Nikon Coolpix 300 vs. Nikon Coolpix A100

Comparison

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Coolpix 300 image
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Coolpix A100 image
Nikon Coolpix 300 Nikon Coolpix A100
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Megapixels
0.30
20.10
Max. image resolution
640 x 480
5152 x 3864

Sensor

Sensor type
CCD
CCD
Sensor size
1/3" (~ 4.8 x 3.6 mm)
1/2.3" (~ 6.16 x 4.62 mm)
Sensor resolution
632 x 475
5171 x 3888
Diagonal
6.00 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 : 1.65
(ratio)
Nikon Coolpix 300 Nikon Coolpix A100
Surface area:
17.28 mm² vs 28.46 mm²
Difference: 11.18 mm² (65%)
A100 sensor is approx. 1.65x bigger than 300 sensor.
Note: You are comparing sensors of vastly different generations. There is a gap of 19 years between Nikon 300 (1997) and Nikon A100 (2016). Nineteen years is a huge amount of time, technology wise, resulting in newer sensor being much more efficient than the older one.
Pixel pitch
7.59 µm
1.19 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: 6.4 µm (538%)
Pixel pitch of 300 is approx. 538% higher than pixel pitch of A100.
Pixel area
57.61 µm²
1.42 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:
vs
Pixel area difference: 56.19 µm² (3957%)
A pixel on Nikon 300 sensor is approx. 3957% bigger than a pixel on Nikon A100.
Pixel density
1.73 MP/cm²
70.47 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: 68.74 µm (3973%)
Nikon A100 has approx. 3973% higher pixel density than Nikon 300.
To learn about the accuracy of these numbers, click here.



Specs

Nikon 300
Nikon A100
Crop factor
7.21
5.62
Total megapixels
0.30
20.48
Effective megapixels
0.30
20.10
Optical zoom
1x
5x
Digital zoom
No
Yes
ISO sensitivity
100
Auto, 80-3200
RAW
Manual focus
Normal focus range
23 cm
50 cm
Macro focus range
14 cm
10 cm
Focal length (35mm equiv.)
45 mm
26 - 130 mm
Aperture priority
No
No
Max. aperture
f2.4 - f3.6
f3.2 - f6.5
Max. aperture (35mm equiv.)
f17.3 - f26
f18 - f36.5
Metering
Multi, Center-weighted, Spot
Multi, Center-weighted
Exposure compensation
±2 EV (in 1/2 EV steps)
±2 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)
Shutter priority
No
No
Min. shutter speed
1/30 sec
4 sec
Max. shutter speed
1/2500 sec
1/2000 sec
Built-in flash
External flash
Viewfinder
None
None
White balance presets
5
5
Screen size
2.5"
2.7"
Screen resolution
130,000 dots
230,000 dots
Video capture
Max. video resolution
1280x720 (30p)
Storage types
Internal
SD/SDHC/SDXC
USB
USB 1.0
USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)
HDMI
Wireless
GPS
Battery
AA (4) batteries (NiMH recommended)
EN-EL19 lithium-ion battery
Weight
250 g
119 g
Dimensions
78 x 151 x 35 mm
94.5 x 58.6 x 19.8 mm
Year
1997
2016




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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

Nikon 300 diagonal

The diagonal of 300 sensor is not 1/3 or 0.33" (8.5 mm) as you might expect, but approximately two thirds of that value - 6 mm. If you want to know why, see sensor sizes.

w = 4.80 mm
h = 3.60 mm
Diagonal =  4.80² + 3.60²   = 6.00 mm

Nikon A100 diagonal

The diagonal of A100 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.

300 sensor area

Width = 4.80 mm
Height = 3.60 mm

Surface area = 4.80 × 3.60 = 17.28 mm²

A100 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

300 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 4.80 mm
Sensor resolution width = 632 pixels
Pixel pitch =   4.80  × 1000  = 7.59 µm
632

A100 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 6.16 mm
Sensor resolution width = 5171 pixels
Pixel pitch =   6.16  × 1000  = 1.19 µm
5171


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

300 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 7.59 µm

Pixel area = 7.59² = 57.61 µm²

A100 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 1.19 µm

Pixel area = 1.19² = 1.42 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

300 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 632 pixels
Sensor width = 0.48 cm

Pixel density = (632 / 0.48)² / 1000000 = 1.73 MP/cm²

A100 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 5171 pixels
Sensor width = 0.616 cm

Pixel density = (5171 / 0.616)² / 1000000 = 70.47 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

300 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 4.80 mm
Sensor height = 3.60 mm
Effective megapixels = 0.30
r = 4.80/3.60 = 1.33
X =  0.30 × 1000000  = 475
1.33
Resolution horizontal: X × r = 475 × 1.33 = 632
Resolution vertical: X = 475

Sensor resolution = 632 x 475

A100 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 6.16 mm
Sensor height = 4.62 mm
Effective megapixels = 20.10
r = 6.16/4.62 = 1.33
X =  20.10 × 1000000  = 3888
1.33
Resolution horizontal: X × r = 3888 × 1.33 = 5171
Resolution vertical: X = 3888

Sensor resolution = 5171 x 3888


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


300 crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 6.00 mm
Crop factor =   43.27  = 7.21
6.00

A100 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).

300 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 7.21
Aperture = f2.4 - f3.6

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f2.4 - f3.6) × 7.21 = f17.3 - f26

A100 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 5.62
Aperture = f3.2 - f6.5

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f3.2 - f6.5) × 5.62 = f18 - f36.5

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