Canon PowerShot Pro90 IS vs. Canon PowerShot S90

Comparison

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Canon PowerShot Pro90 IS

Canon PowerShot S90

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Megapixels

2.58

10.00

Max. image resolution

1856 x 1392

3648 x 2736

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

1853 x 1393

3661 x 2732

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 Pro90 IS		Canon PowerShot S90

Surface area:

37.90 mm²

42.47 mm²

Difference: 4.57 mm² (12%)

S90 sensor is approx. 1.12x bigger than Pro90 IS sensor.

Note: You are comparing sensors of very different generations. There is a gap of 8 years between Canon Pro90 IS (2001) and Canon S90 (2009). Eight years is a lot of time in terms of technology, meaning newer sensors are overall much more efficient than the older ones.

Pixel pitch

3.84 µm

2.06 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: 1.78 µm (86%)

Pixel pitch of Pro90 IS is approx. 86% higher than pixel pitch of S90.

Pixel area

14.75 µm²

4.24 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: 10.51 µm² (248%)

A pixel on Canon Pro90 IS sensor is approx. 248% bigger than a pixel on Canon S90.

Pixel density

6.79 MP/cm²

23.64 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: 16.85 µm (248%)

Canon S90 has approx. 248% higher pixel density than Canon Pro90 IS.

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

Specs

Canon Pro90 IS

Canon S90

Crop factor

4.87

4.6

Total megapixels

3.34

10.40

Effective megapixels

2.58

10.00

Optical zoom

10x

3.8x

Digital zoom

Yes

ISO sensitivity

Auto, 50, 100, 200, 400

Auto, 80-3200

RAW

Manual focus

Normal focus range

10 cm

50 cm

Macro focus range

10 cm

5 cm

Focal length (35mm equiv.)

37 - 370 mm

28 - 105 mm

Aperture priority

Yes

Max. aperture

f2.8 - f3.5

f2.0 - f4.9

Max. aperture (35mm equiv.)

f13.6 - f17

f9.2 - f22.5

Metering

Multi, Center-weighted, Spot

Exposure compensation

±2 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)

Shutter priority

Yes

Min. shutter speed

8 sec

15 sec

Max. shutter speed

1/1000 sec

1/1600 sec

Built-in flash

External flash

Viewfinder

Electronic

None

White balance presets

Screen size

1.8"

Screen resolution

120,000 dots

461,000 dots

Video capture

Max. video resolution

640x480 (30p)

Storage types

Compact Flash (Type I or II)

SD, SDHC, MMC, MMCplus, HC MMCplus card

USB

USB 1.0

USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)

HDMI

Wireless

GPS

Battery

Canon Lithium-Ion

Lithium-Ion NB-6L rechargeable battery

Weight

680 g

195 g

Dimensions

127 x 84 x 140 mm

100 x 58 x 31 mm

Year

2001

2009

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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 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

Canon S90 diagonal

The diagonal of S90 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.

Pro90 IS sensor area

Width = 7.11 mm
Height = 5.33 mm

Surface area = 7.11 × 5.33 = 37.90 mm²

S90 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

Pro90 IS pixel pitch

Sensor width = 7.11 mm
Sensor resolution width = 1853 pixels

Pixel pitch =	7.11	× 1000	= 3.84 µm
	1853

S90 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 7.53 mm
Sensor resolution width = 3661 pixels

Pixel pitch =	7.53	× 1000	= 2.06 µm
	3661

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

Pro90 IS pixel area

Pixel pitch = 3.84 µm

Pixel area = 3.84² = 14.75 µm²

S90 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 2.06 µm

Pixel area = 2.06² = 4.24 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

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

S90 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 3661 pixels
Sensor width = 0.753 cm

Pixel density = (3661 / 0.753)² / 1000000 = 23.64 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

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

S90 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 7.53 mm
Sensor height = 5.64 mm
Effective megapixels = 10.00

r = 7.53/5.64 = 1.34

X = √	10.00 × 1000000	= 2732
	1.34

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 2732 × 1.34 = 3661
Resolution vertical: X = 2732

Sensor resolution = 3661 x 2732

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

Pro90 IS crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 8.89 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 4.87
	8.89

S90 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).

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

S90 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 4.6
Aperture = f2.0 - f4.9

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f2.0 - f4.9) × 4.6 = f9.2 - f22.5

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