Olympus C-2500 L vs. Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P73

Comparison

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C-2500 L image
vs
Cyber-shot DSC-P73 image
Olympus C-2500 L Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P73
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Megapixels
2.30
4.23
Max. image resolution
1712 x 1368
2304 x 1728

Sensor

Sensor type
CCD
CCD
Sensor size
2/3" (~ 8.8 x 6.6 mm)
1/2.7" (~ 5.33 x 4 mm)
Sensor resolution
1749 x 1315
2371 x 1783
Diagonal
11.00 mm
6.66 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
2.72 : 1
(ratio)
Olympus C-2500 L Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P73
Surface area:
58.08 mm² vs 21.32 mm²
Difference: 36.76 mm² (172%)
C-2500 L sensor is approx. 2.72x bigger than P73 sensor.
Note: You are comparing cameras of different generations. There is a 5 year gap between Olympus C-2500 L (1999) and Sony P73 (2004). All things being equal, newer sensor generations generally outperform the older.
Pixel pitch
5.03 µm
2.25 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: 2.78 µm (124%)
Pixel pitch of C-2500 L is approx. 124% higher than pixel pitch of P73.
Pixel area
25.3 µm²
5.06 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: 20.24 µm² (400%)
A pixel on Olympus C-2500 L sensor is approx. 400% bigger than a pixel on Sony P73.
Pixel density
3.95 MP/cm²
19.79 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: 15.84 µm (401%)
Sony P73 has approx. 401% higher pixel density than Olympus C-2500 L.
To learn about the accuracy of these numbers, click here.



Specs

Olympus C-2500 L
Sony P73
Crop factor
3.93
6.5
Total megapixels
2.50
Effective megapixels
2.30
Optical zoom
3.1x
3x
Digital zoom
No
Yes
ISO sensitivity
100, 200, 400
Auto, 100, 200, 400
RAW
Manual focus
Normal focus range
80 cm
50 cm
Macro focus range
2 cm
10 cm
Focal length (35mm equiv.)
36 - 110 mm
39 - 117 mm
Aperture priority
Yes
No
Max. aperture
f2.8 - f5.6
f2.8 - f5.2
Max. aperture (35mm equiv.)
f11 - f22
f18.2 - f33.8
Metering
Multi, Center-weighted, Spot
Multi Spot, Spot
Exposure compensation
±2 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)
±2 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)
Shutter priority
Yes
No
Min. shutter speed
8 sec
30 sec
Max. shutter speed
1/10000 sec
1/1000 sec
Built-in flash
External flash
Viewfinder
Optical (tunnel)
Optical (tunnel)
White balance presets
6
5
Screen size
1.8"
1.5"
Screen resolution
114,000 dots
67,000 dots
Video capture
Max. video resolution
Storage types
SmartMedia, Compact Flash
Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro
USB
USB 1.0
USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)
HDMI
Wireless
GPS
Battery
AA NiMH (4) batteries (supplied)
AA (2) batteries (NiMH rechargables included)
Weight
530 g
175 g
Dimensions
109 x 80 x 128 mm
117 x 54 x 36 mm
Year
1999
2004




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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

Olympus C-2500 L diagonal

The diagonal of C-2500 L 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

Sony P73 diagonal

The diagonal of P73 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


Surface area

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

C-2500 L sensor area

Width = 8.80 mm
Height = 6.60 mm

Surface area = 8.80 × 6.60 = 58.08 mm²

P73 sensor area

Width = 5.33 mm
Height = 4.00 mm

Surface area = 5.33 × 4.00 = 21.32 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-2500 L pixel pitch

Sensor width = 8.80 mm
Sensor resolution width = 1749 pixels
Pixel pitch =   8.80  × 1000  = 5.03 µm
1749

P73 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 5.33 mm
Sensor resolution width = 2371 pixels
Pixel pitch =   5.33  × 1000  = 2.25 µm
2371


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-2500 L pixel area

Pixel pitch = 5.03 µm

Pixel area = 5.03² = 25.3 µm²

P73 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 2.25 µm

Pixel area = 2.25² = 5.06 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-2500 L pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 1749 pixels
Sensor width = 0.88 cm

Pixel density = (1749 / 0.88)² / 1000000 = 3.95 MP/cm²

P73 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 2371 pixels
Sensor width = 0.533 cm

Pixel density = (2371 / 0.533)² / 1000000 = 19.79 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-2500 L sensor resolution

Sensor width = 8.80 mm
Sensor height = 6.60 mm
Effective megapixels = 2.30
r = 8.80/6.60 = 1.33
X = √  2.30 × 1000000  = 1315
1.33
Resolution horizontal: X × r = 1315 × 1.33 = 1749
Resolution vertical: X = 1315

Sensor resolution = 1749 x 1315

P73 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 5.33 mm
Sensor height = 4.00 mm
Effective megapixels = 4.23
r = 5.33/4.00 = 1.33
X = √  4.23 × 1000000  = 1783
1.33
Resolution horizontal: X × r = 1783 × 1.33 = 2371
Resolution vertical: X = 1783

Sensor resolution = 2371 x 1783


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-2500 L crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 11.00 mm
Crop factor =   43.27  = 3.93
11.00

P73 crop factor

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

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-2500 L equivalent aperture

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

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

P73 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 6.5
Aperture = f2.8 - f5.2

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f2.8 - f5.2) × 6.5 = f18.2 - f33.8

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