Canon PowerShot G5 vs. Canon PowerShot G10

Comparison

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Canon PowerShot G5

Canon PowerShot G10

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Megapixels

5.00

14.70

Max. image resolution

2592 x 1944

4416 x 3312

Sensor

Sensor type

CCD

Sensor size

1/1.8" (~ 7.11 x 5.33 mm)

1/1.7" (~ 7.53 x 5.64 mm)

Sensor resolution

2579 x 1939

4438 x 3312

Diagonal

8.89 mm

9.41 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	:	1.12
(ratio)

Canon PowerShot G5		Canon PowerShot G10

Surface area:

37.90 mm²

42.47 mm²

Difference: 4.57 mm² (12%)

G10 sensor is approx. 1.12x bigger than G5 sensor.

Note: You are comparing cameras of different generations. There is a 5 year gap between Canon G5 (2003) and Canon G10 (2008). All things being equal, newer sensor generations generally outperform the older.

Pixel pitch

2.76 µm

1.7 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: 1.06 µm (62%)

Pixel pitch of G5 is approx. 62% higher than pixel pitch of G10.

Pixel area

7.62 µm²

2.89 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: 4.73 µm² (164%)

A pixel on Canon G5 sensor is approx. 164% bigger than a pixel on Canon G10.

Pixel density

13.16 MP/cm²

34.74 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: 21.58 µm (164%)

Canon G10 has approx. 164% higher pixel density than Canon G5.

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

Specs

Canon G5

Canon G10

Crop factor

4.87

4.6

Total megapixels

5.20

15.00

Effective megapixels

5.00

14.70

Optical zoom

Digital zoom

Yes

ISO sensitivity

Auto, 50, 100, 200, 400

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

RAW

Manual focus

Normal focus range

50 cm

40 cm

Macro focus range

5 cm

1 cm

Focal length (35mm equiv.)

35 - 140 mm

28 - 140 mm

Aperture priority

Yes

Max. aperture

f2.0 - f3.0

f2.8 - f4.5

Max. aperture (35mm equiv.)

f9.7 - f14.6

f12.9 - f20.7

Metering

Centre weighted, Evaluative, Spot

Exposure compensation

±2 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)

Shutter priority

Yes

Min. shutter speed

15 sec

Max. shutter speed

1/2000 sec

1/1400 sec

Built-in flash

External flash

Viewfinder

Optical (tunnel)

White balance presets

Screen size

1.8"

Screen resolution

118,000 dots

461,000 dots

Video capture

Max. video resolution

Storage types

CompactFlash type I, CompactFlash type II, Microdrive

SDHC, Secure Digital

USB

USB 1.0

USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)

HDMI

Wireless

GPS

Battery

Canon Lithium-Ion

Lithium-Ion NB-7L rechargeable battery

Weight

410 g

350 g

Dimensions

121 x 73.9 x 69.9 mm

109 x 78 x 46 mm

Year

2003

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 G5 diagonal

The diagonal of G5 sensor is not 1/1.8 or 0.56" (14.1 mm) as you might expect, but approximately two thirds of that value - 8.89 mm. If you want to know why, see sensor sizes.

w = 7.11 mm
h = 5.33 mm

Diagonal = √

7.11² + 5.33²

= 8.89 mm

Canon G10 diagonal

The diagonal of G10 sensor is not 1/1.7 or 0.59" (14.9 mm) as you might expect, but approximately two thirds of that value - 9.41 mm. If you want to know why, see sensor sizes.

w = 7.53 mm
h = 5.64 mm

Diagonal = √

7.53² + 5.64²

= 9.41 mm

Surface area

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

G5 sensor area

Width = 7.11 mm
Height = 5.33 mm

Surface area = 7.11 × 5.33 = 37.90 mm²

G10 sensor area

Width = 7.53 mm
Height = 5.64 mm

Surface area = 7.53 × 5.64 = 42.47 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

G5 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 7.11 mm
Sensor resolution width = 2579 pixels

Pixel pitch =	7.11	× 1000	= 2.76 µm
	2579

G10 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 7.53 mm
Sensor resolution width = 4438 pixels

Pixel pitch =	7.53	× 1000	= 1.7 µm
	4438

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

G5 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 2.76 µm

Pixel area = 2.76² = 7.62 µm²

G10 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 1.7 µm

Pixel area = 1.7² = 2.89 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

G5 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 2579 pixels
Sensor width = 0.711 cm

Pixel density = (2579 / 0.711)² / 1000000 = 13.16 MP/cm²

G10 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 4438 pixels
Sensor width = 0.753 cm

Pixel density = (4438 / 0.753)² / 1000000 = 34.74 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

G5 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 7.11 mm
Sensor height = 5.33 mm
Effective megapixels = 5.00

r = 7.11/5.33 = 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

G10 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 7.53 mm
Sensor height = 5.64 mm
Effective megapixels = 14.70

r = 7.53/5.64 = 1.34

X = √	14.70 × 1000000	= 3312
	1.34

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 3312 × 1.34 = 4438
Resolution vertical: X = 3312

Sensor resolution = 4438 x 3312

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

G5 crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 8.89 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 4.87
	8.89

G10 crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 9.41 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 4.6
	9.41

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).

G5 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 4.87
Aperture = f2.0 - f3.0

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f2.0 - f3.0) × 4.87 = f9.7 - f14.6

G10 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 4.6
Aperture = f2.8 - f4.5

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f2.8 - f4.5) × 4.6 = f12.9 - f20.7

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