Canon PowerShot SD500 vs. Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S700

Comparison

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PowerShot SD500 image
vs
Cyber-shot DSC-S700 image
Canon PowerShot SD500 Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S700
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Megapixels
7.10
7.20
Max. image resolution
3072 x 2304
3072 x 2304

Sensor

Sensor type
CCD
CCD
Sensor size
1/1.8" (~ 7.11 x 5.33 mm)
1/2.5" (~ 5.75 x 4.32 mm)
Sensor resolution
3072 x 2310
3095 x 2327
Diagonal
8.89 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
1.53 : 1
(ratio)
Canon PowerShot SD500 Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S700
Surface area:
37.90 mm² vs 24.84 mm²
Difference: 13.06 mm² (53%)
SD500 sensor is approx. 1.53x bigger than S700 sensor.
Note: You are comparing cameras of different generations. There is a 2 year gap between Canon SD500 (2005) and Sony S700 (2007). All things being equal, newer sensor generations generally outperform the older.
Pixel pitch
2.31 µm
1.86 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: 0.45 µm (24%)
Pixel pitch of SD500 is approx. 24% higher than pixel pitch of S700.
Pixel area
5.34 µm²
3.46 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:
vs
Pixel area difference: 1.88 µm² (54%)
A pixel on Canon SD500 sensor is approx. 54% bigger than a pixel on Sony S700.
Pixel density
18.67 MP/cm²
28.97 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: 10.3 µm (55%)
Sony S700 has approx. 55% higher pixel density than Canon SD500.
To learn about the accuracy of these numbers, click here.



Specs

Canon SD500
Sony S700
Crop factor
4.87
6.02
Total megapixels
7.40
Effective megapixels
7.10
Optical zoom
3x
3x
Digital zoom
Yes
Yes
ISO sensitivity
Auto, 50, 100, 200, 400
Auto, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1000
RAW
Manual focus
Normal focus range
50 cm
35 cm
Macro focus range
5 cm
5 cm
Focal length (35mm equiv.)
37 - 111 mm
35 - 105 mm
Aperture priority
No
No
Max. aperture
f2.8 - f4.9
f2.8 - f4.8
Max. aperture (35mm equiv.)
f13.6 - f23.9
f16.9 - f28.9
Metering
Multi, Center-weighted, Spot
Multi-segment, Spot
Exposure compensation
±2 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)
±2 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)
Shutter priority
No
No
Min. shutter speed
15 sec
1 sec
Max. shutter speed
1/2000 sec
1/2000 sec
Built-in flash
External flash
Viewfinder
Optical (tunnel)
None
White balance presets
5
6
Screen size
2"
2.4"
Screen resolution
118,000 dots
112,000 dots
Video capture
Max. video resolution
Storage types
SD/MMC card
Memory Stick Duo, Memory Stick Pro Duo
USB
USB 1.0
USB 1.0
HDMI
Wireless
GPS
Battery
Lithium-Ion NB-3L battery
AA (2) batteries (NiMH recommended)
Weight
200 g
178 g
Dimensions
90 x 57 x 27 mm
91 x 61 x 27 mm
Year
2005
2007




Choose cameras to compare

vs

Diagonal

Diagonal is calculated by the use of Pythagorean theorem:
Diagonal =  w² + h²
where w = sensor width and h = sensor height

Canon SD500 diagonal

The diagonal of SD500 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

Sony S700 diagonal

The diagonal of S700 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.

SD500 sensor area

Width = 7.11 mm
Height = 5.33 mm

Surface area = 7.11 × 5.33 = 37.90 mm²

S700 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

SD500 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 7.11 mm
Sensor resolution width = 3072 pixels
Pixel pitch =   7.11  × 1000  = 2.31 µm
3072

S700 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 5.75 mm
Sensor resolution width = 3095 pixels
Pixel pitch =   5.75  × 1000  = 1.86 µm
3095


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

SD500 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 2.31 µm

Pixel area = 2.31² = 5.34 µm²

S700 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 1.86 µm

Pixel area = 1.86² = 3.46 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

SD500 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 3072 pixels
Sensor width = 0.711 cm

Pixel density = (3072 / 0.711)² / 1000000 = 18.67 MP/cm²

S700 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 3095 pixels
Sensor width = 0.575 cm

Pixel density = (3095 / 0.575)² / 1000000 = 28.97 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

SD500 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 7.11 mm
Sensor height = 5.33 mm
Effective megapixels = 7.10
r = 7.11/5.33 = 1.33
X =  7.10 × 1000000  = 2310
1.33
Resolution horizontal: X × r = 2310 × 1.33 = 3072
Resolution vertical: X = 2310

Sensor resolution = 3072 x 2310

S700 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 5.75 mm
Sensor height = 4.32 mm
Effective megapixels = 7.20
r = 5.75/4.32 = 1.33
X =  7.20 × 1000000  = 2327
1.33
Resolution horizontal: X × r = 2327 × 1.33 = 3095
Resolution vertical: X = 2327

Sensor resolution = 3095 x 2327


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


SD500 crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 8.89 mm
Crop factor =   43.27  = 4.87
8.89

S700 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).

SD500 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

S700 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 6.02
Aperture = f2.8 - f4.8

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f2.8 - f4.8) × 6.02 = f16.9 - f28.9

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