Olympus D-300L vs. Sony Alpha 7S II

Comparison

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D-300L image
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Alpha 7S II image
Olympus D-300L Sony Alpha 7S II
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Megapixels
0.80
12.20
Max. image resolution
1024 x 768
4240 x 2832

Sensor

Sensor type
CCD
CMOS
Sensor size
2/3" (~ 8.8 x 6.6 mm)
35.6 x 23.8 mm
Sensor resolution
1032 x 776
4278 x 2852
Diagonal
11.00 mm
42.82 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 : 14.59
(ratio)
Olympus D-300L Sony Alpha 7S II
Surface area:
58.08 mm² vs 847.28 mm²
Difference: 789.2 mm² (1359%)
Alpha 7S II sensor is approx. 14.59x bigger than D-300L sensor.
Note: You are comparing sensors of vastly different generations. There is a gap of 19 years between Olympus D-300L (1996) and Sony Alpha 7S II (2015). Nineteen years is a huge amount of time, technology wise, resulting in newer sensor being much more efficient than the older one.
Pixel pitch
8.53 µm
8.32 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: 0.21 µm (3%)
Pixel pitch of D-300L is approx. 3% higher than pixel pitch of Alpha 7S II.
Pixel area
72.76 µm²
69.22 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: 3.54 µm² (5%)
A pixel on Olympus D-300L sensor is approx. 5% bigger than a pixel on Sony Alpha 7S II.
Pixel density
1.38 MP/cm²
1.44 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: 0.06 µm (4%)
Sony Alpha 7S II has approx. 4% higher pixel density than Olympus D-300L.
To learn about the accuracy of these numbers, click here.



Specs

Olympus D-300L
Sony Alpha 7S II
Crop factor
3.93
1.01
Total megapixels
1.00
12.40
Effective megapixels
0.80
12.20
Optical zoom
1x
Digital zoom
No
Yes
ISO sensitivity
100
Auto, 100-102400 (expandable to 50-409600)
RAW
Manual focus
Normal focus range
50 cm
Macro focus range
20 cm
Focal length (35mm equiv.)
36 mm
Aperture priority
No
Yes
Max. aperture
f2.8 - f11.0
Max. aperture (35mm equiv.)
f11 - f43.2
n/a
Metering
Multi, Center-weighted, Spot
Multi, Center-weighted, Spot
Exposure compensation
±5 EV (in 1/3 EV, 1/2 EV steps)
Shutter priority
No
Yes
Min. shutter speed
1/8 sec
30 sec
Max. shutter speed
1/500 sec
1/8000 sec
Built-in flash
External flash
Viewfinder
Optical (tunnel)
Electronic
White balance presets
6
10
Screen size
1.8"
3"
Screen resolution
114,000 dots
1,228,800 dots
Video capture
Max. video resolution
3840x2160 (30p/25p/24p)
Storage types
Internal
SD/SDHC/SDXC, Memory Stick Duo/Pro Duo/Pro-HG Duo
USB
USB 1.0
USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)
HDMI
Wireless
GPS
Battery
AA (4) batteries (NiMH recommended)
Rechargeable battery pack NP-FW50
Weight
320 g
627 g
Dimensions
145 x 71 x 45 mm
126.9 x 95.7 x 60.3 mm
Year
1996
2015




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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 D-300L diagonal

The diagonal of D-300L 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 Alpha 7S II diagonal

w = 35.60 mm
h = 23.80 mm
Diagonal =  35.60² + 23.80²   = 42.82 mm


Surface area

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

D-300L sensor area

Width = 8.80 mm
Height = 6.60 mm

Surface area = 8.80 × 6.60 = 58.08 mm²

Alpha 7S II sensor area

Width = 35.60 mm
Height = 23.80 mm

Surface area = 35.60 × 23.80 = 847.28 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

D-300L pixel pitch

Sensor width = 8.80 mm
Sensor resolution width = 1032 pixels
Pixel pitch =   8.80  × 1000  = 8.53 µm
1032

Alpha 7S II pixel pitch

Sensor width = 35.60 mm
Sensor resolution width = 4278 pixels
Pixel pitch =   35.60  × 1000  = 8.32 µm
4278


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

D-300L pixel area

Pixel pitch = 8.53 µm

Pixel area = 8.53² = 72.76 µm²

Alpha 7S II pixel area

Pixel pitch = 8.32 µm

Pixel area = 8.32² = 69.22 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

D-300L pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 1032 pixels
Sensor width = 0.88 cm

Pixel density = (1032 / 0.88)² / 1000000 = 1.38 MP/cm²

Alpha 7S II pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 4278 pixels
Sensor width = 3.56 cm

Pixel density = (4278 / 3.56)² / 1000000 = 1.44 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

D-300L 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

Alpha 7S II sensor resolution

Sensor width = 35.60 mm
Sensor height = 23.80 mm
Effective megapixels = 12.20
r = 35.60/23.80 = 1.5
X =  12.20 × 1000000  = 2852
1.5
Resolution horizontal: X × r = 2852 × 1.5 = 4278
Resolution vertical: X = 2852

Sensor resolution = 4278 x 2852


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


D-300L crop factor

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

Alpha 7S II crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 42.82 mm
Crop factor =   43.27  = 1.01
42.82

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).

D-300L equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 3.93
Aperture = f2.8 - f11.0

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f2.8 - f11.0) × 3.93 = f11 - f43.2

Alpha 7S II equivalent aperture

Aperture is a lens characteristic, so it's calculated only for fixed lens cameras. If you want to know the equivalent aperture for Sony Alpha 7S II, take the aperture of the lens you're using and multiply it with crop factor.

Crop factor for Sony Alpha 7S II is 1.01

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