Ok, I'm starting to understand more about digital cameras. YAHOO!!. Ok If I have a 10Megapixel NON-SLR digital camera, and a 10 megapixel Digital SLR, Why does the
SIZE of the sensor matter, if the sensor is 10 megapixels in both cases??? Thanks Tom. It so happens that I have a photo on-line that directly answers your question with examples of 10 MP images from a point and shoot (with the LARGER P&S sensor) and a 10 MP SLR. That's down at the bottom of my long-winded stock answer, but I'll leave it there. Just skip over my background explanation if you are not interested. The sample photo will convince you immediately of the benefits of the SLR.
Sensor size is made more confusing by the archaic way that they are described. Think of the fractions as if there were no decimals involved. 1/1 is bigger than 1/2. 1/1.7" is bigger than 1/2.5". As a general guideline, the bigger the sensor, the better the image quality.
1/2.5" is probably the most common sensor size in point and shoot digital cameras. It is about 5 mm by 4 mm, or 20 square millimeters.
1/1.8 is 7.2 mm by 5.3 mm or about 38 square millimeters.
I don't know the exact dimensions of 1/1.7", but it would be slightly larger than the 1/1.8", although mot so much larger that it would offer any real advantage in image quality.
Here's a good page to study:
http://photo.net/equipment/digital/basic...
One question that we get fairly often here is, "How do I make my subject in sharp focus with a blurry background?" The smaller the sensor, the harder it is to accomplish this. You will see an explanation (if you want details) on this page:
http://www.photo.net/learn/optics/dofdig...
Another thing that you might notice is that the "super zoom" point and shoot cameras tend to have the 1/2.5" sensor. Since focal length is a function of image size, this is how the camera designed is able to achieve such extreme zoom power (10x - 12x is common). The smaller the sensor, the greater the "lens factor." A Canon Powershot S3-IS is said to have an "equivalent focal length" of 36 mm-to-432 mm. Considering the lens factor of 6.03x for all 1/2.5" sensors, the real focal length of this lens is about 6 mm-to-72 mm.
Here is a mini-tutorial I made myself to compare 10 MP sensors in a digital SLR (DSLR) and a point and shoot (P&S) camera. I have tried to keep everything on equal footing with no unequal cropping of the original images. Both images were taken at the equivalent of 75 mm from about 1,000 feet away. View this FULL SIZE and scroll through the image to compare the resolution at various points of the images. To me, the P&S sensor practically looks like an impressionist painting compared to the DSLR sensor. Please note also that this is the "large size" P&S sensor, as most are using the smaller 1/2.5" (5x4 mm) sensor.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7189769@N04... Dr. Sam can answer that for you
and also, you can go to howstuffworks.com A bigger sensor collects more light and has less noise. The bigger one is better. Because the smaller sensor will have more noise (splotchy red and blue dots).
There's a really interesting explanation for this, but are you a photographer or an electronics geek? |
