Canon PowerShot SD630 vs. Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W830

Comparison

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Canon PowerShot SD630

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W830

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Megapixels

6.00

20.10

Max. image resolution

2816 x 2112

5152 x 3864

Sensor

Sensor type

CCD

Sensor size

1/2.5" (~ 5.75 x 4.32 mm)

1/2.3" (~ 6.16 x 4.62 mm)

Sensor resolution

2825 x 2124

5171 x 3888

Diagonal

7.19 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	:	1.15
(ratio)

Canon PowerShot SD630		Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W830

Surface area:

24.84 mm²

28.46 mm²

Difference: 3.62 mm² (15%)

W830 sensor is approx. 1.15x bigger than SD630 sensor.

Note: You are comparing sensors of very different generations. There is a gap of 8 years between Canon SD630 (2006) and Sony W830 (2014). Eight years is a lot of time in terms of technology, meaning newer sensors are overall much more efficient than the older ones.

Pixel pitch

2.04 µm

1.19 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: 0.85 µm (71%)

Pixel pitch of SD630 is approx. 71% higher than pixel pitch of W830.

Pixel area

4.16 µm²

1.42 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: 2.74 µm² (193%)

A pixel on Canon SD630 sensor is approx. 193% bigger than a pixel on Sony W830.

Pixel density

24.14 MP/cm²

70.47 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: 46.33 µm (192%)

Sony W830 has approx. 192% higher pixel density than Canon SD630.

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

Specs

Canon SD630

Sony W830

Crop factor

6.02

5.62

Total megapixels

6.20

20.50

Effective megapixels

6.00

20.10

Optical zoom

Digital zoom

Yes

ISO sensitivity

Auto, 80 ,100, 200, 400, 800

Auto, 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200

RAW

Manual focus

Normal focus range

30 cm

Macro focus range

3 cm

5 cm

Focal length (35mm equiv.)

35 - 105 mm

25 - 200 mm

Aperture priority

Max. aperture

f2.8 - f4.9

f3.3 - f6.3

Max. aperture (35mm equiv.)

f16.9 - f29.5

f18.5 - f35.4

Metering

Multi, Center-weighted, Spot

Exposure compensation

±2 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)

Shutter priority

Min. shutter speed

15 sec

2 sec

Max. shutter speed

1/1500 sec

1/1600 sec

Built-in flash

External flash

Viewfinder

None

White balance presets

Screen size

2.7"

Screen resolution

173,000 dots

230,400 dots

Video capture

Max. video resolution

1280x720 (30p)

Storage types

SD/MMC card

SD, SDHC, SDXC, Memory Stick Duo/Pro Duo/Pro-HG Duo

USB

USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)

HDMI

Wireless

GPS

Battery

Lithium-Ion NB-4L battery

Rechargeable Battery NP-BN

Weight

175 g

120 g

Dimensions

90 x 57 x 20 mm

93.1 x 52.5 x 22.5 mm

Year

2006

2014

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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 SD630 diagonal

The diagonal of SD630 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

Sony W830 diagonal

The diagonal of W830 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.

SD630 sensor area

Width = 5.75 mm
Height = 4.32 mm

Surface area = 5.75 × 4.32 = 24.84 mm²

W830 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

SD630 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 5.75 mm
Sensor resolution width = 2825 pixels

Pixel pitch =	5.75	× 1000	= 2.04 µm
	2825

W830 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 6.16 mm
Sensor resolution width = 5171 pixels

Pixel pitch =	6.16	× 1000	= 1.19 µm
	5171

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

SD630 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 2.04 µm

Pixel area = 2.04² = 4.16 µm²

W830 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 1.19 µm

Pixel area = 1.19² = 1.42 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

SD630 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 2825 pixels
Sensor width = 0.575 cm

Pixel density = (2825 / 0.575)² / 1000000 = 24.14 MP/cm²

W830 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 5171 pixels
Sensor width = 0.616 cm

Pixel density = (5171 / 0.616)² / 1000000 = 70.47 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

SD630 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 5.75 mm
Sensor height = 4.32 mm
Effective megapixels = 6.00

r = 5.75/4.32 = 1.33

X = √	6.00 × 1000000	= 2124
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 2124 × 1.33 = 2825
Resolution vertical: X = 2124

Sensor resolution = 2825 x 2124

W830 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 6.16 mm
Sensor height = 4.62 mm
Effective megapixels = 20.10

r = 6.16/4.62 = 1.33

X = √	20.10 × 1000000	= 3888
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 3888 × 1.33 = 5171
Resolution vertical: X = 3888

Sensor resolution = 5171 x 3888

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

SD630 crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 7.19 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 6.02
	7.19

W830 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).

SD630 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 6.02
Aperture = f2.8 - f4.9

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f2.8 - f4.9) × 6.02 = f16.9 - f29.5

W830 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 5.62
Aperture = f3.3 - f6.3

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f3.3 - f6.3) × 5.62 = f18.5 - f35.4

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