Fujifilm FinePix F550 EXR vs. Nikon Coolpix 5900

Comparison

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Fujifilm FinePix F550 EXR

Nikon Coolpix 5900

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Megapixels

16.00

5.10

Max. image resolution

4608 x 3456

2592 x 1944

Sensor

Sensor type

CMOS

CCD

Sensor size

1/2" (~ 6.4 x 4.8 mm)

1/1.8" (~ 7.11 x 5.33 mm)

Sensor resolution

4612 x 3468

2604 x 1958

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 FinePix F550 EXR		Nikon Coolpix 5900

Surface area:

30.72 mm²

37.90 mm²

Difference: 7.18 mm² (23%)

5900 sensor is approx. 1.23x bigger than F550 EXR sensor.

Note: You are comparing sensors of very different generations. There is a gap of 6 years between Fujifilm F550 EXR (2011) and Nikon 5900 (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

1.39 µm

2.73 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: 1.34 µm (96%)

Pixel pitch of 5900 is approx. 96% higher than pixel pitch of F550 EXR.

Pixel area

1.93 µm²

7.45 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: 5.52 µm² (286%)

A pixel on Nikon 5900 sensor is approx. 286% bigger than a pixel on Fujifilm F550 EXR.

Pixel density

51.93 MP/cm²

13.41 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: 38.52 µm (287%)

Fujifilm F550 EXR has approx. 287% higher pixel density than Nikon 5900.

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

Specs

Fujifilm F550 EXR

Nikon 5900

Crop factor

5.41

4.87

Total megapixels

5.26

Effective megapixels

16.00

5.10

Optical zoom

15x

Digital zoom

Yes

ISO sensitivity

Auto, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, 6400, 12800

Auto

RAW

Manual focus

Normal focus range

45 cm

30 cm

Macro focus range

2 cm

4 cm

Focal length (35mm equiv.)

24 - 360 mm

38 - 114 mm

Aperture priority

Yes

Max. aperture

f3.5 - f3.0

f2.8 - f4.9

Max. aperture (35mm equiv.)

f18.9 - f16.2

f13.6 - f23.9

Metering

Multi-segment, Spot, TTL 256-zones metering

Multi, Center-weighted, Average

Exposure compensation

±2 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)

Shutter priority

Yes

Min. shutter speed

8 sec

4 sec

Max. shutter speed

1/2000 sec

Built-in flash

External flash

Viewfinder

None

Optical (tunnel)

White balance presets

Screen size

Screen resolution

460,000 dots

115,000 dots

Video capture

Max. video resolution

Storage types

SDHC, SDXC, Secure Digital

MultiMedia, Secure Digital

USB

USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)

USB 1.0

HDMI

Wireless

GPS

Battery

Lithium-Ion NP-50 rechargeable battery

Nikon EN-EL5 Lithium-Ion included

Weight

195 g

150 g

Dimensions

103.5 x 62.5 x 32.6 mm

88 x 60 x 36.5 mm

Year

2011

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 F550 EXR diagonal

The diagonal of F550 EXR 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

Nikon 5900 diagonal

The diagonal of 5900 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.

F550 EXR sensor area

Width = 6.40 mm
Height = 4.80 mm

Surface area = 6.40 × 4.80 = 30.72 mm²

5900 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

F550 EXR pixel pitch

Sensor width = 6.40 mm
Sensor resolution width = 4612 pixels

Pixel pitch =	6.40	× 1000	= 1.39 µm
	4612

5900 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 7.11 mm
Sensor resolution width = 2604 pixels

Pixel pitch =	7.11	× 1000	= 2.73 µm
	2604

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

F550 EXR pixel area

Pixel pitch = 1.39 µm

Pixel area = 1.39² = 1.93 µm²

5900 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 2.73 µm

Pixel area = 2.73² = 7.45 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

F550 EXR pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 4612 pixels
Sensor width = 0.64 cm

Pixel density = (4612 / 0.64)² / 1000000 = 51.93 MP/cm²

5900 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 2604 pixels
Sensor width = 0.711 cm

Pixel density = (2604 / 0.711)² / 1000000 = 13.41 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

F550 EXR sensor resolution

Sensor width = 6.40 mm
Sensor height = 4.80 mm
Effective megapixels = 16.00

r = 6.40/4.80 = 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

5900 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 7.11 mm
Sensor height = 5.33 mm
Effective megapixels = 5.10

r = 7.11/5.33 = 1.33

X = √	5.10 × 1000000	= 1958
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 1958 × 1.33 = 2604
Resolution vertical: X = 1958

Sensor resolution = 2604 x 1958

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

F550 EXR crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 8.00 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 5.41
	8.00

5900 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).

F550 EXR equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 5.41
Aperture = f3.5 - f3.0

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f3.5 - f3.0) × 5.41 = f18.9 - f16.2

5900 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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