Olympus C-900 Zoom vs. Sanyo VPC X1220

Comparison

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C-900 Zoom image
vs
VPC X1220 image
Olympus C-900 Zoom Sanyo VPC X1220
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Megapixels
1.31
12.00
Max. image resolution
1280 x 960
4000 x 3000

Sensor

Sensor type
CCD
CCD
Sensor size
1/2.7" (~ 5.33 x 4 mm)
1/2.3" (~ 6.16 x 4.62 mm)
Sensor resolution
1319 x 992
3995 x 3004
Diagonal
6.66 mm
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 : 1.33
(ratio)
Olympus C-900 Zoom Sanyo VPC X1220
Surface area:
21.32 mm² vs 28.46 mm²
Difference: 7.14 mm² (33%)
VPC X1220 sensor is approx. 1.33x bigger than C-900 Zoom sensor.
Note: You are comparing sensors of vastly different generations. There is a gap of 12 years between Olympus C-900 Zoom (1998) and Sanyo VPC X1220 (2010). Twelve years is a huge amount of time, technology wise, resulting in newer sensor being much more efficient than the older one.
Pixel pitch
4.04 µm
1.54 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: 2.5 µm (162%)
Pixel pitch of C-900 Zoom is approx. 162% higher than pixel pitch of VPC X1220.
Pixel area
16.32 µm²
2.37 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: 13.95 µm² (589%)
A pixel on Olympus C-900 Zoom sensor is approx. 589% bigger than a pixel on Sanyo VPC X1220.
Pixel density
6.12 MP/cm²
42.06 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: 35.94 µm (587%)
Sanyo VPC X1220 has approx. 587% higher pixel density than Olympus C-900 Zoom.
To learn about the accuracy of these numbers, click here.



Specs

Olympus C-900 Zoom
Sanyo VPC X1220
Crop factor
6.5
5.62
Total megapixels
Effective megapixels
Optical zoom
Yes
Yes
Digital zoom
Yes
Yes
ISO sensitivity
Auto
Auto, 64-6400
RAW
Manual focus
Normal focus range
80 cm
70 cm
Macro focus range
20 cm
10 cm
Focal length (35mm equiv.)
35 - 105 mm
35 - 105 mm
Aperture priority
No
No
Max. aperture
f2.8 - f4.4
f3.1 - f5.9
Max. aperture (35mm equiv.)
f18.2 - f28.6
f17.4 - f33.2
Metering
Centre weighted
Centre weighted, Multi-segment, Spot
Exposure compensation
±2 EV (in 1/2 EV steps)
±1.8 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)
Shutter priority
No
Yes
Min. shutter speed
1/2 sec
1/2 sec
Max. shutter speed
1/1000 sec
1/5000 sec
Built-in flash
External flash
Viewfinder
Optical
None
White balance presets
6
6
Screen size
1.8"
2.7"
Screen resolution
72,000 dots
230,000 dots
Video capture
Max. video resolution
Storage types
SmartMedia
SDHC, Secure Digital
USB
USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)
HDMI
Wireless
GPS
Battery
4x AA
Li-Ion
Weight
350 g
130 g
Dimensions
127 x 67 x 53 mm
93 x 55 x 17 mm
Year
1998
2010




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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-900 Zoom diagonal

The diagonal of C-900 Zoom 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

Sanyo VPC X1220 diagonal

The diagonal of VPC X1220 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.

C-900 Zoom sensor area

Width = 5.33 mm
Height = 4.00 mm

Surface area = 5.33 × 4.00 = 21.32 mm²

VPC X1220 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

C-900 Zoom pixel pitch

Sensor width = 5.33 mm
Sensor resolution width = 1319 pixels
Pixel pitch =   5.33  × 1000  = 4.04 µm
1319

VPC X1220 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 6.16 mm
Sensor resolution width = 3995 pixels
Pixel pitch =   6.16  × 1000  = 1.54 µm
3995


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-900 Zoom pixel area

Pixel pitch = 4.04 µm

Pixel area = 4.04² = 16.32 µm²

VPC X1220 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 1.54 µm

Pixel area = 1.54² = 2.37 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-900 Zoom pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 1319 pixels
Sensor width = 0.533 cm

Pixel density = (1319 / 0.533)² / 1000000 = 6.12 MP/cm²

VPC X1220 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 3995 pixels
Sensor width = 0.616 cm

Pixel density = (3995 / 0.616)² / 1000000 = 42.06 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

C-900 Zoom sensor resolution

Sensor width = 5.33 mm
Sensor height = 4.00 mm
Effective megapixels = 1.31
r = 5.33/4.00 = 1.33
X =  1.31 × 1000000  = 992
1.33
Resolution horizontal: X × r = 992 × 1.33 = 1319
Resolution vertical: X = 992

Sensor resolution = 1319 x 992

VPC X1220 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 6.16 mm
Sensor height = 4.62 mm
Effective megapixels = 12.00
r = 6.16/4.62 = 1.33
X =  12.00 × 1000000  = 3004
1.33
Resolution horizontal: X × r = 3004 × 1.33 = 3995
Resolution vertical: X = 3004

Sensor resolution = 3995 x 3004


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-900 Zoom crop factor

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

VPC X1220 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).

C-900 Zoom equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 6.5
Aperture = f2.8 - f4.4

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f2.8 - f4.4) × 6.5 = f18.2 - f28.6

VPC X1220 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 5.62
Aperture = f3.1 - f5.9

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f3.1 - f5.9) × 5.62 = f17.4 - f33.2

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