Nikon Coolpix P510 vs. Canon PowerShot SX520 HS

Comparison

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Nikon Coolpix P510

Canon PowerShot SX520 HS

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Megapixels

16.10

16.00

Max. image resolution

4608 x 3456

Sensor

Sensor type

CMOS

Sensor size

1/2.3" (~ 6.16 x 4.62 mm)

Sensor resolution

4627 x 3479

4612 x 3468

Diagonal

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
(ratio)

Nikon Coolpix P510		Canon PowerShot SX520 HS

Surface area:

28.46 mm²

Difference: 0 mm² (0%)

P510 and SX520 HS sensors are the same size.

Note: You are comparing cameras of different generations. There is a 2 year gap between Nikon P510 (2012) and Canon SX520 HS (2014). All things being equal, newer sensor generations generally outperform the older.

Pixel pitch

1.33 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: 0.01 µm (0.8%)

Pixel pitch of SX520 HS is approx. 0.8% higher than pixel pitch of P510.

Pixel area

1.77 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: 0.03 µm² (2%)

A pixel on Canon SX520 HS sensor is approx. 2% bigger than a pixel on Nikon P510.

Pixel density

56.42 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: 0.36 µm (0.6%)

Nikon P510 has approx. 0.6% higher pixel density than Canon SX520 HS.

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

Specs

Nikon P510

Canon SX520 HS

Crop factor

5.62

Total megapixels

16.79

16.80

Effective megapixels

16.10

16.00

Optical zoom

42x

Digital zoom

Yes

ISO sensitivity

Auto, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 2000, 3200

Auto, 100-3200

RAW

Manual focus

Normal focus range

30 cm

5 cm

Macro focus range

2 cm

Focal length (35mm equiv.)

24 - 1000 mm

24 - 1008 mm

Aperture priority

Yes

Max. aperture

f3.3 - f5.9

f3.4 - f6.0

Max. aperture (35mm equiv.)

f18.5 - f33.2

f19.1 - f33.7

Metering

Centre weighted, Multi-segment, Spot

Multi, Center-weighted, Spot

Exposure compensation

±2 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)

Shutter priority

Yes

Min. shutter speed

8 sec

15 sec

Max. shutter speed

1/2000 sec

Built-in flash

External flash

Viewfinder

Electronic

None

White balance presets

Screen size

Screen resolution

921,000 dots

461,000 dots

Video capture

Max. video resolution

1920x1080 (30p)

Storage types

SDHC, SDXC, Secure Digital

SD/SDHC/SDXC

USB

USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)

HDMI

Wireless

GPS

Battery

Nikon EN-EL5 Lithium-Ion battery

Battery Pack NB-6LH

Weight

555 g

441 g

Dimensions

120 x 83 x 102 mm

120 x 81.7 x 91.9 mm

Year

2012

2014

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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 P510 diagonal

The diagonal of P510 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

Canon SX520 HS diagonal

The diagonal of SX520 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.

P510 sensor area

Width = 6.16 mm
Height = 4.62 mm

Surface area = 6.16 × 4.62 = 28.46 mm²

SX520 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

P510 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 6.16 mm
Sensor resolution width = 4627 pixels

Pixel pitch =	6.16	× 1000	= 1.33 µm
	4627

SX520 HS 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

P510 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 1.33 µm

Pixel area = 1.33² = 1.77 µm²

SX520 HS 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

P510 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 4627 pixels
Sensor width = 0.616 cm

Pixel density = (4627 / 0.616)² / 1000000 = 56.42 MP/cm²

SX520 HS 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

P510 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

SX520 HS 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

P510 crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 7.70 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 5.62
	7.70

SX520 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).

P510 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 5.62
Aperture = f3.3 - f5.9

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f3.3 - f5.9) × 5.62 = f18.5 - f33.2

SX520 HS equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 5.62
Aperture = f3.4 - f6.0

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f3.4 - f6.0) × 5.62 = f19.1 - f33.7

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