Canon PowerShot A60 vs. Nikon Coolpix P600

Comparison

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Canon PowerShot A60

Nikon Coolpix P600

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Megapixels

1.90

16.10

Max. image resolution

1600 x 1200

4608 x 3456

Sensor

Sensor type

CCD

CMOS

Sensor size

1/2.7" (~ 5.33 x 4 mm)

1/2.3" (~ 6.16 x 4.62 mm)

Sensor resolution

1589 x 1195

4627 x 3479

Diagonal

6.66 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	:	1.33
(ratio)

Canon PowerShot A60		Nikon Coolpix P600

Surface area:

21.32 mm²

28.46 mm²

Difference: 7.14 mm² (33%)

P600 sensor is approx. 1.33x bigger than A60 sensor.

Note: You are comparing sensors of vastly different generations. There is a gap of 11 years between Canon A60 (2003) and Nikon P600 (2014). Eleven years is a huge amount of time, technology wise, resulting in newer sensor being much more efficient than the older one.

Pixel pitch

3.35 µm

1.33 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: 2.02 µm (152%)

Pixel pitch of A60 is approx. 152% higher than pixel pitch of P600.

Pixel area

11.22 µm²

1.77 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: 9.45 µm² (534%)

A pixel on Canon A60 sensor is approx. 534% bigger than a pixel on Nikon P600.

Pixel density

8.89 MP/cm²

56.42 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: 47.53 µm (535%)

Nikon P600 has approx. 535% higher pixel density than Canon A60.

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

Specs

Canon A60

Nikon P600

Crop factor

6.5

5.62

Total megapixels

2.10

16.76

Effective megapixels

1.90

16.10

Optical zoom

60x

Digital zoom

Yes

ISO sensitivity

Auto, 50, 100, 200, 400

100 - 6400, Hi 1 (eq. to 12800)

RAW

Manual focus

Normal focus range

46 cm

50 cm

Macro focus range

5 cm

1 cm

Focal length (35mm equiv.)

35 - 105 mm

24 - 1440 mm

Aperture priority

Yes

Max. aperture

f2.8 - f4.8

f3.3 - f6.5

Max. aperture (35mm equiv.)

f18.2 - f31.2

f18.5 - f36.5

Metering

Centre weighted, Evaluative, Spot

Matrix, center-weighted, spot

Exposure compensation

±2 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)

Shutter priority

Yes

Min. shutter speed

15 sec

Max. shutter speed

1/2000 sec

1/4000 sec

Built-in flash

External flash

Viewfinder

Optical (tunnel)

Electronic

White balance presets

Screen size

1.5"

Screen resolution

118,000 dots

921,000 dots

Video capture

Max. video resolution

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

Storage types

CompactFlash type I

SD/SDHC/SDXC

USB

USB 1.0

USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)

HDMI

Wireless

GPS

Battery

AA (4) batteries (NiMH recommended)

EN-EL23 rechargeable Li-ion battery

Weight

315 g

565 g

Dimensions

101 x 64 x 32 mm

125 x 85 x 106.5 mm

Year

2003

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

Canon A60 diagonal

The diagonal of A60 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

Nikon P600 diagonal

The diagonal of P600 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.

A60 sensor area

Width = 5.33 mm
Height = 4.00 mm

Surface area = 5.33 × 4.00 = 21.32 mm²

P600 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

A60 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 5.33 mm
Sensor resolution width = 1589 pixels

Pixel pitch =	5.33	× 1000	= 3.35 µm
	1589

P600 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 6.16 mm
Sensor resolution width = 4627 pixels

Pixel pitch =	6.16	× 1000	= 1.33 µm
	4627

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

A60 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 3.35 µm

Pixel area = 3.35² = 11.22 µm²

P600 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 1.33 µm

Pixel area = 1.33² = 1.77 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

A60 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 1589 pixels
Sensor width = 0.533 cm

Pixel density = (1589 / 0.533)² / 1000000 = 8.89 MP/cm²

P600 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 4627 pixels
Sensor width = 0.616 cm

Pixel density = (4627 / 0.616)² / 1000000 = 56.42 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

A60 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 5.33 mm
Sensor height = 4.00 mm
Effective megapixels = 1.90

r = 5.33/4.00 = 1.33

X = √	1.90 × 1000000	= 1195
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 1195 × 1.33 = 1589
Resolution vertical: X = 1195

Sensor resolution = 1589 x 1195

P600 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 6.16 mm
Sensor height = 4.62 mm
Effective megapixels = 16.10

r = 6.16/4.62 = 1.33

X = √	16.10 × 1000000	= 3479
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 3479 × 1.33 = 4627
Resolution vertical: X = 3479

Sensor resolution = 4627 x 3479

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

A60 crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 6.66 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 6.5
	6.66

P600 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).

A60 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 6.5
Aperture = f2.8 - f4.8

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f2.8 - f4.8) × 6.5 = f18.2 - f31.2

P600 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 5.62
Aperture = f3.3 - f6.5

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f3.3 - f6.5) × 5.62 = f18.5 - f36.5

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