Olympus SP 310 vs. Samsung WB5500

Comparison

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Olympus SP 310

Samsung WB5500

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Megapixels

7.41

13.80

Max. image resolution

3072 x 2304

4320 x 3240

Sensor

Sensor type

CCD

Sensor size

1/1.8" (~ 7.11 x 5.33 mm)

1/2.3" (~ 6.16 x 4.62 mm)

Sensor resolution

3139 x 2360

4284 x 3221

Diagonal

8.89 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
1.33	:	1
(ratio)

Olympus SP 310		Samsung WB5500

Surface area:

37.90 mm²

28.46 mm²

Difference: 9.44 mm² (33%)

SP 310 sensor is approx. 1.33x bigger than WB5500 sensor.

Note: You are comparing cameras of different generations. There is a 5 year gap between Olympus SP 310 (2005) and Samsung WB5500 (2010). All things being equal, newer sensor generations generally outperform the older.

Pixel pitch

2.27 µm

1.44 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: 0.83 µm (58%)

Pixel pitch of SP 310 is approx. 58% higher than pixel pitch of WB5500.

Pixel area

5.15 µm²

2.07 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: 3.08 µm² (149%)

A pixel on Olympus SP 310 sensor is approx. 149% bigger than a pixel on Samsung WB5500.

Pixel density

19.49 MP/cm²

48.37 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: 28.88 µm (148%)

Samsung WB5500 has approx. 148% higher pixel density than Olympus SP 310.

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

Specs

Olympus SP 310

Samsung WB5500

Crop factor

4.87

5.62

Total megapixels

14.50

Effective megapixels

13.80

Optical zoom

Yes

26x

Digital zoom

Yes

ISO sensitivity

Auto, 64, 100, 200, 400

Auto, 64-3200

RAW

Manual focus

Normal focus range

20 cm

80 cm

Macro focus range

2 cm

1 cm

Focal length (35mm equiv.)

38 - 114 mm

26 - 676 mm

Aperture priority

Yes

Max. aperture

f2.8 - f4.9

f2.8 - f5.0

Max. aperture (35mm equiv.)

f13.6 - f23.9

f15.7 - f28.1

Metering

Centre weighted, ESP Digital, Spot

Centre weighted, Multi-segment, Spot

Exposure compensation

±2 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)

Shutter priority

Yes

Min. shutter speed

15 sec

16 sec

Max. shutter speed

1/2000 sec

Built-in flash

External flash

Viewfinder

Optical

Electronic

White balance presets

Screen size

2.5"

Screen resolution

115,000 dots

230,000 dots

Video capture

Max. video resolution

Storage types

xD Picture card

SDHC, Secure Digital

USB

USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)

HDMI

Wireless

GPS

Battery

1x CR-V3, 2x AA

Lithium-Ion SLB-11A rechargeable battery

Weight

180 g

455 g

Dimensions

99.5 x 65 x 35 mm

116 x 83 x 91 mm

Year

2005

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 SP 310 diagonal

The diagonal of SP 310 sensor is not 1/1.8 or 0.56" (14.1 mm) as you might expect, but approximately two thirds of that value - 8.89 mm. If you want to know why, see sensor sizes.

w = 7.11 mm
h = 5.33 mm

Diagonal = √

7.11² + 5.33²

= 8.89 mm

Samsung WB5500 diagonal

The diagonal of WB5500 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.

SP 310 sensor area

Width = 7.11 mm
Height = 5.33 mm

Surface area = 7.11 × 5.33 = 37.90 mm²

WB5500 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

SP 310 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 7.11 mm
Sensor resolution width = 3139 pixels

Pixel pitch =	7.11	× 1000	= 2.27 µm
	3139

WB5500 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 6.16 mm
Sensor resolution width = 4284 pixels

Pixel pitch =	6.16	× 1000	= 1.44 µm
	4284

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

SP 310 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 2.27 µm

Pixel area = 2.27² = 5.15 µm²

WB5500 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 1.44 µm

Pixel area = 1.44² = 2.07 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

SP 310 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 3139 pixels
Sensor width = 0.711 cm

Pixel density = (3139 / 0.711)² / 1000000 = 19.49 MP/cm²

WB5500 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 4284 pixels
Sensor width = 0.616 cm

Pixel density = (4284 / 0.616)² / 1000000 = 48.37 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

SP 310 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 7.11 mm
Sensor height = 5.33 mm
Effective megapixels = 7.41

r = 7.11/5.33 = 1.33

X = √	7.41 × 1000000	= 2360
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 2360 × 1.33 = 3139
Resolution vertical: X = 2360

Sensor resolution = 3139 x 2360

WB5500 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 6.16 mm
Sensor height = 4.62 mm
Effective megapixels = 13.80

r = 6.16/4.62 = 1.33

X = √	13.80 × 1000000	= 3221
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 3221 × 1.33 = 4284
Resolution vertical: X = 3221

Sensor resolution = 4284 x 3221

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

SP 310 crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 8.89 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 4.87
	8.89

WB5500 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).

SP 310 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 4.87
Aperture = f2.8 - f4.9

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f2.8 - f4.9) × 4.87 = f13.6 - f23.9

WB5500 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 5.62
Aperture = f2.8 - f5.0

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f2.8 - f5.0) × 5.62 = f15.7 - f28.1

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