Canon PowerShot S100 vs. Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7

Comparison

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Canon PowerShot S100

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7

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Megapixels

12.10

10.10

Max. image resolution

4000 x 3000

3648 x 2736

Sensor

Sensor type

CMOS

Sensor size

1/1.7" (~ 7.53 x 5.64 mm)

Sensor resolution

4027 x 3005

3678 x 2745

Diagonal

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
(ratio)

Canon PowerShot S100		Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7

Surface area:

42.47 mm²

Difference: 0 mm² (0%)

S100 and LX7 sensors are the same size.

Pixel pitch

1.87 µm

2.05 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: 0.18 µm (10%)

Pixel pitch of LX7 is approx. 10% higher than pixel pitch of S100.

Pixel area

3.5 µm²

4.2 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: 0.7 µm² (20%)

A pixel on Panasonic LX7 sensor is approx. 20% bigger than a pixel on Canon S100.

Pixel density

28.6 MP/cm²

23.86 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: 4.74 µm (20%)

Canon S100 has approx. 20% higher pixel density than Panasonic LX7.

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

Specs

Canon S100

Panasonic LX7

Crop factor

4.6

Total megapixels

13.30

12.80

Effective megapixels

12.10

10.10

Optical zoom

3.8x

Digital zoom

Yes

ISO sensitivity

Auto, 80 - 6400

Auto, 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, 6400, (12800 with boost)

RAW

Manual focus

Normal focus range

30 cm

50 cm

Macro focus range

3 cm

1 cm

Focal length (35mm equiv.)

24 - 120 mm

24 - 90 mm

Aperture priority

Yes

Max. aperture

f2.0 - f5.9

f1.4 - f2.3

Max. aperture (35mm equiv.)

f9.2 - f27.1

f6.4 - f10.6

Metering

Multi, Center-weighted, Spot

Exposure compensation

±3 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)

Shutter priority

Yes

Min. shutter speed

15 sec

60 sec

Max. shutter speed

1/2000 sec

1/4000 sec

Built-in flash

External flash

Viewfinder

None

Electronic (optional)

White balance presets

Screen size

Screen resolution

461,000 dots

920,000 dots

Video capture

Max. video resolution

1920x1080 (60p/60i/30p)

Storage types

SDHC, SDXC, Secure Digital

SD/SDHC/SDXC, Internal

USB

USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)

HDMI

Wireless

GPS

Battery

Lithium-Ion NB-5L rechargeable battery

Lithium-Ion rechargeable battery

Weight

198 g

298 g

Dimensions

98.9 x 59.8 x 26.7 mm

111 x 68 x 46 mm

Year

2011

2012

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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 S100 diagonal

The diagonal of S100 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

Panasonic LX7 diagonal

The diagonal of LX7 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.

S100 sensor area

Width = 7.53 mm
Height = 5.64 mm

Surface area = 7.53 × 5.64 = 42.47 mm²

LX7 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

S100 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 7.53 mm
Sensor resolution width = 4027 pixels

Pixel pitch =	7.53	× 1000	= 1.87 µm
	4027

LX7 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 7.53 mm
Sensor resolution width = 3678 pixels

Pixel pitch =	7.53	× 1000	= 2.05 µm
	3678

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

S100 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 1.87 µm

Pixel area = 1.87² = 3.5 µm²

LX7 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 2.05 µm

Pixel area = 2.05² = 4.2 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

S100 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 4027 pixels
Sensor width = 0.753 cm

Pixel density = (4027 / 0.753)² / 1000000 = 28.6 MP/cm²

LX7 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 3678 pixels
Sensor width = 0.753 cm

Pixel density = (3678 / 0.753)² / 1000000 = 23.86 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

S100 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 7.53 mm
Sensor height = 5.64 mm
Effective megapixels = 12.10

r = 7.53/5.64 = 1.34

X = √	12.10 × 1000000	= 3005
	1.34

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 3005 × 1.34 = 4027
Resolution vertical: X = 3005

Sensor resolution = 4027 x 3005

LX7 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 7.53 mm
Sensor height = 5.64 mm
Effective megapixels = 10.10

r = 7.53/5.64 = 1.34

X = √	10.10 × 1000000	= 2745
	1.34

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 2745 × 1.34 = 3678
Resolution vertical: X = 2745

Sensor resolution = 3678 x 2745

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

S100 crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 9.41 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 4.6
	9.41

LX7 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).

S100 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 4.6
Aperture = f2.0 - f5.9

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f2.0 - f5.9) × 4.6 = f9.2 - f27.1

LX7 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 4.6
Aperture = f1.4 - f2.3

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f1.4 - f2.3) × 4.6 = f6.4 - f10.6

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