Canon PowerShot SD4500 IS vs. Canon PowerShot G1 X

Comparison

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Canon PowerShot SD4500 IS

Canon PowerShot G1 X

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Megapixels

10.00

14.30

Max. image resolution

3648 x 2736

4352 x 3264

Sensor

Sensor type

CMOS

Sensor size

1/2.3" (~ 6.16 x 4.62 mm)

1.5" (~ 18.7 x 14 mm)

Sensor resolution

3647 x 2742

4378 x 3267

Diagonal

7.70 mm

23.36 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	:	9.2
(ratio)

Canon PowerShot SD4500 IS		Canon PowerShot G1 X

Surface area:

28.46 mm²

261.80 mm²

Difference: 233.34 mm² (820%)

G1 X sensor is approx. 9.2x bigger than SD4500 IS sensor.

Note: You are comparing cameras of different generations. There is a 2 year gap between Canon SD4500 IS (2010) and Canon G1 X (2012). All things being equal, newer sensor generations generally outperform the older.

Pixel pitch

1.69 µm

4.27 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: 2.58 µm (153%)

Pixel pitch of G1 X is approx. 153% higher than pixel pitch of SD4500 IS.

Pixel area

2.86 µm²

18.23 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: 15.37 µm² (537%)

A pixel on Canon G1 X sensor is approx. 537% bigger than a pixel on Canon SD4500 IS.

Pixel density

35.05 MP/cm²

5.48 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: 29.57 µm (540%)

Canon SD4500 IS has approx. 540% higher pixel density than Canon G1 X.

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

Specs

Canon SD4500 IS

Canon G1 X

Crop factor

5.62

1.85

Total megapixels

10.60

15.00

Effective megapixels

10.00

14.30

Optical zoom

10x

Digital zoom

Yes

ISO sensitivity

Auto, 125, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200

Auto, 100, 125, 160, 200, 250, 320, 400, 500, 640, 800, 50, 1600, 2000, 2500, 3200, 4000, 5000, 6400, 8000, 10000, 12800

RAW

Manual focus

Normal focus range

30 cm

40 cm

Macro focus range

1 cm

20 cm

Focal length (35mm equiv.)

36 - 360 mm

28 - 112 mm

Aperture priority

Yes

Max. aperture

f3.4 - f5.6

f2.8 - f5.8

Max. aperture (35mm equiv.)

f19.1 - f31.5

f5.2 - f10.7

Metering

Centre weighted, Evaluative, Spot

Exposure compensation

±2 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)

±3 EV (in 1/3 EV, 1/2 EV steps)

Shutter priority

Yes

Min. shutter speed

15 sec

60 sec

Max. shutter speed

1/4000 sec

Built-in flash

External flash

Viewfinder

None

Optical (tunnel)

White balance presets

Screen size

Screen resolution

230,000 dots

920,000 dots

Video capture

Max. video resolution

1920x1080 (24p)

Storage types

SDHC, SDXC, Secure Digital

USB

USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)

HDMI

Wireless

GPS

Battery

Lithium-Ion NB-9L battery

Lithium-Ion NB-10L rechargeable battery

Weight

190 g

534 g

Dimensions

101 x 59 x 22 mm

116.7 x 80.5 x 64.7 mm

Year

2010

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 SD4500 IS diagonal

The diagonal of SD4500 IS 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

Canon G1 X diagonal

The diagonal of G1 X sensor is not 1.5" (38.1 mm) as you might expect, but approximately two thirds of that value - 23.36 mm. If you want to know why, see sensor sizes.

w = 18.70 mm
h = 14.00 mm

Diagonal = √

18.70² + 14.00²

= 23.36 mm

Surface area

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

SD4500 IS sensor area

Width = 6.16 mm
Height = 4.62 mm

Surface area = 6.16 × 4.62 = 28.46 mm²

G1 X sensor area

Width = 18.70 mm
Height = 14.00 mm

Surface area = 18.70 × 14.00 = 261.80 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

SD4500 IS pixel pitch

Sensor width = 6.16 mm
Sensor resolution width = 3647 pixels

Pixel pitch =	6.16	× 1000	= 1.69 µm
	3647

G1 X pixel pitch

Sensor width = 18.70 mm
Sensor resolution width = 4378 pixels

Pixel pitch =	18.70	× 1000	= 4.27 µm
	4378

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

SD4500 IS pixel area

Pixel pitch = 1.69 µm

Pixel area = 1.69² = 2.86 µm²

G1 X pixel area

Pixel pitch = 4.27 µm

Pixel area = 4.27² = 18.23 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

SD4500 IS pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 3647 pixels
Sensor width = 0.616 cm

Pixel density = (3647 / 0.616)² / 1000000 = 35.05 MP/cm²

G1 X pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 4378 pixels
Sensor width = 1.87 cm

Pixel density = (4378 / 1.87)² / 1000000 = 5.48 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

SD4500 IS sensor resolution

Sensor width = 6.16 mm
Sensor height = 4.62 mm
Effective megapixels = 10.00

r = 6.16/4.62 = 1.33

X = √	10.00 × 1000000	= 2742
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 2742 × 1.33 = 3647
Resolution vertical: X = 2742

Sensor resolution = 3647 x 2742

G1 X sensor resolution

Sensor width = 18.70 mm
Sensor height = 14.00 mm
Effective megapixels = 14.30

r = 18.70/14.00 = 1.34

X = √	14.30 × 1000000	= 3267
	1.34

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 3267 × 1.34 = 4378
Resolution vertical: X = 3267

Sensor resolution = 4378 x 3267

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

SD4500 IS crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 7.70 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 5.62
	7.70

G1 X crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 23.36 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 1.85
	23.36

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).

SD4500 IS equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 5.62
Aperture = f3.4 - f5.6

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f3.4 - f5.6) × 5.62 = f19.1 - f31.5

G1 X equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 1.85
Aperture = f2.8 - f5.8

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f2.8 - f5.8) × 1.85 = f5.2 - f10.7

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