Canon PowerShot Pro70 vs. Canon PowerShot Pro90 IS

Comparison

change cameras »

Canon PowerShot Pro70

Canon PowerShot Pro90 IS

check price »

Megapixels

1.50

2.58

Max. image resolution

1536 x 1024

1856 x 1392

Sensor

Sensor type

CCD

Sensor size

1/2" (~ 6.4 x 4.8 mm)

1/1.8" (~ 7.11 x 5.33 mm)

Sensor resolution

1412 x 1062

1853 x 1393

Diagonal

8.00 mm

8.89 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	:	1.23
(ratio)

Canon PowerShot Pro70		Canon PowerShot Pro90 IS

Surface area:

30.72 mm²

37.90 mm²

Difference: 7.18 mm² (23%)

Pro90 IS sensor is approx. 1.23x bigger than Pro70 sensor.

Note: You are comparing cameras of different generations. There is a 3 year gap between Canon Pro70 (1998) and Canon Pro90 IS (2001). All things being equal, newer sensor generations generally outperform the older.

Pixel pitch

4.53 µm

3.84 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: 0.69 µm (18%)

Pixel pitch of Pro70 is approx. 18% higher than pixel pitch of Pro90 IS.

Pixel area

20.52 µm²

14.75 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: 5.77 µm² (39%)

A pixel on Canon Pro70 sensor is approx. 39% bigger than a pixel on Canon Pro90 IS.

Pixel density

4.87 MP/cm²

6.79 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: 1.92 µm (39%)

Canon Pro90 IS has approx. 39% higher pixel density than Canon Pro70.

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

Specs

Canon Pro70

Canon Pro90 IS

Crop factor

5.41

4.87

Total megapixels

1.70

3.34

Effective megapixels

1.50

2.58

Optical zoom

2.5x

10x

Digital zoom

Yes

ISO sensitivity

100, 200, 400

Auto, 50, 100, 200, 400

RAW

Manual focus

Normal focus range

32 cm

10 cm

Macro focus range

12 cm

10 cm

Focal length (35mm equiv.)

28 - 70 mm

37 - 370 mm

Aperture priority

Yes

Max. aperture

f2.0 - f2.4

f2.8 - f3.5

Max. aperture (35mm equiv.)

f10.8 - f13

f13.6 - f17

Metering

Multi, Center-weighted, Spot

Exposure compensation

±2 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)

Shutter priority

Yes

Min. shutter speed

1/2 sec

8 sec

Max. shutter speed

1/8000 sec

1/1000 sec

Built-in flash

External flash

Viewfinder

Optical (tunnel)

Electronic

White balance presets

Screen size

1.8"

Screen resolution

120,000 dots

Video capture

Max. video resolution

Storage types

Compact Flash (2 slots: 1 @ Type I, 1 @ Type I or II)

Compact Flash (Type I or II)

USB

USB 1.0

HDMI

Wireless

GPS

Battery

Canon 1400mAh NiMH

Canon Lithium-Ion

Weight

800 g

680 g

Dimensions

148 x 84 x 130 mm

127 x 84 x 140 mm

Year

1998

2001

Choose cameras to compare

Popular comparisons:

Diagonal

Diagonal is calculated by the use of Pythagorean theorem:

Diagonal = √

w² + h²

where w = sensor width and h = sensor height

Canon Pro70 diagonal

The diagonal of Pro70 sensor is not 1/2 or 0.5" (12.7 mm) as you might expect, but approximately two thirds of that value - 8 mm. If you want to know why, see sensor sizes.

w = 6.40 mm
h = 4.80 mm

Diagonal = √

6.40² + 4.80²

= 8.00 mm

Canon Pro90 IS diagonal

The diagonal of Pro90 IS 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

Surface area

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

Pro70 sensor area

Width = 6.40 mm
Height = 4.80 mm

Surface area = 6.40 × 4.80 = 30.72 mm²

Pro90 IS sensor area

Width = 7.11 mm
Height = 5.33 mm

Surface area = 7.11 × 5.33 = 37.90 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

Pro70 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 6.40 mm
Sensor resolution width = 1412 pixels

Pixel pitch =	6.40	× 1000	= 4.53 µm
	1412

Pro90 IS pixel pitch

Sensor width = 7.11 mm
Sensor resolution width = 1853 pixels

Pixel pitch =	7.11	× 1000	= 3.84 µm
	1853

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

Pro70 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 4.53 µm

Pixel area = 4.53² = 20.52 µm²

Pro90 IS pixel area

Pixel pitch = 3.84 µm

Pixel area = 3.84² = 14.75 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

Pro70 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 1412 pixels
Sensor width = 0.64 cm

Pixel density = (1412 / 0.64)² / 1000000 = 4.87 MP/cm²

Pro90 IS pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 1853 pixels
Sensor width = 0.711 cm

Pixel density = (1853 / 0.711)² / 1000000 = 6.79 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

Pro70 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 6.40 mm
Sensor height = 4.80 mm
Effective megapixels = 1.50

r = 6.40/4.80 = 1.33

X = √	1.50 × 1000000	= 1062
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 1062 × 1.33 = 1412
Resolution vertical: X = 1062

Sensor resolution = 1412 x 1062

Pro90 IS sensor resolution

Sensor width = 7.11 mm
Sensor height = 5.33 mm
Effective megapixels = 2.58

r = 7.11/5.33 = 1.33

X = √	2.58 × 1000000	= 1393
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 1393 × 1.33 = 1853
Resolution vertical: X = 1393

Sensor resolution = 1853 x 1393

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

Pro70 crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 8.00 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 5.41
	8.00

Pro90 IS crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 8.89 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 4.87
	8.89

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).

Pro70 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 5.41
Aperture = f2.0 - f2.4

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f2.0 - f2.4) × 5.41 = f10.8 - f13

Pro90 IS equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 4.87
Aperture = f2.8 - f3.5

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f2.8 - f3.5) × 4.87 = f13.6 - f17

Enter your screen size (diagonal)

My screen size is inches

Actual size is currently adjusted to screen.

If your screen (phone, tablet, or monitor) is not in diagonal, then the actual size of a sensor won't be shown correctly.