Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ8 vs. Nikon Coolpix P330

Comparison

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Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ8

Nikon Coolpix P330

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Megapixels

8.10

12.20

Max. image resolution

3264 x 2448

4000 x 3000

Sensor

Sensor type

CCD

CMOS

Sensor size

1/2.5" (~ 5.75 x 4.32 mm)

1/1.7" (~ 7.53 x 5.64 mm)

Sensor resolution

3282 x 2468

4043 x 3017

Diagonal

7.19 mm

9.41 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	:	1.71
(ratio)

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ8		Nikon Coolpix P330

Surface area:

24.84 mm²

42.47 mm²

Difference: 17.63 mm² (71%)

P330 sensor is approx. 1.71x bigger than LZ8 sensor.

Note: You are comparing cameras of different generations. There is a 5 year gap between Panasonic LZ8 (2008) and Nikon P330 (2013). All things being equal, newer sensor generations generally outperform the older.

Pixel pitch

1.75 µm

1.86 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: 0.11 µm (6%)

Pixel pitch of P330 is approx. 6% higher than pixel pitch of LZ8.

Pixel area

3.06 µm²

3.46 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: 0.4 µm² (13%)

A pixel on Nikon P330 sensor is approx. 13% bigger than a pixel on Panasonic LZ8.

Pixel density

32.58 MP/cm²

28.83 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: 3.75 µm (13%)

Panasonic LZ8 has approx. 13% higher pixel density than Nikon P330.

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

Specs

Panasonic LZ8

Nikon P330

Crop factor

6.02

4.6

Total megapixels

8.30

12.76

Effective megapixels

8.10

12.20

Optical zoom

Digital zoom

Yes

ISO sensitivity

Auto, Hi Auto, (1600-6400), 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600

Auto, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 2000, 3200, 6400, 12800

RAW

Manual focus

Normal focus range

50 cm

30 cm

Macro focus range

5 cm

3 cm

Focal length (35mm equiv.)

32 - 160 mm

24 - 120 mm

Aperture priority

Yes

Max. aperture

f3.3 - f5.9

f1.8 - f5.6

Max. aperture (35mm equiv.)

f19.9 - f35.5

f8.3 - f25.8

Metering

Multi, Center-weighted, Spot

Exposure compensation

±2 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)

Shutter priority

Yes

Min. shutter speed

60 sec

Max. shutter speed

1/2000 sec

1/4000 sec

Built-in flash

External flash

Viewfinder

None

White balance presets

Screen size

2.5"

Screen resolution

230,000 dots

921,000 dots

Video capture

Max. video resolution

1920x1080 (60i/50i/30p/25p/24p)

Storage types

SD/MMC/SDHC card, Internal

SD/SDHC/SDXC

USB

USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)

HDMI

Wireless

GPS

Battery

AA (2) NiMH batteries

Rechargeable Li-ion Battery EN-EL12

Weight

191 g

200 g

Dimensions

98 x 62 x 33 mm

103 x 58.3 x 32 mm

Year

2008

2013

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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

Panasonic LZ8 diagonal

The diagonal of LZ8 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

Nikon P330 diagonal

The diagonal of P330 sensor is not 1/1.7 or 0.59" (14.9 mm) as you might expect, but approximately two thirds of that value - 9.41 mm. If you want to know why, see sensor sizes.

w = 7.53 mm
h = 5.64 mm

Diagonal = √

7.53² + 5.64²

= 9.41 mm

Surface area

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

LZ8 sensor area

Width = 5.75 mm
Height = 4.32 mm

Surface area = 5.75 × 4.32 = 24.84 mm²

P330 sensor area

Width = 7.53 mm
Height = 5.64 mm

Surface area = 7.53 × 5.64 = 42.47 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

LZ8 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 5.75 mm
Sensor resolution width = 3282 pixels

Pixel pitch =	5.75	× 1000	= 1.75 µm
	3282

P330 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 7.53 mm
Sensor resolution width = 4043 pixels

Pixel pitch =	7.53	× 1000	= 1.86 µm
	4043

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

LZ8 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 1.75 µm

Pixel area = 1.75² = 3.06 µm²

P330 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 1.86 µm

Pixel area = 1.86² = 3.46 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

LZ8 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 3282 pixels
Sensor width = 0.575 cm

Pixel density = (3282 / 0.575)² / 1000000 = 32.58 MP/cm²

P330 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 4043 pixels
Sensor width = 0.753 cm

Pixel density = (4043 / 0.753)² / 1000000 = 28.83 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

LZ8 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 5.75 mm
Sensor height = 4.32 mm
Effective megapixels = 8.10

r = 5.75/4.32 = 1.33

X = √	8.10 × 1000000	= 2468
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 2468 × 1.33 = 3282
Resolution vertical: X = 2468

Sensor resolution = 3282 x 2468

P330 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 7.53 mm
Sensor height = 5.64 mm
Effective megapixels = 12.20

r = 7.53/5.64 = 1.34

X = √	12.20 × 1000000	= 3017
	1.34

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 3017 × 1.34 = 4043
Resolution vertical: X = 3017

Sensor resolution = 4043 x 3017

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

LZ8 crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 7.19 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 6.02
	7.19

P330 crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 9.41 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 4.6
	9.41

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).

LZ8 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 6.02
Aperture = f3.3 - f5.9

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f3.3 - f5.9) × 6.02 = f19.9 - f35.5

P330 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 4.6
Aperture = f1.8 - f5.6

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f1.8 - f5.6) × 4.6 = f8.3 - f25.8

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