Kodak EasyShare Z990 vs. Canon PowerShot SX40 HS

Comparison

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Kodak EasyShare Z990

Canon PowerShot SX40 HS

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Megapixels

12.00

12.10

Max. image resolution

4000 x 3000

Sensor

Sensor type

CMOS

Sensor size

1/2.33" (~ 6.08 x 4.56 mm)

1/2.3" (~ 6.16 x 4.62 mm)

Sensor resolution

3995 x 3004

4011 x 3016

Diagonal

7.60 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

Note: Actual size is set to screen → change »

	vs
1	:	1.03
(ratio)

Kodak EasyShare Z990		Canon PowerShot SX40 HS

Surface area:

27.72 mm²

28.46 mm²

Difference: 0.74 mm² (3%)

SX40 HS sensor is slightly bigger than Z990 sensor (only 3% difference).

Pixel pitch

1.52 µm

1.54 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 (1%)

Pixel pitch of SX40 HS is approx. 1% higher than pixel pitch of Z990.

Pixel area

2.31 µm²

2.37 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 SX40 HS sensor is approx. 3% bigger than a pixel on Kodak Z990.

Pixel density

43.17 MP/cm²

42.4 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: 0.77 µm (2%)

Kodak Z990 has approx. 2% higher pixel density than Canon SX40 HS.

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

Specs

Kodak Z990

Canon SX40 HS

Crop factor

5.69

5.62

Total megapixels

Effective megapixels

12.00

12.10

Optical zoom

30x

35x

Digital zoom

Yes

ISO sensitivity

Auto, 125, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200 and 6400

Auto, 100 - 3200

RAW

Manual focus

Normal focus range

70 cm

30 cm

Macro focus range

1 cm

Focal length (35mm equiv.)

28 - 840 mm

24 - 840 mm

Aperture priority

Yes

Max. aperture

f2.8 - f5.6

f2.7 - f5.8

Max. aperture (35mm equiv.)

f15.9 - f31.9

f15.2 - f32.6

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

16 sec

15 sec

Max. shutter speed

1/2000 sec

1/3200 sec

Built-in flash

External flash

Viewfinder

Electronic

White balance presets

Screen size

2.7"

Screen resolution

460,000 dots

230,000 dots

Video capture

Max. video resolution

Storage types

SD/SDHC card, Internal

SDHC, SDXC, Secure Digital

USB

USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)

HDMI

Wireless

GPS

Battery

AA (4) batteries (NiMH Rechargeable batteries)

Lithium-Ion NB-10L rechargeable battery

Weight

445 g

600 g

Dimensions

124 x 91 x 105 mm

123 x 92 x 108 mm

Year

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

Kodak Z990 diagonal

The diagonal of Z990 sensor is not 1/2.33 or 0.43" (10.9 mm) as you might expect, but approximately two thirds of that value - 7.6 mm. If you want to know why, see sensor sizes.

w = 6.08 mm
h = 4.56 mm

Diagonal = √

6.08² + 4.56²

= 7.60 mm

Canon SX40 HS diagonal

The diagonal of SX40 HS 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.

Z990 sensor area

Width = 6.08 mm
Height = 4.56 mm

Surface area = 6.08 × 4.56 = 27.72 mm²

SX40 HS 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

Z990 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 6.08 mm
Sensor resolution width = 3995 pixels

Pixel pitch =	6.08	× 1000	= 1.52 µm
	3995

SX40 HS pixel pitch

Sensor width = 6.16 mm
Sensor resolution width = 4011 pixels

Pixel pitch =	6.16	× 1000	= 1.54 µm
	4011

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

Z990 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 1.52 µm

Pixel area = 1.52² = 2.31 µm²

SX40 HS pixel area

Pixel pitch = 1.54 µm

Pixel area = 1.54² = 2.37 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

Z990 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 3995 pixels
Sensor width = 0.608 cm

Pixel density = (3995 / 0.608)² / 1000000 = 43.17 MP/cm²

SX40 HS pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 4011 pixels
Sensor width = 0.616 cm

Pixel density = (4011 / 0.616)² / 1000000 = 42.4 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

Z990 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 6.08 mm
Sensor height = 4.56 mm
Effective megapixels = 12.00

r = 6.08/4.56 = 1.33

X = √	12.00 × 1000000	= 3004
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 3004 × 1.33 = 3995
Resolution vertical: X = 3004

Sensor resolution = 3995 x 3004

SX40 HS sensor resolution

Sensor width = 6.16 mm
Sensor height = 4.62 mm
Effective megapixels = 12.10

r = 6.16/4.62 = 1.33

X = √	12.10 × 1000000	= 3016
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 3016 × 1.33 = 4011
Resolution vertical: X = 3016

Sensor resolution = 4011 x 3016

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

Z990 crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 7.60 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 5.69
	7.60

SX40 HS 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).

Z990 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 5.69
Aperture = f2.8 - f5.6

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f2.8 - f5.6) × 5.69 = f15.9 - f31.9

SX40 HS equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 5.62
Aperture = f2.7 - f5.8

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f2.7 - f5.8) × 5.62 = f15.2 - f32.6

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