Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S60 vs. Canon PowerShot S200

Comparison

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Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S60

Canon PowerShot S200

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Megapixels

4.23

10.10

Max. image resolution

2304 x 1728

3648 x 2736

Sensor

Sensor type

CCD

CMOS

Sensor size

1/2.7" (~ 5.33 x 4 mm)

1/1.7" (~ 7.53 x 5.64 mm)

Sensor resolution

2371 x 1783

3678 x 2745

Diagonal

6.66 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	:	1.99
(ratio)

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S60		Canon PowerShot S200

Surface area:

21.32 mm²

42.47 mm²

Difference: 21.15 mm² (99%)

S200 sensor is approx. 1.99x bigger than S60 sensor.

Note: You are comparing sensors of very different generations. There is a gap of 9 years between Sony S60 (2005) and Canon S200 (2014). Nine years is a lot of time in terms of technology, meaning newer sensors are overall much more efficient than the older ones.

Pixel pitch

2.25 µm

2.05 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: 0.2 µm (10%)

Pixel pitch of S60 is approx. 10% higher than pixel pitch of S200.

Pixel area

5.06 µm²

4.2 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: 0.86 µm² (20%)

A pixel on Sony S60 sensor is approx. 20% bigger than a pixel on Canon S200.

Pixel density

19.79 MP/cm²

23.86 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: 4.07 µm (21%)

Canon S200 has approx. 21% higher pixel density than Sony S60.

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

Specs

Sony S60

Canon S200

Crop factor

6.5

4.6

Total megapixels

Effective megapixels

10.10

Optical zoom

Digital zoom

Yes

ISO sensitivity

Auto, 80, 100, 200, 400

Auto, 80 – 6400

RAW

Manual focus

Normal focus range

50 cm

30 cm

Macro focus range

10 cm

3 cm

Focal length (35mm equiv.)

39 - 117 mm

24 - 120 mm

Aperture priority

Yes

Max. aperture

f2.8 - f5.2

f1.8 - f5.7

Max. aperture (35mm equiv.)

f18.2 - f33.8

f8.3 - f26.2

Metering

Multi-pattern, Spot

Multi, Center-weighted, Spot

Exposure compensation

±2 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)

Shutter priority

Yes

Min. shutter speed

30 sec

15 sec

Max. shutter speed

1/2000 sec

Built-in flash

External flash

Viewfinder

Optical (tunnel)

None

White balance presets

Screen size

Screen resolution

115,000 dots

461,000 dots

Video capture

Max. video resolution

1280x720 (24p)

Storage types

Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro

SD/SDHC/SDXC

USB

USB 1.0

USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)

HDMI

Wireless

GPS

Battery

AA (2) batteries (NiMH recommended)

Battery Pack NB-6LH

Weight

198 g

181 g

Dimensions

96.6 x 64.4 x 40.1 mm

99.8 x 59.0 x 26.3 mm

Year

2005

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

Sony S60 diagonal

The diagonal of S60 sensor is not 1/2.7 or 0.37" (9.4 mm) as you might expect, but approximately two thirds of that value - 6.66 mm. If you want to know why, see sensor sizes.

w = 5.33 mm
h = 4.00 mm

Diagonal = √

5.33² + 4.00²

= 6.66 mm

Canon S200 diagonal

The diagonal of S200 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.

S60 sensor area

Width = 5.33 mm
Height = 4.00 mm

Surface area = 5.33 × 4.00 = 21.32 mm²

S200 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

S60 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 5.33 mm
Sensor resolution width = 2371 pixels

Pixel pitch =	5.33	× 1000	= 2.25 µm
	2371

S200 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 7.53 mm
Sensor resolution width = 3678 pixels

Pixel pitch =	7.53	× 1000	= 2.05 µm
	3678

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

S60 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 2.25 µm

Pixel area = 2.25² = 5.06 µm²

S200 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 2.05 µm

Pixel area = 2.05² = 4.2 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

S60 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 2371 pixels
Sensor width = 0.533 cm

Pixel density = (2371 / 0.533)² / 1000000 = 19.79 MP/cm²

S200 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 3678 pixels
Sensor width = 0.753 cm

Pixel density = (3678 / 0.753)² / 1000000 = 23.86 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

S60 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 5.33 mm
Sensor height = 4.00 mm
Effective megapixels = 4.23

r = 5.33/4.00 = 1.33

X = √	4.23 × 1000000	= 1783
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 1783 × 1.33 = 2371
Resolution vertical: X = 1783

Sensor resolution = 2371 x 1783

S200 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 7.53 mm
Sensor height = 5.64 mm
Effective megapixels = 10.10

r = 7.53/5.64 = 1.34

X = √	10.10 × 1000000	= 2745
	1.34

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 2745 × 1.34 = 3678
Resolution vertical: X = 2745

Sensor resolution = 3678 x 2745

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

S60 crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 6.66 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 6.5
	6.66

S200 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).

S60 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 6.5
Aperture = f2.8 - f5.2

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f2.8 - f5.2) × 6.5 = f18.2 - f33.8

S200 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 4.6
Aperture = f1.8 - f5.7

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f1.8 - f5.7) × 4.6 = f8.3 - f26.2

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