Canon PowerShot S500 vs. Canon PowerShot ELPH 330 HS

Comparison

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Canon PowerShot S500

Canon PowerShot ELPH 330 HS

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Megapixels

5.00

12.10

Max. image resolution

2592 x 1944

4000 x 3000

Sensor

Sensor type

CCD

CMOS

Sensor size

1/1.8" (~ 7.11 x 5.33 mm)

1/2.3" (~ 6.16 x 4.62 mm)

Sensor resolution

2579 x 1939

4011 x 3016

Diagonal

8.89 mm

7.70 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
1.33	:	1
(ratio)

Canon PowerShot S500		Canon PowerShot ELPH 330 HS

Surface area:

37.90 mm²

28.46 mm²

Difference: 9.44 mm² (33%)

S500 sensor is approx. 1.33x bigger than ELPH 330 HS sensor.

Note: You are comparing sensors of very different generations. There is a gap of 9 years between Canon S500 (2004) and Canon ELPH 330 HS (2013). Nine years is a lot of time in terms of technology, meaning newer sensors are overall much more efficient than the older ones.

Pixel pitch

2.76 µm

1.54 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: 1.22 µm (79%)

Pixel pitch of S500 is approx. 79% higher than pixel pitch of ELPH 330 HS.

Pixel area

7.62 µm²

2.37 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: 5.25 µm² (222%)

A pixel on Canon S500 sensor is approx. 222% bigger than a pixel on Canon ELPH 330 HS.

Pixel density

13.16 MP/cm²

42.4 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: 29.24 µm (222%)

Canon ELPH 330 HS has approx. 222% higher pixel density than Canon S500.

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

Specs

Canon S500

Canon ELPH 330 HS

Crop factor

4.87

5.62

Total megapixels

5.20

12.80

Effective megapixels

5.00

12.10

Optical zoom

10x

Digital zoom

Yes

ISO sensitivity

Auto, 50, 100, 200, 400

Auto, 80 - 6400

RAW

Manual focus

Normal focus range

46 cm

Macro focus range

5 cm

1 cm

Focal length (35mm equiv.)

36 - 108 mm

24 - 240 mm

Aperture priority

Max. aperture

f2.8 - f4.9

f3 - f6.9

Max. aperture (35mm equiv.)

f13.6 - f23.9

f16.9 - f38.8

Metering

Multi, Center-weighted, Spot

Matrix, Center-weighted, Spot

Exposure compensation

±2 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)

Shutter priority

Min. shutter speed

15 sec

Max. shutter speed

1/2000 sec

Built-in flash

External flash

Viewfinder

Optical (tunnel)

None

White balance presets

Screen size

1.5"

Screen resolution

118,000 dots

461,000 dots

Video capture

Max. video resolution

1920x1080 (24p)

Storage types

Compact Flash (Type I)

SD/SDHC/SDXC

USB

USB 1.0

USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)

HDMI

Wireless

GPS

Battery

Lithium-Ion NB-1LH Battery

Battery Pack NB-4L

Weight

215 g

144 g

Dimensions

87 x 57 x 28 mm

97.2 x 56.4 x 22.5 mm

Year

2004

2013

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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 S500 diagonal

The diagonal of S500 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 ELPH 330 HS diagonal

The diagonal of ELPH 330 HS sensor is not 1/2.3 or 0.43" (11 mm) as you might expect, but approximately two thirds of that value - 7.7 mm. If you want to know why, see sensor sizes.

w = 6.16 mm
h = 4.62 mm

Diagonal = √

6.16² + 4.62²

= 7.70 mm

Surface area

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

S500 sensor area

Width = 7.11 mm
Height = 5.33 mm

Surface area = 7.11 × 5.33 = 37.90 mm²

ELPH 330 HS sensor area

Width = 6.16 mm
Height = 4.62 mm

Surface area = 6.16 × 4.62 = 28.46 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

S500 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 7.11 mm
Sensor resolution width = 2579 pixels

Pixel pitch =	7.11	× 1000	= 2.76 µm
	2579

ELPH 330 HS pixel pitch

Sensor width = 6.16 mm
Sensor resolution width = 4011 pixels

Pixel pitch =	6.16	× 1000	= 1.54 µm
	4011

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

S500 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 2.76 µm

Pixel area = 2.76² = 7.62 µm²

ELPH 330 HS pixel area

Pixel pitch = 1.54 µm

Pixel area = 1.54² = 2.37 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

S500 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 2579 pixels
Sensor width = 0.711 cm

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

ELPH 330 HS pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 4011 pixels
Sensor width = 0.616 cm

Pixel density = (4011 / 0.616)² / 1000000 = 42.4 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

S500 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

ELPH 330 HS sensor resolution

Sensor width = 6.16 mm
Sensor height = 4.62 mm
Effective megapixels = 12.10

r = 6.16/4.62 = 1.33

X = √	12.10 × 1000000	= 3016
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 3016 × 1.33 = 4011
Resolution vertical: X = 3016

Sensor resolution = 4011 x 3016

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

S500 crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 8.89 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 4.87
	8.89

ELPH 330 HS crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 7.70 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 5.62
	7.70

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).

S500 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 4.87
Aperture = f2.8 - f4.9

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f2.8 - f4.9) × 4.87 = f13.6 - f23.9

ELPH 330 HS equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 5.62
Aperture = f3 - f6.9

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f3 - f6.9) × 5.62 = f16.9 - f38.8

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