Nikon Coolpix 800 vs. Nikon Coolpix L24

Comparison

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Nikon Coolpix 800

Nikon Coolpix L24

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Megapixels

1.90

14.10

Max. image resolution

1600 x 1200

4320 x 3240

Sensor

Sensor type

CCD

Sensor size

1/2" (~ 6.4 x 4.8 mm)

1/2.3" (~ 6.16 x 4.62 mm)

Sensor resolution

1589 x 1195

4330 x 3256

Diagonal

8.00 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
1.08	:	1
(ratio)

Nikon Coolpix 800		Nikon Coolpix L24

Surface area:

30.72 mm²

28.46 mm²

Difference: 2.26 mm² (8%)

800 sensor is approx. 1.08x bigger than L24 sensor.

Note: You are comparing sensors of vastly different generations. There is a gap of 12 years between Nikon 800 (1999) and Nikon L24 (2011). Twelve years is a huge amount of time, technology wise, resulting in newer sensor being much more efficient than the older one.

Pixel pitch

4.03 µm

1.42 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: 2.61 µm (184%)

Pixel pitch of 800 is approx. 184% higher than pixel pitch of L24.

Pixel area

16.24 µm²

2.02 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: 14.22 µm² (704%)

A pixel on Nikon 800 sensor is approx. 704% bigger than a pixel on Nikon L24.

Pixel density

6.16 MP/cm²

49.41 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: 43.25 µm (702%)

Nikon L24 has approx. 702% higher pixel density than Nikon 800.

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

Specs

Nikon 800

Nikon L24

Crop factor

5.41

5.62

Total megapixels

2.10

14.50

Effective megapixels

1.90

14.10

Optical zoom

3.6x

Digital zoom

Yes

ISO sensitivity

100, 200, 400

Auto, 80, 100 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, 6400

RAW

Manual focus

Normal focus range

30 cm

Macro focus range

7 cm

5 cm

Focal length (35mm equiv.)

38 - 76 mm

37 - 134 mm

Aperture priority

Max. aperture

f3.5 - f4.8

f3.1 - f6.7

Max. aperture (35mm equiv.)

f18.9 - f26

f17.4 - f37.7

Metering

Centre weighted, Matrix, Spot

Multi, Average

Exposure compensation

±2 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)

Shutter priority

Min. shutter speed

8 sec

4 sec

Max. shutter speed

1/750 sec

1/4000 sec

Built-in flash

External flash

Viewfinder

Optical (tunnel)

None

White balance presets

Screen size

1.8"

Screen resolution

112,000 dots

230,000 dots

Video capture

Max. video resolution

Storage types

CompactFlash type I

SD / SDHC/SDXC

USB

USB 1.0

USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)

HDMI

Wireless

GPS

Battery

AA (4) batteries (NiMH recommended)

2 x AA batteries

Weight

380 g

182 g

Dimensions

119 x 69 x 61 mm

98 x 61 x 28 mm

Year

1999

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

Nikon 800 diagonal

The diagonal of 800 sensor is not 1/2 or 0.5" (12.7 mm) as you might expect, but approximately two thirds of that value - 8 mm. If you want to know why, see sensor sizes.

w = 6.40 mm
h = 4.80 mm

Diagonal = √

6.40² + 4.80²

= 8.00 mm

Nikon L24 diagonal

The diagonal of L24 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.

800 sensor area

Width = 6.40 mm
Height = 4.80 mm

Surface area = 6.40 × 4.80 = 30.72 mm²

L24 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

800 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 6.40 mm
Sensor resolution width = 1589 pixels

Pixel pitch =	6.40	× 1000	= 4.03 µm
	1589

L24 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 6.16 mm
Sensor resolution width = 4330 pixels

Pixel pitch =	6.16	× 1000	= 1.42 µm
	4330

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

800 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 4.03 µm

Pixel area = 4.03² = 16.24 µm²

L24 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 1.42 µm

Pixel area = 1.42² = 2.02 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

800 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 1589 pixels
Sensor width = 0.64 cm

Pixel density = (1589 / 0.64)² / 1000000 = 6.16 MP/cm²

L24 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 4330 pixels
Sensor width = 0.616 cm

Pixel density = (4330 / 0.616)² / 1000000 = 49.41 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

800 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 6.40 mm
Sensor height = 4.80 mm
Effective megapixels = 1.90

r = 6.40/4.80 = 1.33

X = √	1.90 × 1000000	= 1195
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 1195 × 1.33 = 1589
Resolution vertical: X = 1195

Sensor resolution = 1589 x 1195

L24 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 6.16 mm
Sensor height = 4.62 mm
Effective megapixels = 14.10

r = 6.16/4.62 = 1.33

X = √	14.10 × 1000000	= 3256
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 3256 × 1.33 = 4330
Resolution vertical: X = 3256

Sensor resolution = 4330 x 3256

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

800 crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 8.00 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 5.41
	8.00

L24 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).

800 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 5.41
Aperture = f3.5 - f4.8

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f3.5 - f4.8) × 5.41 = f18.9 - f26

L24 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 5.62
Aperture = f3.1 - f6.7

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f3.1 - f6.7) × 5.62 = f17.4 - f37.7

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