Olympus mju mini Digital S vs. Nikon Coolpix 3500

Comparison

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mju mini Digital S image
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Coolpix 3500 image
Olympus mju mini Digital S Nikon Coolpix 3500
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Megapixels
5.40
3.10
Max. image resolution
2560 x 1920
2048 x 1536

Sensor

Sensor type
CCD
CCD
Sensor size
1/2.5" (~ 5.75 x 4.32 mm)
1/2.7" (~ 5.33 x 4 mm)
Sensor resolution
2680 x 2015
2031 x 1527
Diagonal
7.19 mm
6.66 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

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vs
1.17 : 1
(ratio)
Olympus mju mini Digital S Nikon Coolpix 3500
Surface area:
24.84 mm² vs 21.32 mm²
Difference: 3.52 mm² (17%)
mju mini S sensor is approx. 1.17x bigger than 3500 sensor.
Note: You are comparing cameras of different generations. There is a 2 year gap between Olympus mju mini S (2004) and Nikon 3500 (2002). All things being equal, newer sensor generations generally outperform the older.
Pixel pitch
2.15 µm
2.62 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: 0.47 µm (22%)
Pixel pitch of 3500 is approx. 22% higher than pixel pitch of mju mini S.
Pixel area
4.62 µm²
6.86 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:
vs
Pixel area difference: 2.24 µm² (48%)
A pixel on Nikon 3500 sensor is approx. 48% bigger than a pixel on Olympus mju mini S.
Pixel density
21.72 MP/cm²
14.52 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: 7.2 µm (50%)
Olympus mju mini S has approx. 50% higher pixel density than Nikon 3500.
To learn about the accuracy of these numbers, click here.



Specs

Olympus mju mini S
Nikon 3500
Crop factor
6.02
6.5
Total megapixels
3.30
Effective megapixels
3.10
Optical zoom
Yes
3x
Digital zoom
Yes
Yes
ISO sensitivity
Auto, 64, 100, 200, 400
Auto, (100-400)
RAW
Manual focus
Normal focus range
50 cm
30 cm
Macro focus range
8 cm
4 cm
Focal length (35mm equiv.)
35 - 70 mm
37 - 111 mm
Aperture priority
No
Yes
Max. aperture
f3.5 - f4.9
f2.7 - f4.7
Max. aperture (35mm equiv.)
f21.1 - f29.5
f17.6 - f30.6
Metering
ESP Digital, Spot
256-segment Matrix
Exposure compensation
±2 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)
±2 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)
Shutter priority
No
Yes
Min. shutter speed
1/2 sec
2 sec
Max. shutter speed
1/1000 sec
1/3000 sec
Built-in flash
External flash
Viewfinder
None
None
White balance presets
5
6
Screen size
1.8"
1.5"
Screen resolution
134,000 dots
110,000 dots
Video capture
Max. video resolution
Storage types
xD Picture card
CompactFlash type I
USB
USB 1.1
USB 1.0
HDMI
Wireless
GPS
Battery
Li-Ion
Nikon EN-EL2 Lithium-Ion included
Weight
115 g
205 g
Dimensions
95 x 55.5 x 27.5 mm
60 x 114 x 32 mm
Year
2004
2002




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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

Olympus mju mini S diagonal

The diagonal of mju mini S 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 3500 diagonal

The diagonal of 3500 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


Surface area

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

mju mini S sensor area

Width = 5.75 mm
Height = 4.32 mm

Surface area = 5.75 × 4.32 = 24.84 mm²

3500 sensor area

Width = 5.33 mm
Height = 4.00 mm

Surface area = 5.33 × 4.00 = 21.32 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

mju mini S pixel pitch

Sensor width = 5.75 mm
Sensor resolution width = 2680 pixels
Pixel pitch =   5.75  × 1000  = 2.15 µm
2680

3500 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 5.33 mm
Sensor resolution width = 2031 pixels
Pixel pitch =   5.33  × 1000  = 2.62 µm
2031


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

mju mini S pixel area

Pixel pitch = 2.15 µm

Pixel area = 2.15² = 4.62 µm²

3500 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 2.62 µm

Pixel area = 2.62² = 6.86 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

mju mini S pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 2680 pixels
Sensor width = 0.575 cm

Pixel density = (2680 / 0.575)² / 1000000 = 21.72 MP/cm²

3500 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 2031 pixels
Sensor width = 0.533 cm

Pixel density = (2031 / 0.533)² / 1000000 = 14.52 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

mju mini S sensor resolution

Sensor width = 5.75 mm
Sensor height = 4.32 mm
Effective megapixels = 5.40
r = 5.75/4.32 = 1.33
X = √  5.40 × 1000000  = 2015
1.33
Resolution horizontal: X × r = 2015 × 1.33 = 2680
Resolution vertical: X = 2015

Sensor resolution = 2680 x 2015

3500 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 5.33 mm
Sensor height = 4.00 mm
Effective megapixels = 3.10
r = 5.33/4.00 = 1.33
X = √  3.10 × 1000000  = 1527
1.33
Resolution horizontal: X × r = 1527 × 1.33 = 2031
Resolution vertical: X = 1527

Sensor resolution = 2031 x 1527


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


mju mini S crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 7.19 mm
Crop factor =   43.27  = 6.02
7.19

3500 crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 6.66 mm
Crop factor =   43.27  = 6.5
6.66

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).

mju mini S equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 6.02
Aperture = f3.5 - f4.9

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f3.5 - f4.9) × 6.02 = f21.1 - f29.5

3500 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 6.5
Aperture = f2.7 - f4.7

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f2.7 - f4.7) × 6.5 = f17.6 - f30.6

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