Samsung Digimax 420 vs. Olympus Stylus 550WP

Comparison

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Samsung Digimax 420

Olympus Stylus 550WP

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Megapixels

4.10

10.00

Max. image resolution

2272 x 1704

3648 x 2736

Sensor

Sensor type

CCD

Sensor size

1/1.8" (~ 7.11 x 5.33 mm)

1/2.33" (~ 6.08 x 4.56 mm)

Sensor resolution

2335 x 1756

3647 x 2742

Diagonal

8.89 mm

7.60 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
1.37	:	1
(ratio)

Samsung Digimax 420		Olympus Stylus 550WP

Surface area:

37.90 mm²

27.72 mm²

Difference: 10.18 mm² (37%)

420 sensor is approx. 1.37x bigger than 550WP sensor.

Note: You are comparing sensors of very different generations. There is a gap of 6 years between Samsung 420 (2003) and Olympus 550WP (2009). Six years is a lot of time in terms of technology, meaning newer sensors are overall much more efficient than the older ones.

Pixel pitch

3.04 µm

1.67 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: 1.37 µm (82%)

Pixel pitch of 420 is approx. 82% higher than pixel pitch of 550WP.

Pixel area

9.24 µm²

2.79 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: 6.45 µm² (231%)

A pixel on Samsung 420 sensor is approx. 231% bigger than a pixel on Olympus 550WP.

Pixel density

10.79 MP/cm²

35.98 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: 25.19 µm (233%)

Olympus 550WP has approx. 233% higher pixel density than Samsung 420.

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

Specs

Samsung 420

Olympus 550WP

Crop factor

4.87

5.69

Total megapixels

Effective megapixels

10.00

Optical zoom

Yes

Digital zoom

Yes

ISO sensitivity

Auto, 100, 200, 400

Auto, High Auto, 64, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600

RAW

Manual focus

Normal focus range

40 cm

50 cm

Macro focus range

6 cm

7 cm

Focal length (35mm equiv.)

38 - 114 mm

Aperture priority

Max. aperture

f2.7 - f4.9

f3.5 - f5.0

Max. aperture (35mm equiv.)

f13.1 - f23.9

f19.9 - f28.5

Metering

Multi Spot, Spot

Multi, Center-weighted, Spot

Exposure compensation

±2 EV (in 1/2 EV steps)

±2 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)

Shutter priority

Min. shutter speed

5 sec

4 sec

Max. shutter speed

1/2000 sec

1/1000 sec

Built-in flash

External flash

Viewfinder

Optical

None

White balance presets

Screen size

1.5"

2.5"

Screen resolution

117,600 dots

230,000 dots

Video capture

Max. video resolution

Storage types

MultiMedia, Secure Digital

xD-Picture Card, microSD, internal

USB

USB 1.1

USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)

HDMI

Wireless

GPS

Battery

1x CR-V3, 2x AA

Lithium-Ion BLS-1 rechargeable battery

Weight

165 g

167 g

Dimensions

109.7 x 59 x 39.6 mm

94 x 62 x 22 mm

Year

2003

2009

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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

Samsung 420 diagonal

The diagonal of 420 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

Olympus 550WP diagonal

The diagonal of 550WP 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

Surface area

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

420 sensor area

Width = 7.11 mm
Height = 5.33 mm

Surface area = 7.11 × 5.33 = 37.90 mm²

550WP sensor area

Width = 6.08 mm
Height = 4.56 mm

Surface area = 6.08 × 4.56 = 27.72 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

420 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 7.11 mm
Sensor resolution width = 2335 pixels

Pixel pitch =	7.11	× 1000	= 3.04 µm
	2335

550WP pixel pitch

Sensor width = 6.08 mm
Sensor resolution width = 3647 pixels

Pixel pitch =	6.08	× 1000	= 1.67 µm
	3647

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

420 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 3.04 µm

Pixel area = 3.04² = 9.24 µm²

550WP pixel area

Pixel pitch = 1.67 µm

Pixel area = 1.67² = 2.79 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

420 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 2335 pixels
Sensor width = 0.711 cm

Pixel density = (2335 / 0.711)² / 1000000 = 10.79 MP/cm²

550WP pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 3647 pixels
Sensor width = 0.608 cm

Pixel density = (3647 / 0.608)² / 1000000 = 35.98 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

420 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 7.11 mm
Sensor height = 5.33 mm
Effective megapixels = 4.10

r = 7.11/5.33 = 1.33

X = √	4.10 × 1000000	= 1756
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 1756 × 1.33 = 2335
Resolution vertical: X = 1756

Sensor resolution = 2335 x 1756

550WP sensor resolution

Sensor width = 6.08 mm
Sensor height = 4.56 mm
Effective megapixels = 10.00

r = 6.08/4.56 = 1.33

X = √	10.00 × 1000000	= 2742
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 2742 × 1.33 = 3647
Resolution vertical: X = 2742

Sensor resolution = 3647 x 2742

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

420 crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 8.89 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 4.87
	8.89

550WP crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 7.60 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 5.69
	7.60

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).

420 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 4.87
Aperture = f2.7 - f4.9

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f2.7 - f4.9) × 4.87 = f13.1 - f23.9

550WP equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 5.69
Aperture = f3.5 - f5.0

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f3.5 - f5.0) × 5.69 = f19.9 - f28.5

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