Fujifilm FinePix S5600 Zoom vs. Canon PowerShot SX170 IS

Comparison

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Fujifilm FinePix S5600 Zoom

Canon PowerShot SX170 IS

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Megapixels

5.22

16.00

Max. image resolution

2592 x 1944

4608 x 3456

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

2635 x 1981

4612 x 3468

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

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	vs
1	:	1.15
(ratio)

Fujifilm FinePix S5600 Zoom		Canon PowerShot SX170 IS

Surface area:

24.84 mm²

28.46 mm²

Difference: 3.62 mm² (15%)

SX170 IS sensor is approx. 1.15x bigger than S5600 Zoom sensor.

Note: You are comparing sensors of very different generations. There is a gap of 8 years between Fujifilm S5600 Zoom (2005) and Canon SX170 IS (2013). 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

2.18 µm

1.34 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: 0.84 µm (63%)

Pixel pitch of S5600 Zoom is approx. 63% higher than pixel pitch of SX170 IS.

Pixel area

4.75 µm²

1.8 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: 2.95 µm² (164%)

A pixel on Fujifilm S5600 Zoom sensor is approx. 164% bigger than a pixel on Canon SX170 IS.

Pixel density

21 MP/cm²

56.06 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: 35.06 µm (167%)

Canon SX170 IS has approx. 167% higher pixel density than Fujifilm S5600 Zoom.

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

Specs

Fujifilm S5600 Zoom

Canon SX170 IS

Crop factor

6.02

5.62

Total megapixels

16.60

Effective megapixels

16.00

Optical zoom

Yes

16x

Digital zoom

Yes

ISO sensitivity

Auto, 64, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600

Auto,100, 200, 400, 800, 1600

RAW

Manual focus

Normal focus range

90 cm

5 cm

Macro focus range

10 cm

1 cm

Focal length (35mm equiv.)

38 - 380 mm

28 - 448 mm

Aperture priority

Yes

Max. aperture

f3.2 - f3.5

f3.5 - f5.9

Max. aperture (35mm equiv.)

f19.3 - f21.1

f19.7 - f33.2

Metering

64-segment

Multi, Center-weighted, Spot

Exposure compensation

±2 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)

Shutter priority

Yes

Min. shutter speed

15 sec

Max. shutter speed

1/2000 sec

1/3200 sec

Built-in flash

External flash

Viewfinder

Electronic

None

White balance presets

Screen size

1.8"

Screen resolution

115,000 dots

230,000 dots

Video capture

Max. video resolution

1280x720 (25p)

Storage types

xD Picture card

SD/SDHC/SDXC

USB

USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)

HDMI

Wireless

GPS

Battery

4x AA

Lithium-ion battery pack NB-6LH

Weight

370 g

251 g

Dimensions

113 x 85 x 112 mm

108 x 71 x 43.9 mm

Year

2005

2013

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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 S5600 Zoom diagonal

The diagonal of S5600 Zoom 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

Canon SX170 IS diagonal

The diagonal of SX170 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

Surface area

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

S5600 Zoom sensor area

Width = 5.75 mm
Height = 4.32 mm

Surface area = 5.75 × 4.32 = 24.84 mm²

SX170 IS 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

S5600 Zoom pixel pitch

Sensor width = 5.75 mm
Sensor resolution width = 2635 pixels

Pixel pitch =	5.75	× 1000	= 2.18 µm
	2635

SX170 IS pixel pitch

Sensor width = 6.16 mm
Sensor resolution width = 4612 pixels

Pixel pitch =	6.16	× 1000	= 1.34 µm
	4612

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

S5600 Zoom pixel area

Pixel pitch = 2.18 µm

Pixel area = 2.18² = 4.75 µm²

SX170 IS pixel area

Pixel pitch = 1.34 µm

Pixel area = 1.34² = 1.8 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

S5600 Zoom pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 2635 pixels
Sensor width = 0.575 cm

Pixel density = (2635 / 0.575)² / 1000000 = 21 MP/cm²

SX170 IS pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 4612 pixels
Sensor width = 0.616 cm

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

S5600 Zoom sensor resolution

Sensor width = 5.75 mm
Sensor height = 4.32 mm
Effective megapixels = 5.22

r = 5.75/4.32 = 1.33

X = √	5.22 × 1000000	= 1981
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 1981 × 1.33 = 2635
Resolution vertical: X = 1981

Sensor resolution = 2635 x 1981

SX170 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

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

S5600 Zoom crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 7.19 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 6.02
	7.19

SX170 IS 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).

S5600 Zoom equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 6.02
Aperture = f3.2 - f3.5

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f3.2 - f3.5) × 6.02 = f19.3 - f21.1

SX170 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

More comparisons of Fujifilm S5600 Zoom:

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