Canon PowerShot A800 vs. Panasonic Lumix DMC-LS5

Comparison

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Canon PowerShot A800

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LS5

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Megapixels

10.00

14.10

Max. image resolution

3648 x 2736

4320 x 3240

Sensor

Sensor type

CCD

Sensor size

1/2.3" (~ 6.16 x 4.62 mm)

1/2.33" (~ 6.08 x 4.56 mm)

Sensor resolution

3647 x 2742

4330 x 3256

Diagonal

7.70 mm

7.60 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
1.03	:	1
(ratio)

Canon PowerShot A800		Panasonic Lumix DMC-LS5

Surface area:

28.46 mm²

27.72 mm²

Difference: 0.74 mm² (3%)

A800 sensor is slightly bigger than LS5 sensor (only 3% difference).

Pixel pitch

1.69 µm

1.4 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: 0.29 µm (21%)

Pixel pitch of A800 is approx. 21% higher than pixel pitch of LS5.

Pixel area

2.86 µm²

1.96 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: 0.9 µm² (46%)

A pixel on Canon A800 sensor is approx. 46% bigger than a pixel on Panasonic LS5.

Pixel density

35.05 MP/cm²

50.72 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: 15.67 µm (45%)

Panasonic LS5 has approx. 45% higher pixel density than Canon A800.

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

Specs

Canon A800

Panasonic LS5

Crop factor

5.62

5.69

Total megapixels

10.60

14.50

Effective megapixels

10.00

14.10

Optical zoom

3.3x

Digital zoom

Yes

ISO sensitivity

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

Auto, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600 - 6400

RAW

Manual focus

Normal focus range

45 cm

15 cm

Macro focus range

1 cm

Focal length (35mm equiv.)

37 - 122 mm

26 - 130 mm

Aperture priority

Max. aperture

f3.0 - f5.8

f2.8 - f6.5

Max. aperture (35mm equiv.)

f16.9 - f32.6

f15.9 - f37

Metering

Centre weighted, Multi-segment, Spot

Intelligent Multiple

Exposure compensation

±2 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)

Shutter priority

Yes

Min. shutter speed

15 sec

8 sec

Max. shutter speed

1/2000 sec

Built-in flash

External flash

Viewfinder

None

White balance presets

Screen size

2.5"

2.7"

Screen resolution

115,000 dots

230,000 dots

Video capture

Max. video resolution

Storage types

SDHC, SDXC, Secure Digital

USB

USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)

HDMI

Wireless

GPS

Battery

2 x AA batteries

2 x AA batteries (NiMH recommended)

Weight

186 g

126 g

Dimensions

94 x 62 x 31 mm

96.5 x 62.0 x 27.2 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 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

Panasonic LS5 diagonal

The diagonal of LS5 sensor is not 1/2.33 or 0.43" (10.9 mm) as you might expect, but approximately two thirds of that value - 7.6 mm. If you want to know why, see sensor sizes.

w = 6.08 mm
h = 4.56 mm

Diagonal = √

6.08² + 4.56²

= 7.60 mm

Surface area

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

A800 sensor area

Width = 6.16 mm
Height = 4.62 mm

Surface area = 6.16 × 4.62 = 28.46 mm²

LS5 sensor area

Width = 6.08 mm
Height = 4.56 mm

Surface area = 6.08 × 4.56 = 27.72 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

A800 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 6.16 mm
Sensor resolution width = 3647 pixels

Pixel pitch =	6.16	× 1000	= 1.69 µm
	3647

LS5 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 6.08 mm
Sensor resolution width = 4330 pixels

Pixel pitch =	6.08	× 1000	= 1.4 µm
	4330

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

A800 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 1.69 µm

Pixel area = 1.69² = 2.86 µm²

LS5 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 1.4 µm

Pixel area = 1.4² = 1.96 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

A800 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 3647 pixels
Sensor width = 0.616 cm

Pixel density = (3647 / 0.616)² / 1000000 = 35.05 MP/cm²

LS5 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 4330 pixels
Sensor width = 0.608 cm

Pixel density = (4330 / 0.608)² / 1000000 = 50.72 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

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

LS5 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 6.08 mm
Sensor height = 4.56 mm
Effective megapixels = 14.10

r = 6.08/4.56 = 1.33

X = √	14.10 × 1000000	= 3256
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 3256 × 1.33 = 4330
Resolution vertical: X = 3256

Sensor resolution = 4330 x 3256

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

A800 crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 7.70 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 5.62
	7.70

LS5 crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 7.60 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 5.69
	7.60

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).

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

LS5 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 5.69
Aperture = f2.8 - f6.5

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f2.8 - f6.5) × 5.69 = f15.9 - f37

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