Canon EOS 40D vs. Canon EOS 50D

Comparison

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Canon EOS 40D

Canon EOS 50D

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Megapixels

10.10

15.10

Max. image resolution

3888 x 2592

4752 x 3168

Sensor

Sensor type

CMOS

Sensor size

22.2 x 14.8 mm

22.3 x 14.9 mm

Sensor resolution

3893 x 2595

4760 x 3173

Diagonal

26.68 mm

26.82 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	:	1.01
(ratio)

Canon EOS 40D		Canon EOS 50D

Surface area:

328.56 mm²

332.27 mm²

Difference: 3.71 mm² (1%)

50D sensor is slightly bigger than 40D sensor (only 1% difference).

Pixel pitch

5.7 µm

4.68 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: 1.02 µm (22%)

Pixel pitch of 40D is approx. 22% higher than pixel pitch of 50D.

Pixel area

32.49 µm²

21.9 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: 10.59 µm² (48%)

A pixel on Canon 40D sensor is approx. 48% bigger than a pixel on Canon 50D.

Pixel density

3.08 MP/cm²

4.56 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: 1.48 µm (48%)

Canon 50D has approx. 48% higher pixel density than Canon 40D.

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

Specs

Canon 40D

Canon 50D

Crop factor

1.62

1.61

Total megapixels

10.50

15.50

Effective megapixels

10.10

15.10

Optical zoom

Digital zoom

ISO sensitivity

Auto, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200 (H)

Auto, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200 (H),6400(H1),12800(H2)

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

Multi, Center-weighted, Spot

Exposure compensation

±2 EV (in 1/3 EV, 1/2 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

Screen resolution

230,000 dots

920,000 dots

Video capture

Max. video resolution

Storage types

Compact Flash (Type I or II)

Compact Flash (Type I or II), UDMA

USB

USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)

HDMI

Wireless

GPS

Battery

Canon Lithium-Ion

Lithium-Ion BP-511A rechargeable battery

Weight

822 g

Dimensions

146 x 108 x 74 mm

Year

2007

2008

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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 40D diagonal

w = 22.20 mm
h = 14.80 mm

Diagonal = √

22.20² + 14.80²

= 26.68 mm

Canon 50D diagonal

w = 22.30 mm
h = 14.90 mm

Diagonal = √

22.30² + 14.90²

= 26.82 mm

Surface area

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

40D sensor area

Width = 22.20 mm
Height = 14.80 mm

Surface area = 22.20 × 14.80 = 328.56 mm²

50D sensor area

Width = 22.30 mm
Height = 14.90 mm

Surface area = 22.30 × 14.90 = 332.27 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

40D pixel pitch

Sensor width = 22.20 mm
Sensor resolution width = 3893 pixels

Pixel pitch =	22.20	× 1000	= 5.7 µm
	3893

50D pixel pitch

Sensor width = 22.30 mm
Sensor resolution width = 4760 pixels

Pixel pitch =	22.30	× 1000	= 4.68 µm
	4760

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

40D pixel area

Pixel pitch = 5.7 µm

Pixel area = 5.7² = 32.49 µm²

50D pixel area

Pixel pitch = 4.68 µm

Pixel area = 4.68² = 21.9 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

40D pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 3893 pixels
Sensor width = 2.22 cm

Pixel density = (3893 / 2.22)² / 1000000 = 3.08 MP/cm²

50D pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 4760 pixels
Sensor width = 2.23 cm

Pixel density = (4760 / 2.23)² / 1000000 = 4.56 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

40D sensor resolution

Sensor width = 22.20 mm
Sensor height = 14.80 mm
Effective megapixels = 10.10

r = 22.20/14.80 = 1.5

X = √	10.10 × 1000000	= 2595
	1.5

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 2595 × 1.5 = 3893
Resolution vertical: X = 2595

Sensor resolution = 3893 x 2595

50D sensor resolution

Sensor width = 22.30 mm
Sensor height = 14.90 mm
Effective megapixels = 15.10

r = 22.30/14.90 = 1.5

X = √	15.10 × 1000000	= 3173
	1.5

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 3173 × 1.5 = 4760
Resolution vertical: X = 3173

Sensor resolution = 4760 x 3173

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

40D crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 26.68 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 1.62
	26.68

50D crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 26.82 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 1.61
	26.82

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).

40D 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 40D, take the aperture of the lens you're using and multiply it with crop factor.

Crop factor for Canon 40D is 1.62

50D 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 50D, take the aperture of the lens you're using and multiply it with crop factor.

Crop factor for Canon 50D is 1.61

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