Canon IXUS 230 HS vs. Canon PowerShot ELPH 310 HS

Comparison

IXUS 230 HS and PowerShot ELPH 310 HS are the exact same camera, they just have different names in different countries. Here is a plausible explanation of why some manufacturers do this.

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Canon IXUS 230 HS

Canon PowerShot ELPH 310 HS

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Megapixels

12.10

Max. image resolution

4000 x 3000

Sensor

Sensor type

CMOS

Sensor size

1/2.3" (~ 6.16 x 4.62 mm)

Sensor resolution

4011 x 3016

Diagonal

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
(ratio)

Canon IXUS 230 HS		Canon PowerShot ELPH 310 HS

Surface area:

28.46 mm²

Difference: 0 mm² (0%)

IXUS 230 HS and ELPH 310 HS sensors are the same size.

Pixel pitch

1.54 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 µm (0%)

IXUS 230 HS and ELPH 310 HS have the same pixel pitch.

Pixel area

2.37 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: 0 µm² (0%)

Canon IXUS 230 HS and Canon ELPH 310 HS have the same pixel area.

Pixel density

42.4 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: 0 µm (0%)

Canon IXUS 230 HS and Canon ELPH 310 HS have the same pixel density.

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

Specs

Canon IXUS 230 HS

Canon ELPH 310 HS

Crop factor

5.62

Total megapixels

Effective megapixels

12.10

Optical zoom

Digital zoom

Yes

ISO sensitivity

Auto 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200

RAW

Manual focus

Normal focus range

Macro focus range

3 cm

Focal length (35mm equiv.)

28 - 224 mm

Aperture priority

Max. aperture

f3 - f5.9

Max. aperture (35mm equiv.)

f16.9 - f33.2

Metering

Multi, Center-weighted, Spot

Exposure compensation

±2 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)

Shutter priority

Min. shutter speed

15 sec

Max. shutter speed

1/2000 sec

Built-in flash

External flash

Viewfinder

None

White balance presets

Screen size

Screen resolution

461,000 dots

Video capture

Max. video resolution

Storage types

SD/SDHC/SDXC

USB

USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)

HDMI

Wireless

GPS

Battery

Lithium-Ion NB-4L rechargeable battery

Weight

140 g

Dimensions

92 x 57 x 22 mm

Year

2011

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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 230 HS diagonal

The diagonal of IXUS 230 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

Canon ELPH 310 HS diagonal

The diagonal of ELPH 310 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 230 HS sensor area

Width = 6.16 mm
Height = 4.62 mm

Surface area = 6.16 × 4.62 = 28.46 mm²

ELPH 310 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 230 HS pixel pitch

Sensor width = 6.16 mm
Sensor resolution width = 4011 pixels

Pixel pitch =	6.16	× 1000	= 1.54 µm
	4011

ELPH 310 HS pixel pitch

Sensor width = 6.16 mm
Sensor resolution width = 4011 pixels

Pixel pitch =	6.16	× 1000	= 1.54 µm
	4011

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 230 HS pixel area

Pixel pitch = 1.54 µm

Pixel area = 1.54² = 2.37 µm²

ELPH 310 HS pixel area

Pixel pitch = 1.54 µm

Pixel area = 1.54² = 2.37 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 230 HS pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 4011 pixels
Sensor width = 0.616 cm

Pixel density = (4011 / 0.616)² / 1000000 = 42.4 MP/cm²

ELPH 310 HS pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 4011 pixels
Sensor width = 0.616 cm

Pixel density = (4011 / 0.616)² / 1000000 = 42.4 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 230 HS sensor resolution

Sensor width = 6.16 mm
Sensor height = 4.62 mm
Effective megapixels = 12.10

r = 6.16/4.62 = 1.33

X = √	12.10 × 1000000	= 3016
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 3016 × 1.33 = 4011
Resolution vertical: X = 3016

Sensor resolution = 4011 x 3016

ELPH 310 HS sensor resolution

Sensor width = 6.16 mm
Sensor height = 4.62 mm
Effective megapixels = 12.10

r = 6.16/4.62 = 1.33

X = √	12.10 × 1000000	= 3016
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 3016 × 1.33 = 4011
Resolution vertical: X = 3016

Sensor resolution = 4011 x 3016

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 230 HS crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 7.70 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 5.62
	7.70

ELPH 310 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 230 HS equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 5.62
Aperture = f3 - f5.9

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f3 - f5.9) × 5.62 = f16.9 - f33.2

ELPH 310 HS equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 5.62
Aperture = f3 - f5.9

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f3 - f5.9) × 5.62 = f16.9 - f33.2

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