Olympus C-700 UZ vs. Canon PowerShot A530

Comparison

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Olympus C-700 UZ

Canon PowerShot A530

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Megapixels

1.90

5.00

Max. image resolution

1600 x 1200

2592 x 1944

Sensor

Sensor type

CCD

Sensor size

1/2.7" (~ 5.33 x 4 mm)

1/2.5" (~ 5.75 x 4.32 mm)

Sensor resolution

1589 x 1195

2579 x 1939

Diagonal

6.66 mm

7.19 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	:	1.17
(ratio)

Olympus C-700 UZ		Canon PowerShot A530

Surface area:

21.32 mm²

24.84 mm²

Difference: 3.52 mm² (17%)

A530 sensor is approx. 1.17x bigger than C-700 UZ sensor.

Note: You are comparing cameras of different generations. There is a 5 year gap between Olympus C-700 UZ (2001) and Canon A530 (2006). All things being equal, newer sensor generations generally outperform the older.

Pixel pitch

3.35 µm

2.23 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: 1.12 µm (50%)

Pixel pitch of C-700 UZ is approx. 50% higher than pixel pitch of A530.

Pixel area

11.22 µm²

4.97 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: 6.25 µm² (126%)

A pixel on Olympus C-700 UZ sensor is approx. 126% bigger than a pixel on Canon A530.

Pixel density

8.89 MP/cm²

20.12 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: 11.23 µm (126%)

Canon A530 has approx. 126% higher pixel density than Olympus C-700 UZ.

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

Specs

Olympus C-700 UZ

Canon A530

Crop factor

6.5

6.02

Total megapixels

2.10

5.30

Effective megapixels

1.90

5.00

Optical zoom

10x

Digital zoom

Yes

ISO sensitivity

Auto, 100, 200, 400, 800

Auto, 80 ,100, 200, 400, 800

RAW

Manual focus

Normal focus range

60 cm

45 cm

Macro focus range

10 cm

5 cm

Focal length (35mm equiv.)

38 - 380 mm

35 - 140 mm

Aperture priority

Yes

Max. aperture

f2.8 - f3.5

f2.6 - f5.5

Max. aperture (35mm equiv.)

f18.2 - f22.8

f15.7 - f33.1

Metering

ESP Digital, Multi Spot, Spot

Multi, Center-weighted, Spot

Exposure compensation

±2 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)

Shutter priority

Yes

Min. shutter speed

16 sec

15 sec

Max. shutter speed

1/1000 sec

1/2000 sec

Built-in flash

External flash

Viewfinder

Electronic

Optical (tunnel)

White balance presets

Screen size

1.5"

1.8"

Screen resolution

114,000 dots

77,000 dots

Video capture

Max. video resolution

Storage types

SmartMedia

SD/MMC card

USB

USB 1.0

USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)

HDMI

Wireless

GPS

Battery

AA (4) batteries (NiMH recommended)

AA (2) batteries (NiMH recommended)

Weight

423 g

220 g

Dimensions

108 x 76 x 78 mm

90 x 64 x 43 mm

Year

2001

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-700 UZ diagonal

The diagonal of C-700 UZ 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 A530 diagonal

The diagonal of A530 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

Surface area

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

C-700 UZ sensor area

Width = 5.33 mm
Height = 4.00 mm

Surface area = 5.33 × 4.00 = 21.32 mm²

A530 sensor area

Width = 5.75 mm
Height = 4.32 mm

Surface area = 5.75 × 4.32 = 24.84 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-700 UZ pixel pitch

Sensor width = 5.33 mm
Sensor resolution width = 1589 pixels

Pixel pitch =	5.33	× 1000	= 3.35 µm
	1589

A530 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 5.75 mm
Sensor resolution width = 2579 pixels

Pixel pitch =	5.75	× 1000	= 2.23 µm
	2579

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-700 UZ pixel area

Pixel pitch = 3.35 µm

Pixel area = 3.35² = 11.22 µm²

A530 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 2.23 µm

Pixel area = 2.23² = 4.97 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-700 UZ pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 1589 pixels
Sensor width = 0.533 cm

Pixel density = (1589 / 0.533)² / 1000000 = 8.89 MP/cm²

A530 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 2579 pixels
Sensor width = 0.575 cm

Pixel density = (2579 / 0.575)² / 1000000 = 20.12 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-700 UZ sensor resolution

Sensor width = 5.33 mm
Sensor height = 4.00 mm
Effective megapixels = 1.90

r = 5.33/4.00 = 1.33

X = √	1.90 × 1000000	= 1195
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 1195 × 1.33 = 1589
Resolution vertical: X = 1195

Sensor resolution = 1589 x 1195

A530 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 5.75 mm
Sensor height = 4.32 mm
Effective megapixels = 5.00

r = 5.75/4.32 = 1.33

X = √	5.00 × 1000000	= 1939
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 1939 × 1.33 = 2579
Resolution vertical: X = 1939

Sensor resolution = 2579 x 1939

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-700 UZ crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 6.66 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 6.5
	6.66

A530 crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 7.19 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 6.02
	7.19

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-700 UZ equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 6.5
Aperture = f2.8 - f3.5

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f2.8 - f3.5) × 6.5 = f18.2 - f22.8

A530 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 6.02
Aperture = f2.6 - f5.5

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f2.6 - f5.5) × 6.02 = f15.7 - f33.1

More comparisons of Olympus C-700 UZ:

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