Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS45 vs. Nikon Coolpix S9600

Comparison

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Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS45

Nikon Coolpix S9600

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Megapixels

16.00

Max. image resolution

4608 x 3456

Sensor

Sensor type

CMOS

Sensor size

1/2.33" (~ 6.08 x 4.56 mm)

1/2.3" (~ 6.16 x 4.62 mm)

Sensor resolution

4612 x 3468

Diagonal

7.60 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	:	1.03
(ratio)

Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS45		Nikon Coolpix S9600

Surface area:

27.72 mm²

28.46 mm²

Difference: 0.74 mm² (3%)

S9600 sensor is slightly bigger than ZS45 sensor (only 3% difference).

Pixel pitch

1.32 µm

1.34 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: 0.02 µm (2%)

Pixel pitch of S9600 is approx. 2% higher than pixel pitch of ZS45.

Pixel area

1.74 µm²

1.8 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: 0.06 µm² (3%)

A pixel on Nikon S9600 sensor is approx. 3% bigger than a pixel on Panasonic ZS45.

Pixel density

57.54 MP/cm²

56.06 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: 1.48 µm (3%)

Panasonic ZS45 has approx. 3% higher pixel density than Nikon S9600.

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

Specs

Panasonic ZS45

Nikon S9600

Crop factor

5.69

5.62

Total megapixels

17.50

16.79

Effective megapixels

16.00

Optical zoom

20x

22x

Digital zoom

Yes

ISO sensitivity

Auto, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200 (High Sensitivity Mode 1600 - 6400)

125 - 6400

RAW

Manual focus

Normal focus range

50 cm

Macro focus range

3 cm

1 cm

Focal length (35mm equiv.)

24 - 480 mm

25 - 550 mm

Aperture priority

Yes

Max. aperture

f3.3 - f6.4

f3.4 - f6.3

Max. aperture (35mm equiv.)

f18.8 - f36.4

f19.1 - f35.4

Metering

Multi, Center-weighted, Spot

Matrix, center-weighted, spot

Exposure compensation

±2 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)

Shutter priority

Yes

Min. shutter speed

4 sec

Max. shutter speed

1/2000 sec

1/4000 sec

Built-in flash

External flash

Viewfinder

None

White balance presets

Screen size

Screen resolution

1,040,000 dots

460,000 dots

Video capture

Max. video resolution

1920x1080 (30p)

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

Storage types

SD/SDHC/SDXC

USB

USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)

HDMI

Wireless

GPS

Battery

Li-ion Battery Pack

EN-EL12 rechargeable Li-ion Battery

Weight

248 g

206 g

Dimensions

107.9 x 59.9 x 32.1 mm

108.6 x 61 x 31.6 mm

Year

2015

2014

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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 ZS45 diagonal

The diagonal of ZS45 sensor is not 1/2.33 or 0.43" (10.9 mm) as you might expect, but approximately two thirds of that value - 7.6 mm. If you want to know why, see sensor sizes.

w = 6.08 mm
h = 4.56 mm

Diagonal = √

6.08² + 4.56²

= 7.60 mm

Nikon S9600 diagonal

The diagonal of S9600 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.

ZS45 sensor area

Width = 6.08 mm
Height = 4.56 mm

Surface area = 6.08 × 4.56 = 27.72 mm²

S9600 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

ZS45 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 6.08 mm
Sensor resolution width = 4612 pixels

Pixel pitch =	6.08	× 1000	= 1.32 µm
	4612

S9600 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 6.16 mm
Sensor resolution width = 4612 pixels

Pixel pitch =	6.16	× 1000	= 1.34 µm
	4612

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

ZS45 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 1.32 µm

Pixel area = 1.32² = 1.74 µm²

S9600 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 1.34 µm

Pixel area = 1.34² = 1.8 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

ZS45 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 4612 pixels
Sensor width = 0.608 cm

Pixel density = (4612 / 0.608)² / 1000000 = 57.54 MP/cm²

S9600 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 4612 pixels
Sensor width = 0.616 cm

Pixel density = (4612 / 0.616)² / 1000000 = 56.06 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

ZS45 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 6.08 mm
Sensor height = 4.56 mm
Effective megapixels = 16.00

r = 6.08/4.56 = 1.33

X = √	16.00 × 1000000	= 3468
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 3468 × 1.33 = 4612
Resolution vertical: X = 3468

Sensor resolution = 4612 x 3468

S9600 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 6.16 mm
Sensor height = 4.62 mm
Effective megapixels = 16.00

r = 6.16/4.62 = 1.33

X = √	16.00 × 1000000	= 3468
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 3468 × 1.33 = 4612
Resolution vertical: X = 3468

Sensor resolution = 4612 x 3468

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

ZS45 crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 7.60 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 5.69
	7.60

S9600 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).

ZS45 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 5.69
Aperture = f3.3 - f6.4

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f3.3 - f6.4) × 5.69 = f18.8 - f36.4

S9600 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 5.62
Aperture = f3.4 - f6.3

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f3.4 - f6.3) × 5.62 = f19.1 - f35.4

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