Olympus C-1000L vs. Olympus D-500L

Comparison

change cameras »

Olympus C-1000L

Olympus D-500L

check price »

Megapixels

0.85

0.80

Max. image resolution

1024 x 768

Sensor

Sensor type

CCD

Sensor size

1/2" (~ 6.4 x 4.8 mm)

2/3" (~ 8.8 x 6.6 mm)

Sensor resolution

1063 x 799

1032 x 776

Diagonal

8.00 mm

11.00 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	:	1.89
(ratio)

Olympus C-1000L		Olympus D-500L

Surface area:

30.72 mm²

58.08 mm²

Difference: 27.36 mm² (89%)

D-500L sensor is approx. 1.89x bigger than C-1000L sensor.

Pixel pitch

6.02 µm

8.53 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: 2.51 µm (42%)

Pixel pitch of D-500L is approx. 42% higher than pixel pitch of C-1000L.

Pixel area

36.24 µm²

72.76 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: 36.52 µm² (101%)

A pixel on Olympus D-500L sensor is approx. 101% bigger than a pixel on Olympus C-1000L.

Pixel density

2.76 MP/cm²

1.38 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: 1.38 µm (100%)

Olympus C-1000L has approx. 100% higher pixel density than Olympus D-500L.

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

Specs

Olympus C-1000L

Olympus D-500L

Crop factor

5.41

3.93

Total megapixels

1.00

Effective megapixels

0.80

Optical zoom

Yes

Digital zoom

Yes

ISO sensitivity

180

RAW

Manual focus

Normal focus range

60 cm

Macro focus range

30 cm

Focal length (35mm equiv.)

50 - 150 mm

Aperture priority

Yes

Max. aperture

f2.8 - f3.9

f2.8 - f5.6

Max. aperture (35mm equiv.)

f15.1 - f21.1

f11 - f22

Metering

Centre weighted, Spot

Multi, Center-weighted, Spot

Exposure compensation

±2 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)

±1.5 EV (in 1/2 EV steps)

Shutter priority

Min. shutter speed

1/4 sec

Max. shutter speed

1/10000 sec

Built-in flash

External flash

Viewfinder

Optical

Optical (tunnel)

White balance presets

Screen size

1.8"

Screen resolution

61,000 dots

114,000 dots

Video capture

Max. video resolution

Storage types

SmartMedia

USB

USB 1.0

HDMI

Wireless

GPS

Battery

4x AA

AA (4) batteries (NiMH recommended)

Weight

560 g

490 g

Dimensions

115 x 77 x 130 mm

115 x 83 x 130 mm

Year

1998

1997

Choose cameras to compare

Popular comparisons:

Diagonal

Diagonal is calculated by the use of Pythagorean theorem:

Diagonal = √

w² + h²

where w = sensor width and h = sensor height

Olympus C-1000L diagonal

The diagonal of C-1000L 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

Olympus D-500L diagonal

The diagonal of D-500L sensor is not 2/3 or 0.67" (16.9 mm) as you might expect, but approximately two thirds of that value - 11 mm. If you want to know why, see sensor sizes.

w = 8.80 mm
h = 6.60 mm

Diagonal = √

8.80² + 6.60²

= 11.00 mm

Surface area

Surface area is calculated by multiplying the width and the height of a sensor.

C-1000L sensor area

Width = 6.40 mm
Height = 4.80 mm

Surface area = 6.40 × 4.80 = 30.72 mm²

D-500L sensor area

Width = 8.80 mm
Height = 6.60 mm

Surface area = 8.80 × 6.60 = 58.08 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

C-1000L pixel pitch

Sensor width = 6.40 mm
Sensor resolution width = 1063 pixels

Pixel pitch =	6.40	× 1000	= 6.02 µm
	1063

D-500L pixel pitch

Sensor width = 8.80 mm
Sensor resolution width = 1032 pixels

Pixel pitch =	8.80	× 1000	= 8.53 µm
	1032

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

C-1000L pixel area

Pixel pitch = 6.02 µm

Pixel area = 6.02² = 36.24 µm²

D-500L pixel area

Pixel pitch = 8.53 µm

Pixel area = 8.53² = 72.76 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

C-1000L pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 1063 pixels
Sensor width = 0.64 cm

Pixel density = (1063 / 0.64)² / 1000000 = 2.76 MP/cm²

D-500L pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 1032 pixels
Sensor width = 0.88 cm

Pixel density = (1032 / 0.88)² / 1000000 = 1.38 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

C-1000L sensor resolution

Sensor width = 6.40 mm
Sensor height = 4.80 mm
Effective megapixels = 0.85

r = 6.40/4.80 = 1.33

X = √	0.85 × 1000000	= 799
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 799 × 1.33 = 1063
Resolution vertical: X = 799

Sensor resolution = 1063 x 799

D-500L sensor resolution

Sensor width = 8.80 mm
Sensor height = 6.60 mm
Effective megapixels = 0.80

r = 8.80/6.60 = 1.33

X = √	0.80 × 1000000	= 776
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 776 × 1.33 = 1032
Resolution vertical: X = 776

Sensor resolution = 1032 x 776

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

C-1000L crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 8.00 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 5.41
	8.00

D-500L crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 11.00 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 3.93
	11.00

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).

C-1000L equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 5.41
Aperture = f2.8 - f3.9

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f2.8 - f3.9) × 5.41 = f15.1 - f21.1

D-500L equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 3.93
Aperture = f2.8 - f5.6

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f2.8 - f5.6) × 3.93 = f11 - f22

Enter your screen size (diagonal)

My screen size is inches

Actual size is currently adjusted to screen.

If your screen (phone, tablet, or monitor) is not in diagonal, then the actual size of a sensor won't be shown correctly.