Nikon Coolpix 3500 vs. Canon PowerShot SX500 IS

Comparison

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Nikon Coolpix 3500

Canon PowerShot SX500 IS

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Megapixels

3.10

16.00

Max. image resolution

2048 x 1536

4608 x 3456

Sensor

Sensor type

CCD

Sensor size

1/2.7" (~ 5.33 x 4 mm)

1/2.3" (~ 6.16 x 4.62 mm)

Sensor resolution

2031 x 1527

4612 x 3468

Diagonal

6.66 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	:	1.33
(ratio)

Nikon Coolpix 3500		Canon PowerShot SX500 IS

Surface area:

21.32 mm²

28.46 mm²

Difference: 7.14 mm² (33%)

SX500 IS sensor is approx. 1.33x bigger than 3500 sensor.

Note: You are comparing sensors of very different generations. There is a gap of 10 years between Nikon 3500 (2002) and Canon SX500 IS (2012). Ten years is a lot of time in terms of technology, meaning newer sensors are overall much more efficient than the older ones.

Pixel pitch

2.62 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: 1.28 µm (96%)

Pixel pitch of 3500 is approx. 96% higher than pixel pitch of SX500 IS.

Pixel area

6.86 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: 5.06 µm² (281%)

A pixel on Nikon 3500 sensor is approx. 281% bigger than a pixel on Canon SX500 IS.

Pixel density

14.52 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: 41.54 µm (286%)

Canon SX500 IS has approx. 286% higher pixel density than Nikon 3500.

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

Specs

Nikon 3500

Canon SX500 IS

Crop factor

6.5

5.62

Total megapixels

3.30

16.60

Effective megapixels

3.10

16.00

Optical zoom

30x

Digital zoom

Yes

ISO sensitivity

Auto, (100-400)

Auto, 80 ,100, 200, 400, 800, 1600

RAW

Manual focus

Normal focus range

30 cm

Macro focus range

4 cm

1 cm

Focal length (35mm equiv.)

37 - 111 mm

24 - 720 mm

Aperture priority

Yes

Max. aperture

f2.7 - f4.7

f3.4 - f5.8

Max. aperture (35mm equiv.)

f17.6 - f30.6

f19.1 - f32.6

Metering

256-segment Matrix

Multi, Center-weighted, Spot

Exposure compensation

±2 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)

Shutter priority

Yes

Min. shutter speed

2 sec

15 sec

Max. shutter speed

1/3000 sec

1/1600 sec

Built-in flash

External flash

Viewfinder

None

White balance presets

Screen size

1.5"

Screen resolution

110,000 dots

461,000 dots

Video capture

Max. video resolution

1280x720 (25p)

Storage types

CompactFlash type I

SD/SDHC/SDXC

USB

USB 1.0

USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)

HDMI

Wireless

GPS

Battery

Nikon EN-EL2 Lithium-Ion included

Lithium-Ion NB-6L rechargeable battery

Weight

205 g

341 g

Dimensions

60 x 114 x 32 mm

104.0 x 69.5 x 80.2 mm

Year

2002

2012

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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 3500 diagonal

The diagonal of 3500 sensor is not 1/2.7 or 0.37" (9.4 mm) as you might expect, but approximately two thirds of that value - 6.66 mm. If you want to know why, see sensor sizes.

w = 5.33 mm
h = 4.00 mm

Diagonal = √

5.33² + 4.00²

= 6.66 mm

Canon SX500 IS diagonal

The diagonal of SX500 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.

3500 sensor area

Width = 5.33 mm
Height = 4.00 mm

Surface area = 5.33 × 4.00 = 21.32 mm²

SX500 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

3500 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 5.33 mm
Sensor resolution width = 2031 pixels

Pixel pitch =	5.33	× 1000	= 2.62 µm
	2031

SX500 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

3500 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 2.62 µm

Pixel area = 2.62² = 6.86 µm²

SX500 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

3500 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 2031 pixels
Sensor width = 0.533 cm

Pixel density = (2031 / 0.533)² / 1000000 = 14.52 MP/cm²

SX500 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

3500 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 5.33 mm
Sensor height = 4.00 mm
Effective megapixels = 3.10

r = 5.33/4.00 = 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

SX500 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

3500 crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 6.66 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 6.5
	6.66

SX500 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).

3500 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 6.5
Aperture = f2.7 - f4.7

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f2.7 - f4.7) × 6.5 = f17.6 - f30.6

SX500 IS equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 5.62
Aperture = f3.4 - f5.8

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f3.4 - f5.8) × 5.62 = f19.1 - f32.6

More comparisons of Nikon 3500:

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