Canon PowerShot SX160 IS vs. GE X500

Comparison

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Canon PowerShot SX160 IS

GE X500

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Megapixels

16.00

16.50

Max. image resolution

4608 x 3456

Sensor

Sensor type

CCD

Sensor size

1/2.3" (~ 6.16 x 4.62 mm)

Sensor resolution

4612 x 3468

4684 x 3522

Diagonal

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

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	vs
1	:	1
(ratio)

Canon PowerShot SX160 IS		GE X500

Surface area:

28.46 mm²

Difference: 0 mm² (0%)

SX160 IS and X500 sensors are the same size.

Pixel pitch

1.34 µm

1.32 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: 0.02 µm (2%)

Pixel pitch of SX160 IS is approx. 2% higher than pixel pitch of X500.

Pixel area

1.8 µm²

1.74 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: 0.06 µm² (3%)

A pixel on Canon SX160 IS sensor is approx. 3% bigger than a pixel on GE X500.

Pixel density

56.06 MP/cm²

57.82 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: 1.76 µm (3%)

GE X500 has approx. 3% higher pixel density than Canon SX160 IS.

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

Specs

Canon SX160 IS

GE X500

Crop factor

5.62

Total megapixels

16.60

Effective megapixels

16.00

Optical zoom

16x

Yes

Digital zoom

Yes

ISO sensitivity

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

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

RAW

Manual focus

Normal focus range

60 cm

Macro focus range

5 cm

Focal length (35mm equiv.)

28 - 448 mm

27 - 405 mm

Aperture priority

Yes

Max. aperture

f3.5 - f5.9

f3.0 - f5.2

Max. aperture (35mm equiv.)

f19.7 - f33.2

f16.9 - f29.2

Metering

Multi, Center-weighted, Spot

Centre weighted, Multi-segment, Spot

Exposure compensation

±2 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)

Shutter priority

Yes

Min. shutter speed

15 sec

4 sec

Max. shutter speed

1/3200 sec

1/2000 sec

Built-in flash

External flash

Viewfinder

None

Electronic

White balance presets

Screen size

2.7"

Screen resolution

230,000 dots

230,400 dots

Video capture

Max. video resolution

Storage types

SD/SDHC/SDXC

SDHC, Secure Digital

USB

USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)

HDMI

Wireless

GPS

Battery

2 x AA batteries

4x AA

Weight

291 g

350 g

Dimensions

111 x 73 x 44 mm

103 x 74 x 68 mm

Year

2012

2011

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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 SX160 IS diagonal

The diagonal of SX160 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

GE X500 diagonal

The diagonal of X500 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.

SX160 IS sensor area

Width = 6.16 mm
Height = 4.62 mm

Surface area = 6.16 × 4.62 = 28.46 mm²

X500 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

SX160 IS pixel pitch

Sensor width = 6.16 mm
Sensor resolution width = 4612 pixels

Pixel pitch =	6.16	× 1000	= 1.34 µm
	4612

X500 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 6.16 mm
Sensor resolution width = 4684 pixels

Pixel pitch =	6.16	× 1000	= 1.32 µm
	4684

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

SX160 IS pixel area

Pixel pitch = 1.34 µm

Pixel area = 1.34² = 1.8 µm²

X500 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 1.32 µm

Pixel area = 1.32² = 1.74 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

SX160 IS pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 4612 pixels
Sensor width = 0.616 cm

Pixel density = (4612 / 0.616)² / 1000000 = 56.06 MP/cm²

X500 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 4684 pixels
Sensor width = 0.616 cm

Pixel density = (4684 / 0.616)² / 1000000 = 57.82 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

SX160 IS sensor resolution

Sensor width = 6.16 mm
Sensor height = 4.62 mm
Effective megapixels = 16.00

r = 6.16/4.62 = 1.33

X = √	16.00 × 1000000	= 3468
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 3468 × 1.33 = 4612
Resolution vertical: X = 3468

Sensor resolution = 4612 x 3468

X500 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 6.16 mm
Sensor height = 4.62 mm
Effective megapixels = 16.50

r = 6.16/4.62 = 1.33

X = √	16.50 × 1000000	= 3522
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 3522 × 1.33 = 4684
Resolution vertical: X = 3522

Sensor resolution = 4684 x 3522

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

SX160 IS crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 7.70 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 5.62
	7.70

X500 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).

SX160 IS equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 5.62
Aperture = f3.5 - f5.9

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f3.5 - f5.9) × 5.62 = f19.7 - f33.2

X500 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 5.62
Aperture = f3.0 - f5.2

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f3.0 - f5.2) × 5.62 = f16.9 - f29.2

More comparisons of Canon SX160 IS:

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