Fujifilm DS-260HD vs. Canon PowerShot SD500

Comparison

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Fujifilm DS-260HD

Canon PowerShot SD500

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Megapixels

1.30

7.10

Max. image resolution

1280 x 1024

3072 x 2304

Sensor

Sensor type

CCD

Sensor size

1/2" (~ 6.4 x 4.8 mm)

1/1.8" (~ 7.11 x 5.33 mm)

Sensor resolution

1315 x 989

3072 x 2310

Diagonal

8.00 mm

8.89 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	:	1.23
(ratio)

Fujifilm DS-260HD		Canon PowerShot SD500

Surface area:

30.72 mm²

37.90 mm²

Difference: 7.18 mm² (23%)

SD500 sensor is approx. 1.23x bigger than DS-260HD sensor.

Note: You are comparing sensors of very different generations. There is a gap of 6 years between Fujifilm DS-260HD (1999) and Canon SD500 (2005). Six years is a lot of time in terms of technology, meaning newer sensors are overall much more efficient than the older ones.

Pixel pitch

4.87 µm

2.31 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: 2.56 µm (111%)

Pixel pitch of DS-260HD is approx. 111% higher than pixel pitch of SD500.

Pixel area

23.72 µm²

5.34 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: 18.38 µm² (344%)

A pixel on Fujifilm DS-260HD sensor is approx. 344% bigger than a pixel on Canon SD500.

Pixel density

4.22 MP/cm²

18.67 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: 14.45 µm (342%)

Canon SD500 has approx. 342% higher pixel density than Fujifilm DS-260HD.

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

Specs

Fujifilm DS-260HD

Canon SD500

Crop factor

5.41

4.87

Total megapixels

1.50

7.40

Effective megapixels

1.30

7.10

Optical zoom

Digital zoom

Yes

ISO sensitivity

100

Auto, 50, 100, 200, 400

RAW

Manual focus

Normal focus range

90 cm

50 cm

Macro focus range

25 cm

5 cm

Focal length (35mm equiv.)

35 - 105 mm

37 - 111 mm

Aperture priority

Yes

Max. aperture

f2.8 - f4.5

f2.8 - f4.9

Max. aperture (35mm equiv.)

f15.1 - f24.3

f13.6 - f23.9

Metering

Multi, Average, Spot

Multi, Center-weighted, Spot

Exposure compensation

±3 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)

±2 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)

Shutter priority

Yes

Min. shutter speed

1/4 sec

15 sec

Max. shutter speed

1/1000 sec

1/2000 sec

Built-in flash

External flash

Viewfinder

Optical (tunnel)

White balance presets

Screen size

1.8"

Screen resolution

200,000 dots

118,000 dots

Video capture

Max. video resolution

Storage types

SmartMedia

SD/MMC card

USB

USB 1.0

HDMI

Wireless

GPS

Battery

Lithium-Ion (NP-100)

Lithium-Ion NB-3L battery

Weight

700 g

200 g

Dimensions

100 x 145 x 107 mm

90 x 57 x 27 mm

Year

1999

2005

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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

Fujifilm DS-260HD diagonal

The diagonal of DS-260HD sensor is not 1/2 or 0.5" (12.7 mm) as you might expect, but approximately two thirds of that value - 8 mm. If you want to know why, see sensor sizes.

w = 6.40 mm
h = 4.80 mm

Diagonal = √

6.40² + 4.80²

= 8.00 mm

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

Surface area

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

DS-260HD sensor area

Width = 6.40 mm
Height = 4.80 mm

Surface area = 6.40 × 4.80 = 30.72 mm²

SD500 sensor area

Width = 7.11 mm
Height = 5.33 mm

Surface area = 7.11 × 5.33 = 37.90 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

DS-260HD pixel pitch

Sensor width = 6.40 mm
Sensor resolution width = 1315 pixels

Pixel pitch =	6.40	× 1000	= 4.87 µm
	1315

SD500 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 7.11 mm
Sensor resolution width = 3072 pixels

Pixel pitch =	7.11	× 1000	= 2.31 µm
	3072

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

DS-260HD pixel area

Pixel pitch = 4.87 µm

Pixel area = 4.87² = 23.72 µm²

SD500 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 2.31 µm

Pixel area = 2.31² = 5.34 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

DS-260HD pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 1315 pixels
Sensor width = 0.64 cm

Pixel density = (1315 / 0.64)² / 1000000 = 4.22 MP/cm²

SD500 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 3072 pixels
Sensor width = 0.711 cm

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

DS-260HD sensor resolution

Sensor width = 6.40 mm
Sensor height = 4.80 mm
Effective megapixels = 1.30

r = 6.40/4.80 = 1.33

X = √	1.30 × 1000000	= 989
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 989 × 1.33 = 1315
Resolution vertical: X = 989

Sensor resolution = 1315 x 989

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

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

DS-260HD crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 8.00 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 5.41
	8.00

SD500 crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 8.89 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 4.87
	8.89

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).

DS-260HD equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 5.41
Aperture = f2.8 - f4.5

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f2.8 - f4.5) × 5.41 = f15.1 - f24.3

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

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