Sanyo Xacti VPC S4 EX vs. Nikon Coolpix P5100

Comparison

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Sanyo Xacti VPC S4 EX

Nikon Coolpix P5100

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Megapixels

4.00

12.10

Max. image resolution

3264 x 2448

4000 x 3000

Sensor

Sensor type

CCD

Sensor size

1/2.5" (~ 5.75 x 4.32 mm)

1/1.72" (~ 7.44 x 5.58 mm)

Sensor resolution

2306 x 1734

4011 x 3016

Diagonal

7.19 mm

9.30 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	:	1.67
(ratio)

Sanyo Xacti VPC S4 EX		Nikon Coolpix P5100

Surface area:

24.84 mm²

41.52 mm²

Difference: 16.68 mm² (67%)

P5100 sensor is approx. 1.67x bigger than VPC S4 EX sensor.

Note: You are comparing cameras of different generations. There is a 3 year gap between Sanyo VPC S4 EX (2004) and Nikon P5100 (2007). All things being equal, newer sensor generations generally outperform the older.

Pixel pitch

2.49 µm

1.85 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: 0.64 µm (35%)

Pixel pitch of VPC S4 EX is approx. 35% higher than pixel pitch of P5100.

Pixel area

6.2 µm²

3.42 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: 2.78 µm² (81%)

A pixel on Sanyo VPC S4 EX sensor is approx. 81% bigger than a pixel on Nikon P5100.

Pixel density

16.08 MP/cm²

29.06 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: 12.98 µm (81%)

Nikon P5100 has approx. 81% higher pixel density than Sanyo VPC S4 EX.

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

Specs

Sanyo VPC S4 EX

Nikon P5100

Crop factor

6.02

4.65

Total megapixels

12.40

Effective megapixels

12.10

Optical zoom

Yes

3.5x

Digital zoom

Yes

ISO sensitivity

Auto, 50, 100, 200

Auto, (64 - 800), 64, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 2000

RAW

Manual focus

Normal focus range

50 cm

30 cm

Macro focus range

2 cm

4 cm

Focal length (35mm equiv.)

37 - 105 mm

35 - 123 mm

Aperture priority

Yes

Max. aperture

f3 - f5

f2.7 - f5.3

Max. aperture (35mm equiv.)

f18.1 - f30.1

f12.6 - f24.6

Metering

Centre weighted

Multi, Center-weighted, Spot

Exposure compensation

±1.8 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)

±2 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)

Shutter priority

Yes

Min. shutter speed

1/2 sec

8 sec

Max. shutter speed

1/2000 sec

Built-in flash

External flash

Viewfinder

Optical

Optical (tunnel)

White balance presets

Screen size

1.8"

2.5"

Screen resolution

85,000 dots

230,000 dots

Video capture

Max. video resolution

Storage types

Secure Digital

SD/SDHC card, Internal

USB

USB 1.1

USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)

HDMI

Wireless

GPS

Battery

1x CR-V3, 2x AA

Nikon EN-EL5 Lithium-Ion

Weight

185 g

250 g

Dimensions

91 x 61 x 31 mm

98 x 65 x 41 mm

Year

2004

2007

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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

Sanyo VPC S4 EX diagonal

The diagonal of VPC S4 EX 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 P5100 diagonal

The diagonal of P5100 sensor is not 1/1.72 or 0.58" (14.8 mm) as you might expect, but approximately two thirds of that value - 9.3 mm. If you want to know why, see sensor sizes.

w = 7.44 mm
h = 5.58 mm

Diagonal = √

7.44² + 5.58²

= 9.30 mm

Surface area

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

VPC S4 EX sensor area

Width = 5.75 mm
Height = 4.32 mm

Surface area = 5.75 × 4.32 = 24.84 mm²

P5100 sensor area

Width = 7.44 mm
Height = 5.58 mm

Surface area = 7.44 × 5.58 = 41.52 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

VPC S4 EX pixel pitch

Sensor width = 5.75 mm
Sensor resolution width = 2306 pixels

Pixel pitch =	5.75	× 1000	= 2.49 µm
	2306

P5100 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 7.44 mm
Sensor resolution width = 4011 pixels

Pixel pitch =	7.44	× 1000	= 1.85 µm
	4011

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

VPC S4 EX pixel area

Pixel pitch = 2.49 µm

Pixel area = 2.49² = 6.2 µm²

P5100 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 1.85 µm

Pixel area = 1.85² = 3.42 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

VPC S4 EX pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 2306 pixels
Sensor width = 0.575 cm

Pixel density = (2306 / 0.575)² / 1000000 = 16.08 MP/cm²

P5100 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 4011 pixels
Sensor width = 0.744 cm

Pixel density = (4011 / 0.744)² / 1000000 = 29.06 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

VPC S4 EX sensor resolution

Sensor width = 5.75 mm
Sensor height = 4.32 mm
Effective megapixels = 4.00

r = 5.75/4.32 = 1.33

X = √	4.00 × 1000000	= 1734
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 1734 × 1.33 = 2306
Resolution vertical: X = 1734

Sensor resolution = 2306 x 1734

P5100 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 7.44 mm
Sensor height = 5.58 mm
Effective megapixels = 12.10

r = 7.44/5.58 = 1.33

X = √	12.10 × 1000000	= 3016
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 3016 × 1.33 = 4011
Resolution vertical: X = 3016

Sensor resolution = 4011 x 3016

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

VPC S4 EX crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 7.19 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 6.02
	7.19

P5100 crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 9.30 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 4.65
	9.30

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).

VPC S4 EX equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 6.02
Aperture = f3 - f5

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f3 - f5) × 6.02 = f18.1 - f30.1

P5100 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 4.65
Aperture = f2.7 - f5.3

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f2.7 - f5.3) × 4.65 = f12.6 - f24.6

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