Olympus C-300 Zoom vs. Canon PowerShot A430

Comparison

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Olympus C-300 Zoom

Canon PowerShot A430

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Megapixels

3.00

4.00

Max. image resolution

1984 x 1488

2272 x 1704

Sensor

Sensor type

CCD

Sensor size

1/2.5" (~ 5.75 x 4.32 mm)

1/3" (~ 4.8 x 3.6 mm)

Sensor resolution

1998 x 1502

2306 x 1734

Diagonal

7.19 mm

6.00 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
1.44	:	1
(ratio)

Olympus C-300 Zoom		Canon PowerShot A430

Surface area:

24.84 mm²

17.28 mm²

Difference: 7.56 mm² (44%)

C-300 Zoom sensor is approx. 1.44x bigger than A430 sensor.

Note: You are comparing cameras of different generations. There is a 4 year gap between Olympus C-300 Zoom (2002) and Canon A430 (2006). All things being equal, newer sensor generations generally outperform the older.

Pixel pitch

2.88 µm

2.08 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: 0.8 µm (38%)

Pixel pitch of C-300 Zoom is approx. 38% higher than pixel pitch of A430.

Pixel area

8.29 µm²

4.33 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: 3.96 µm² (91%)

A pixel on Olympus C-300 Zoom sensor is approx. 91% bigger than a pixel on Canon A430.

Pixel density

12.07 MP/cm²

23.08 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: 11.01 µm (91%)

Canon A430 has approx. 91% higher pixel density than Olympus C-300 Zoom.

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

Specs

Olympus C-300 Zoom

Canon A430

Crop factor

6.02

7.21

Total megapixels

3.30

4.10

Effective megapixels

3.00

4.00

Optical zoom

2.8x

Digital zoom

Yes

ISO sensitivity

Auto, 100, 200, 400

Auto, 64, 100, 200, 400

RAW

Manual focus

Normal focus range

80 cm

47 cm

Macro focus range

20 cm

1 cm

Focal length (35mm equiv.)

36 - 100 mm

39 - 156 mm

Aperture priority

Max. aperture

f2.9 - f4.4

f2.8 - f5.8

Max. aperture (35mm equiv.)

f17.5 - f26.5

f20.2 - f41.8

Metering

ESP Digital, Spot

Multi, Center-weighted, Spot

Exposure compensation

±2 EV (in 1/2 EV steps)

±2 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)

Shutter priority

Min. shutter speed

2 sec

1 sec

Max. shutter speed

1/1000 sec

1/2000 sec

Built-in flash

External flash

Viewfinder

Optical (tunnel)

White balance presets

Screen size

1.8"

Screen resolution

61,000 dots

77,000 dots

Video capture

Max. video resolution

Storage types

SmartMedia

SD/MMC card

USB

USB 1.0

HDMI

Wireless

GPS

Battery

AA (4) batteries (NiMH recommended)

AA (2) batteries (NiMH recommended)

Weight

332 g

210 g

Dimensions

118 x 66 x 50 mm

103 x 52 x 40 mm

Year

2002

2006

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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-300 Zoom diagonal

The diagonal of C-300 Zoom sensor is not 1/2.5 or 0.4" (10.2 mm) as you might expect, but approximately two thirds of that value - 7.19 mm. If you want to know why, see sensor sizes.

w = 5.75 mm
h = 4.32 mm

Diagonal = √

5.75² + 4.32²

= 7.19 mm

Canon A430 diagonal

The diagonal of A430 sensor is not 1/3 or 0.33" (8.5 mm) as you might expect, but approximately two thirds of that value - 6 mm. If you want to know why, see sensor sizes.

w = 4.80 mm
h = 3.60 mm

Diagonal = √

4.80² + 3.60²

= 6.00 mm

Surface area

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

C-300 Zoom sensor area

Width = 5.75 mm
Height = 4.32 mm

Surface area = 5.75 × 4.32 = 24.84 mm²

A430 sensor area

Width = 4.80 mm
Height = 3.60 mm

Surface area = 4.80 × 3.60 = 17.28 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-300 Zoom pixel pitch

Sensor width = 5.75 mm
Sensor resolution width = 1998 pixels

Pixel pitch =	5.75	× 1000	= 2.88 µm
	1998

A430 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 4.80 mm
Sensor resolution width = 2306 pixels

Pixel pitch =	4.80	× 1000	= 2.08 µm
	2306

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-300 Zoom pixel area

Pixel pitch = 2.88 µm

Pixel area = 2.88² = 8.29 µm²

A430 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 2.08 µm

Pixel area = 2.08² = 4.33 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-300 Zoom pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 1998 pixels
Sensor width = 0.575 cm

Pixel density = (1998 / 0.575)² / 1000000 = 12.07 MP/cm²

A430 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 2306 pixels
Sensor width = 0.48 cm

Pixel density = (2306 / 0.48)² / 1000000 = 23.08 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-300 Zoom sensor resolution

Sensor width = 5.75 mm
Sensor height = 4.32 mm
Effective megapixels = 3.00

r = 5.75/4.32 = 1.33

X = √	3.00 × 1000000	= 1502
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 1502 × 1.33 = 1998
Resolution vertical: X = 1502

Sensor resolution = 1998 x 1502

A430 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 4.80 mm
Sensor height = 3.60 mm
Effective megapixels = 4.00

r = 4.80/3.60 = 1.33

X = √	4.00 × 1000000	= 1734
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 1734 × 1.33 = 2306
Resolution vertical: X = 1734

Sensor resolution = 2306 x 1734

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-300 Zoom crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 7.19 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 6.02
	7.19

A430 crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 6.00 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 7.21
	6.00

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-300 Zoom equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 6.02
Aperture = f2.9 - f4.4

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f2.9 - f4.4) × 6.02 = f17.5 - f26.5

A430 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 7.21
Aperture = f2.8 - f5.8

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f2.8 - f5.8) × 7.21 = f20.2 - f41.8

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