Canon PowerShot A460 vs. Nikon Coolpix L330

Comparison

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Canon PowerShot A460

Nikon Coolpix L330

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Megapixels

5.00

20.20

Max. image resolution

2592 x 1944

5152 x 3864

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

2579 x 1939

5183 x 3897

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 A460		Nikon Coolpix L330

Surface area:

17.28 mm²

28.46 mm²

Difference: 11.18 mm² (65%)

L330 sensor is approx. 1.65x bigger than A460 sensor.

Note: You are comparing sensors of very different generations. There is a gap of 7 years between Canon A460 (2007) and Nikon L330 (2014). Seven years is a lot of time in terms of technology, meaning newer sensors are overall much more efficient than the older ones.

Pixel pitch

1.86 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: 0.67 µm (56%)

Pixel pitch of A460 is approx. 56% higher than pixel pitch of L330.

Pixel area

3.46 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: 2.04 µm² (144%)

A pixel on Canon A460 sensor is approx. 144% bigger than a pixel on Nikon L330.

Pixel density

28.87 MP/cm²

70.79 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: 41.92 µm (145%)

Nikon L330 has approx. 145% higher pixel density than Canon A460.

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

Specs

Canon A460

Nikon L330

Crop factor

7.21

5.62

Total megapixels

5.20

20.48

Effective megapixels

5.00

20.20

Optical zoom

26x

Digital zoom

Yes

ISO sensitivity

Auto, 80, 100, 200, 400

80-1600

RAW

Manual focus

Normal focus range

45 cm

50 cm

Macro focus range

1 cm

Focal length (35mm equiv.)

38 - 152 mm

22.5 - 585 mm

Aperture priority

Max. aperture

f2.8 - f5.8

f3.1 - f5.9

Max. aperture (35mm equiv.)

f20.2 - f41.8

f17.4 - f33.2

Metering

Centre weighted, Evaluative, Spot

Multi, Center-weighted, Spot

Exposure compensation

±2 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)

Shutter priority

Min. shutter speed

15 sec

4 sec

Max. shutter speed

1/2000 sec

1/1500 sec

Built-in flash

External flash

Viewfinder

Optical (tunnel)

None

White balance presets

Screen size

Screen resolution

86,000 dots

460,000 dots

Video capture

Max. video resolution

1280x720 (30p)

Storage types

Secure Digital

SD/SDHC/SDXC

USB

USB 1.0

USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)

HDMI

Wireless

GPS

Battery

AA (2) batteries (NiMH recommended)

4 x AA-size batteries

Weight

165 g

430 g

Dimensions

106 x 51.8 x 40.2 mm

111.1 x 76.3 x 83.3 mm

Year

2007

2014

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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 A460 diagonal

The diagonal of A460 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

Nikon L330 diagonal

The diagonal of L330 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.

A460 sensor area

Width = 4.80 mm
Height = 3.60 mm

Surface area = 4.80 × 3.60 = 17.28 mm²

L330 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

A460 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 4.80 mm
Sensor resolution width = 2579 pixels

Pixel pitch =	4.80	× 1000	= 1.86 µm
	2579

L330 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 6.16 mm
Sensor resolution width = 5183 pixels

Pixel pitch =	6.16	× 1000	= 1.19 µm
	5183

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

A460 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 1.86 µm

Pixel area = 1.86² = 3.46 µm²

L330 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

A460 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 2579 pixels
Sensor width = 0.48 cm

Pixel density = (2579 / 0.48)² / 1000000 = 28.87 MP/cm²

L330 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 5183 pixels
Sensor width = 0.616 cm

Pixel density = (5183 / 0.616)² / 1000000 = 70.79 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

A460 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 4.80 mm
Sensor height = 3.60 mm
Effective megapixels = 5.00

r = 4.80/3.60 = 1.33

X = √	5.00 × 1000000	= 1939
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 1939 × 1.33 = 2579
Resolution vertical: X = 1939

Sensor resolution = 2579 x 1939

L330 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 6.16 mm
Sensor height = 4.62 mm
Effective megapixels = 20.20

r = 6.16/4.62 = 1.33

X = √	20.20 × 1000000	= 3897
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 3897 × 1.33 = 5183
Resolution vertical: X = 3897

Sensor resolution = 5183 x 3897

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

A460 crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 6.00 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 7.21
	6.00

L330 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).

A460 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 7.21
Aperture = f2.8 - f5.8

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f2.8 - f5.8) × 7.21 = f20.2 - f41.8

L330 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 5.62
Aperture = f3.1 - f5.9

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f3.1 - f5.9) × 5.62 = f17.4 - f33.2

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