Canon PowerShot S230 DIGITAL ELPH vs. Nikon Coolpix S210

Comparison

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Canon PowerShot S230 DIGITAL ELPH

Nikon Coolpix S210

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Megapixels

3.20

8.00

Max. image resolution

2048 x 1536

3264 x 2448

Sensor

Sensor type

CCD

Sensor size

1/2.7" (~ 5.33 x 4 mm)

1/2.5" (~ 5.75 x 4.32 mm)

Sensor resolution

2063 x 1551

3262 x 2453

Diagonal

6.66 mm

7.19 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	:	1.17
(ratio)

Canon PowerShot S230 DIGITAL ELPH		Nikon Coolpix S210

Surface area:

21.32 mm²

24.84 mm²

Difference: 3.52 mm² (17%)

S210 sensor is approx. 1.17x bigger than S230 DIGITAL ELPH sensor.

Note: You are comparing sensors of very different generations. There is a gap of 6 years between Canon S230 DIGITAL ELPH (2002) and Nikon S210 (2008). Six years is a lot of time in terms of technology, meaning newer sensors are overall much more efficient than the older ones.

Pixel pitch

2.58 µm

1.76 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: 0.82 µm (47%)

Pixel pitch of S230 DIGITAL ELPH is approx. 47% higher than pixel pitch of S210.

Pixel area

6.66 µm²

3.1 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: 3.56 µm² (115%)

A pixel on Canon S230 DIGITAL ELPH sensor is approx. 115% bigger than a pixel on Nikon S210.

Pixel density

14.98 MP/cm²

32.18 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: 17.2 µm (115%)

Nikon S210 has approx. 115% higher pixel density than Canon S230 DIGITAL ELPH.

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

Specs

Canon S230 DIGITAL ELPH

Nikon S210

Crop factor

6.5

6.02

Total megapixels

3.30

8.30

Effective megapixels

3.20

8.00

Optical zoom

Digital zoom

Yes

ISO sensitivity

Auto, 50, 100, 200, 400

Auto, 64, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 2000

RAW

Manual focus

Normal focus range

47 cm

60 cm

Macro focus range

10 cm

Focal length (35mm equiv.)

35 - 70 mm

38 - 114 mm

Aperture priority

Max. aperture

f2.8 - f4.0

f3.1 - f5.9

Max. aperture (35mm equiv.)

f18.2 - f26

f18.7 - f35.5

Metering

Multi, Center-weighted, Spot

Exposure compensation

±2 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)

Shutter priority

Min. shutter speed

15 sec

4 sec

Max. shutter speed

1/1500 sec

Built-in flash

External flash

Viewfinder

Optical (tunnel)

None

White balance presets

Screen size

1.5"

2.5"

Screen resolution

120,000 dots

230,000 dots

Video capture

Max. video resolution

Storage types

Compact Flash (Type I)

SDHC, Secure Digital

USB

USB 1.0

USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)

HDMI

Wireless

GPS

Battery

Canon Lithium-Ion

Lithium-Ion (EN-EL10)

Weight

250 g

100 g

Dimensions

87 x 57 x 27 mm

90 x 55.5 x 18 mm

Year

2002

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 S230 DIGITAL ELPH diagonal

The diagonal of S230 DIGITAL ELPH sensor is not 1/2.7 or 0.37" (9.4 mm) as you might expect, but approximately two thirds of that value - 6.66 mm. If you want to know why, see sensor sizes.

w = 5.33 mm
h = 4.00 mm

Diagonal = √

5.33² + 4.00²

= 6.66 mm

Nikon S210 diagonal

The diagonal of S210 sensor is not 1/2.5 or 0.4" (10.2 mm) as you might expect, but approximately two thirds of that value - 7.19 mm. If you want to know why, see sensor sizes.

w = 5.75 mm
h = 4.32 mm

Diagonal = √

5.75² + 4.32²

= 7.19 mm

Surface area

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

S230 DIGITAL ELPH sensor area

Width = 5.33 mm
Height = 4.00 mm

Surface area = 5.33 × 4.00 = 21.32 mm²

S210 sensor area

Width = 5.75 mm
Height = 4.32 mm

Surface area = 5.75 × 4.32 = 24.84 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

S230 DIGITAL ELPH pixel pitch

Sensor width = 5.33 mm
Sensor resolution width = 2063 pixels

Pixel pitch =	5.33	× 1000	= 2.58 µm
	2063

S210 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 5.75 mm
Sensor resolution width = 3262 pixels

Pixel pitch =	5.75	× 1000	= 1.76 µm
	3262

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

S230 DIGITAL ELPH pixel area

Pixel pitch = 2.58 µm

Pixel area = 2.58² = 6.66 µm²

S210 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 1.76 µm

Pixel area = 1.76² = 3.1 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

S230 DIGITAL ELPH pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 2063 pixels
Sensor width = 0.533 cm

Pixel density = (2063 / 0.533)² / 1000000 = 14.98 MP/cm²

S210 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 3262 pixels
Sensor width = 0.575 cm

Pixel density = (3262 / 0.575)² / 1000000 = 32.18 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

S230 DIGITAL ELPH sensor resolution

Sensor width = 5.33 mm
Sensor height = 4.00 mm
Effective megapixels = 3.20

r = 5.33/4.00 = 1.33

X = √	3.20 × 1000000	= 1551
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 1551 × 1.33 = 2063
Resolution vertical: X = 1551

Sensor resolution = 2063 x 1551

S210 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 5.75 mm
Sensor height = 4.32 mm
Effective megapixels = 8.00

r = 5.75/4.32 = 1.33

X = √	8.00 × 1000000	= 2453
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 2453 × 1.33 = 3262
Resolution vertical: X = 2453

Sensor resolution = 3262 x 2453

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

S230 DIGITAL ELPH crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 6.66 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 6.5
	6.66

S210 crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 7.19 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 6.02
	7.19

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).

S230 DIGITAL ELPH equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 6.5
Aperture = f2.8 - f4.0

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f2.8 - f4.0) × 6.5 = f18.2 - f26

S210 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 6.02
Aperture = f3.1 - f5.9

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f3.1 - f5.9) × 6.02 = f18.7 - f35.5

More comparisons of Canon S230 DIGITAL ELPH:

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