81² = 77.62 µm²

5D pixel area

Pixel pitch = 8.2 µm

Pixel area = 8.2² = 67.24 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

-1Ds pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 4062 pixels
Sensor width = 3.58 cm

Pixel density = (4062 / 3.58)² / 1000000 = 1.29 MP/cm²

5D pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 4365 pixels
Sensor width = 3.58 cm

Pixel density = (4365 / 3.58)² / 1000000 = 1.49 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

-1Ds sensor resolution

Sensor width = 35.80 mm
Sensor height = 23.80 mm
Effective megapixels = 11.00

r = 35.80/23.80 = 1.5

X = √	11.00 × 1000000	= 2708
	1.5

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 2708 × 1.5 = 4062
Resolution vertical: X = 2708

Sensor resolution = 4062 x 2708

5D sensor resolution

Sensor width = 35.80 mm
Sensor height = 23.80 mm
Effective megapixels = 12.70

r = 35.80/23.80 = 1.5

X = √	12.70 × 1000000	= 2910
	1.5

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 2910 × 1.5 = 4365
Resolution vertical: X = 2910

Sensor resolution = 4365 x 2910

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

-1Ds crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 42.99 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 1.01
	42.99

5D crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 42.99 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 1.01
	42.99

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).

-1Ds equivalent aperture

Aperture is a lens characteristic, so it's calculated only for fixed lens cameras. If you want to know the equivalent aperture for Canon -1Ds, take the aperture of the lens you're using and multiply it with crop factor.

Crop factor for Canon -1Ds is 1.01

5D equivalent aperture

Aperture is a lens characteristic, so it's calculated only for fixed lens cameras. If you want to know the equivalent aperture for Canon 5D, take the aperture of the lens you're using and multiply it with crop factor.

Crop factor for Canon 5D is 1.01

More comparisons of Canon -1Ds:

Enter your screen size (diagonal)

My screen size is inches

Actual size is currently adjusted to screen.

If your screen (phone, tablet, or monitor) is not in diagonal, then the actual size of a sensor won't be shown correctly.