Nikon Coolpix 900 vs. Canon PowerShot SX60 HS

Comparison

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Coolpix 900 image
vs
PowerShot SX60 HS image
Nikon Coolpix 900 Canon PowerShot SX60 HS
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Megapixels
1.20
16.10
Max. image resolution
1280 x 960
4608 x 3456

Sensor

Sensor type
CCD
CMOS
Sensor size
1/2.7" (~ 5.33 x 4 mm)
1/2.3" (~ 6.16 x 4.62 mm)
Sensor resolution
1264 x 950
4627 x 3479
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 900 Canon PowerShot SX60 HS
Surface area:
21.32 mm² vs 28.46 mm²
Difference: 7.14 mm² (33%)
SX60 HS sensor is approx. 1.33x bigger than 900 sensor.
Note: You are comparing sensors of vastly different generations. There is a gap of 16 years between Nikon 900 (1998) and Canon SX60 HS (2014). Sixteen years is a huge amount of time, technology wise, resulting in newer sensor being much more efficient than the older one.
Pixel pitch
4.22 µm
1.33 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: 2.89 µm (217%)
Pixel pitch of 900 is approx. 217% higher than pixel pitch of SX60 HS.
Pixel area
17.81 µm²
1.77 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: 16.04 µm² (906%)
A pixel on Nikon 900 sensor is approx. 906% bigger than a pixel on Canon SX60 HS.
Pixel density
5.62 MP/cm²
56.42 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: 50.8 µm (904%)
Canon SX60 HS has approx. 904% higher pixel density than Nikon 900.
To learn about the accuracy of these numbers, click here.



Specs

Nikon 900
Canon SX60 HS
Crop factor
6.5
5.62
Total megapixels
1.30
16.80
Effective megapixels
1.20
16.10
Optical zoom
3x
65x
Digital zoom
Yes
Yes
ISO sensitivity
64
Auto, 100-3200 (6400 in low light mode)
RAW
Manual focus
Normal focus range
50 cm
Macro focus range
8 cm
Focal length (35mm equiv.)
38 - 115 mm
21 - 1365 mm
Aperture priority
No
Yes
Max. aperture
f2.4 - f6.6
f3.4 - f6.5
Max. aperture (35mm equiv.)
f15.6 - f42.9
f19.1 - f36.5
Metering
Centre weighted, Matrix, Spot
Evaluative, Center-weighted, Spot
Exposure compensation
±2 EV (in 1/2 EV steps)
±3 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)
Shutter priority
No
Yes
Min. shutter speed
1/4 sec
15 sec
Max. shutter speed
1/750 sec
1/2000 sec
Built-in flash
External flash
Viewfinder
Optical (tunnel)
Electronic
White balance presets
2
7
Screen size
2"
3"
Screen resolution
130,000 dots
922,000 dots
Video capture
Max. video resolution
1920x1080 (60p/30p)
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)
Battery Pack NB-10L
Weight
360 g
650 g
Dimensions
157 x 75 x 35 mm
127.6 x 92.6 x 114.3 mm
Year
1998
2014




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vs

Diagonal

Diagonal is calculated by the use of Pythagorean theorem:
Diagonal =  w² + h²
where w = sensor width and h = sensor height

Nikon 900 diagonal

The diagonal of 900 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 SX60 HS diagonal

The diagonal of SX60 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.

900 sensor area

Width = 5.33 mm
Height = 4.00 mm

Surface area = 5.33 × 4.00 = 21.32 mm²

SX60 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

900 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 5.33 mm
Sensor resolution width = 1264 pixels
Pixel pitch =   5.33  × 1000  = 4.22 µm
1264

SX60 HS pixel pitch

Sensor width = 6.16 mm
Sensor resolution width = 4627 pixels
Pixel pitch =   6.16  × 1000  = 1.33 µm
4627


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

900 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 4.22 µm

Pixel area = 4.22² = 17.81 µm²

SX60 HS pixel area

Pixel pitch = 1.33 µm

Pixel area = 1.33² = 1.77 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

900 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 1264 pixels
Sensor width = 0.533 cm

Pixel density = (1264 / 0.533)² / 1000000 = 5.62 MP/cm²

SX60 HS pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 4627 pixels
Sensor width = 0.616 cm

Pixel density = (4627 / 0.616)² / 1000000 = 56.42 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

900 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 5.33 mm
Sensor height = 4.00 mm
Effective megapixels = 1.20
r = 5.33/4.00 = 1.33
X =  1.20 × 1000000  = 950
1.33
Resolution horizontal: X × r = 950 × 1.33 = 1264
Resolution vertical: X = 950

Sensor resolution = 1264 x 950

SX60 HS sensor resolution

Sensor width = 6.16 mm
Sensor height = 4.62 mm
Effective megapixels = 16.10
r = 6.16/4.62 = 1.33
X =  16.10 × 1000000  = 3479
1.33
Resolution horizontal: X × r = 3479 × 1.33 = 4627
Resolution vertical: X = 3479

Sensor resolution = 4627 x 3479


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


900 crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 6.66 mm
Crop factor =   43.27  = 6.5
6.66

SX60 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).

900 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 6.5
Aperture = f2.4 - f6.6

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f2.4 - f6.6) × 6.5 = f15.6 - f42.9

SX60 HS equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 5.62
Aperture = f3.4 - f6.5

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f3.4 - f6.5) × 5.62 = f19.1 - f36.5

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