Kodak EasyShare DX3900 vs. Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ1

Comparison

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Kodak EasyShare DX3900

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ1

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Megapixels

3.10

4.00

Max. image resolution

2160 x 1440

2304 x 1728

Sensor

Sensor type

CCD

Sensor size

1/1.8" (~ 7.11 x 5.33 mm)

1/2.5" (~ 5.75 x 4.32 mm)

Sensor resolution

2031 x 1527

2306 x 1734

Diagonal

8.89 mm

7.19 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
1.53	:	1
(ratio)

Kodak EasyShare DX3900		Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ1

Surface area:

37.90 mm²

24.84 mm²

Difference: 13.06 mm² (53%)

DX3900 sensor is approx. 1.53x bigger than LZ1 sensor.

Note: You are comparing cameras of different generations. There is a 4 year gap between Kodak DX3900 (2001) and Panasonic LZ1 (2005). All things being equal, newer sensor generations generally outperform the older.

Pixel pitch

3.5 µm

2.49 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: 1.01 µm (41%)

Pixel pitch of DX3900 is approx. 41% higher than pixel pitch of LZ1.

Pixel area

12.25 µm²

6.2 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: 6.05 µm² (98%)

A pixel on Kodak DX3900 sensor is approx. 98% bigger than a pixel on Panasonic LZ1.

Pixel density

8.16 MP/cm²

16.08 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: 7.92 µm (97%)

Panasonic LZ1 has approx. 97% higher pixel density than Kodak DX3900.

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

Specs

Kodak DX3900

Panasonic LZ1

Crop factor

4.87

6.02

Total megapixels

3.30

4.20

Effective megapixels

3.10

4.00

Optical zoom

Digital zoom

Yes

ISO sensitivity

Auto, (100 - 200)

Auto, 64, 100, 200, 400

RAW

Manual focus

Normal focus range

50 cm

Macro focus range

7 cm

5 cm

Focal length (35mm equiv.)

35 - 70 mm

37 - 222 mm

Aperture priority

Max. aperture

f3.3 - f4.5

f2.8 - f4.5

Max. aperture (35mm equiv.)

f16.1 - f21.9

f16.9 - f27.1

Metering

Multi, Center-weighted, Spot

Matrix

Exposure compensation

±2 EV (in 1/2 EV steps)

±2 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)

Shutter priority

Min. shutter speed

16 sec

8 sec

Max. shutter speed

1/2000 sec

Built-in flash

External flash

Viewfinder

Optical (tunnel)

None

White balance presets

Screen size

1.5"

Screen resolution

72,000 dots

85,000 dots

Video capture

Max. video resolution

Storage types

Compact Flash Type I

MultiMedia, Secure Digital

USB

USB 1.0

HDMI

Wireless

GPS

Battery

AA (2) batteries (NiMH recommended)

Weight

260 g

224 g

Dimensions

116 x 67 x 42 mm

100 x 64 x 33 mm

Year

2001

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

Kodak DX3900 diagonal

The diagonal of DX3900 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

Panasonic LZ1 diagonal

The diagonal of LZ1 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

Surface area

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

DX3900 sensor area

Width = 7.11 mm
Height = 5.33 mm

Surface area = 7.11 × 5.33 = 37.90 mm²

LZ1 sensor area

Width = 5.75 mm
Height = 4.32 mm

Surface area = 5.75 × 4.32 = 24.84 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

DX3900 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 7.11 mm
Sensor resolution width = 2031 pixels

Pixel pitch =	7.11	× 1000	= 3.5 µm
	2031

LZ1 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 5.75 mm
Sensor resolution width = 2306 pixels

Pixel pitch =	5.75	× 1000	= 2.49 µm
	2306

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

DX3900 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 3.5 µm

Pixel area = 3.5² = 12.25 µm²

LZ1 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 2.49 µm

Pixel area = 2.49² = 6.2 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

DX3900 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 2031 pixels
Sensor width = 0.711 cm

Pixel density = (2031 / 0.711)² / 1000000 = 8.16 MP/cm²

LZ1 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 2306 pixels
Sensor width = 0.575 cm

Pixel density = (2306 / 0.575)² / 1000000 = 16.08 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

DX3900 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 7.11 mm
Sensor height = 5.33 mm
Effective megapixels = 3.10

r = 7.11/5.33 = 1.33

X = √	3.10 × 1000000	= 1527
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 1527 × 1.33 = 2031
Resolution vertical: X = 1527

Sensor resolution = 2031 x 1527

LZ1 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 5.75 mm
Sensor height = 4.32 mm
Effective megapixels = 4.00

r = 5.75/4.32 = 1.33

X = √	4.00 × 1000000	= 1734
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 1734 × 1.33 = 2306
Resolution vertical: X = 1734

Sensor resolution = 2306 x 1734

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

DX3900 crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 8.89 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 4.87
	8.89

LZ1 crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 7.19 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 6.02
	7.19

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).

DX3900 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 4.87
Aperture = f3.3 - f4.5

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f3.3 - f4.5) × 4.87 = f16.1 - f21.9

LZ1 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 6.02
Aperture = f2.8 - f4.5

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f2.8 - f4.5) × 6.02 = f16.9 - f27.1

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