Canon PowerShot 600 vs. Canon PowerShot A800

Comparison

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Canon PowerShot 600

Canon PowerShot A800

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Megapixels

0.50

10.00

Max. image resolution

832 x 608

3648 x 2736

Sensor

Sensor type

CCD

Sensor size

1/3" (~ 4.8 x 3.6 mm)

1/2.3" (~ 6.16 x 4.62 mm)

Sensor resolution

815 x 613

3647 x 2742

Diagonal

6.00 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	:	1.65
(ratio)

Canon PowerShot 600		Canon PowerShot A800

Surface area:

17.28 mm²

28.46 mm²

Difference: 11.18 mm² (65%)

A800 sensor is approx. 1.65x bigger than 600 sensor.

Note: You are comparing sensors of vastly different generations. There is a gap of 15 years between Canon 600 (1996) and Canon A800 (2011). Fifteen years is a huge amount of time, technology wise, resulting in newer sensor being much more efficient than the older one.

Pixel pitch

5.89 µm

1.69 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: 4.2 µm (249%)

Pixel pitch of 600 is approx. 249% higher than pixel pitch of A800.

Pixel area

34.69 µm²

2.86 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: 31.83 µm² (1113%)

A pixel on Canon 600 sensor is approx. 1113% bigger than a pixel on Canon A800.

Pixel density

2.88 MP/cm²

35.05 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: 32.17 µm (1117%)

Canon A800 has approx. 1117% higher pixel density than Canon 600.

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

Specs

Canon 600

Canon A800

Crop factor

7.21

5.62

Total megapixels

0.60

10.60

Effective megapixels

0.50

10.00

Optical zoom

3.3x

Digital zoom

Yes

ISO sensitivity

100

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

RAW

Manual focus

Normal focus range

40 cm

45 cm

Macro focus range

10 cm

1 cm

Focal length (35mm equiv.)

50 mm

37 - 122 mm

Aperture priority

Max. aperture

f2.0 - f2.4

f3.0 - f5.8

Max. aperture (35mm equiv.)

f14.4 - f17.3

f16.9 - f32.6

Metering

Multi, Center-weighted, Spot

Centre weighted, Multi-segment, Spot

Exposure compensation

±2 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)

Shutter priority

Yes

Min. shutter speed

1/30 sec

15 sec

Max. shutter speed

1/500 sec

1/2000 sec

Built-in flash

External flash

Viewfinder

Optical (tunnel)

None

White balance presets

Screen size

1.8"

2.5"

Screen resolution

120,000 dots

115,000 dots

Video capture

Max. video resolution

Storage types

PCMCIA Type II / III

SDHC, SDXC, Secure Digital

USB

USB 1.0

USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)

HDMI

Wireless

GPS

Battery

Canon NiCD

2 x AA batteries

Weight

460 g

186 g

Dimensions

160 x 93 x 59 mm

94 x 62 x 31 mm

Year

1996

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 600 diagonal

The diagonal of 600 sensor is not 1/3 or 0.33" (8.5 mm) as you might expect, but approximately two thirds of that value - 6 mm. If you want to know why, see sensor sizes.

w = 4.80 mm
h = 3.60 mm

Diagonal = √

4.80² + 3.60²

= 6.00 mm

Canon A800 diagonal

The diagonal of A800 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.

600 sensor area

Width = 4.80 mm
Height = 3.60 mm

Surface area = 4.80 × 3.60 = 17.28 mm²

A800 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

600 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 4.80 mm
Sensor resolution width = 815 pixels

Pixel pitch =	4.80	× 1000	= 5.89 µm
	815

A800 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 6.16 mm
Sensor resolution width = 3647 pixels

Pixel pitch =	6.16	× 1000	= 1.69 µm
	3647

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

600 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 5.89 µm

Pixel area = 5.89² = 34.69 µm²

A800 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 1.69 µm

Pixel area = 1.69² = 2.86 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

600 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 815 pixels
Sensor width = 0.48 cm

Pixel density = (815 / 0.48)² / 1000000 = 2.88 MP/cm²

A800 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 3647 pixels
Sensor width = 0.616 cm

Pixel density = (3647 / 0.616)² / 1000000 = 35.05 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

600 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 4.80 mm
Sensor height = 3.60 mm
Effective megapixels = 0.50

r = 4.80/3.60 = 1.33

X = √	0.50 × 1000000	= 613
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 613 × 1.33 = 815
Resolution vertical: X = 613

Sensor resolution = 815 x 613

A800 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 6.16 mm
Sensor height = 4.62 mm
Effective megapixels = 10.00

r = 6.16/4.62 = 1.33

X = √	10.00 × 1000000	= 2742
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 2742 × 1.33 = 3647
Resolution vertical: X = 2742

Sensor resolution = 3647 x 2742

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

600 crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 6.00 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 7.21
	6.00

A800 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).

600 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 7.21
Aperture = f2.0 - f2.4

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f2.0 - f2.4) × 7.21 = f14.4 - f17.3

A800 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 5.62
Aperture = f3.0 - f5.8

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f3.0 - f5.8) × 5.62 = f16.9 - f32.6

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