Sony Cyber-shot DSC-D700 vs. Canon PowerShot SX400 IS

Comparison

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Cyber-shot DSC-D700 image
vs
PowerShot SX400 IS image
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-D700 Canon PowerShot SX400 IS
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Megapixels
1.40
16.00
Max. image resolution
1344 x 1024
4608 x 3456

Sensor

Sensor type
CCD
CCD
Sensor size
1/2" (~ 6.4 x 4.8 mm)
1/2.3" (~ 6.16 x 4.62 mm)
Sensor resolution
1365 x 1026
4612 x 3468
Diagonal
8.00 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
1.08 : 1
(ratio)
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-D700 Canon PowerShot SX400 IS
Surface area:
30.72 mm² vs 28.46 mm²
Difference: 2.26 mm² (8%)
D700 sensor is approx. 1.08x bigger than SX400 IS sensor.
Note: You are comparing sensors of vastly different generations. There is a gap of 16 years between Sony D700 (1998) and Canon SX400 IS (2014). Sixteen years is a huge amount of time, technology wise, resulting in newer sensor being much more efficient than the older one.
Pixel pitch
4.69 µm
1.34 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: 3.35 µm (250%)
Pixel pitch of D700 is approx. 250% higher than pixel pitch of SX400 IS.
Pixel area
22 µm²
1.8 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: 20.2 µm² (1122%)
A pixel on Sony D700 sensor is approx. 1122% bigger than a pixel on Canon SX400 IS.
Pixel density
4.55 MP/cm²
56.06 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: 51.51 µm (1132%)
Canon SX400 IS has approx. 1132% higher pixel density than Sony D700.
To learn about the accuracy of these numbers, click here.



Specs

Sony D700
Canon SX400 IS
Crop factor
5.41
5.62
Total megapixels
16.60
Effective megapixels
16.00
Optical zoom
5x
30x
Digital zoom
Yes
Yes
ISO sensitivity
100, 200, 400
Auto, 100-1600
RAW
Manual focus
Normal focus range
20 cm
5 cm
Macro focus range
3 cm
Focal length (35mm equiv.)
28 - 140 mm
24 - 720 mm
Aperture priority
Yes
No
Max. aperture
f2.0 - f2.4
f3.4 - f5.8
Max. aperture (35mm equiv.)
f10.8 - f13
f19.1 - f32.6
Metering
Multi, Center-weighted, Spot
Multi, Center-weighted, Spot
Exposure compensation
±2 EV (in 1/4 EV steps)
±2 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)
Shutter priority
Yes
No
Min. shutter speed
4 sec
15 sec
Max. shutter speed
1/2000 sec
1/1600 sec
Built-in flash
External flash
Viewfinder
Electronic
None
White balance presets
3
5
Screen size
2.5"
3"
Screen resolution
180,000 dots
230,000 dots
Video capture
Max. video resolution
1280x720 (25p)
Storage types
PCMCIA (type II), Memory Stick
SD/SDHC/SDXC
USB
USB 1.0
USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)
HDMI
Wireless
GPS
Battery
InfoLithium (NP-F550)
Battery Pack NB-11LH
Weight
900 g
313 g
Dimensions
130 x 100 x 150 mm
104.4 x 69.1 x 80.1 mm
Year
1998
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 D700 diagonal

The diagonal of D700 sensor is not 1/2 or 0.5" (12.7 mm) as you might expect, but approximately two thirds of that value - 8 mm. If you want to know why, see sensor sizes.

w = 6.40 mm
h = 4.80 mm
Diagonal = √  6.40² + 4.80²   = 8.00 mm

Canon SX400 IS diagonal

The diagonal of SX400 IS 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.

D700 sensor area

Width = 6.40 mm
Height = 4.80 mm

Surface area = 6.40 × 4.80 = 30.72 mm²

SX400 IS 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

D700 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 6.40 mm
Sensor resolution width = 1365 pixels
Pixel pitch =   6.40  × 1000  = 4.69 µm
1365

SX400 IS pixel pitch

Sensor width = 6.16 mm
Sensor resolution width = 4612 pixels
Pixel pitch =   6.16  × 1000  = 1.34 µm
4612


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

D700 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 4.69 µm

Pixel area = 4.69² = 22 µm²

SX400 IS pixel area

Pixel pitch = 1.34 µm

Pixel area = 1.34² = 1.8 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

D700 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 1365 pixels
Sensor width = 0.64 cm

Pixel density = (1365 / 0.64)² / 1000000 = 4.55 MP/cm²

SX400 IS pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 4612 pixels
Sensor width = 0.616 cm

Pixel density = (4612 / 0.616)² / 1000000 = 56.06 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

D700 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 6.40 mm
Sensor height = 4.80 mm
Effective megapixels = 1.40
r = 6.40/4.80 = 1.33
X = √  1.40 × 1000000  = 1026
1.33
Resolution horizontal: X × r = 1026 × 1.33 = 1365
Resolution vertical: X = 1026

Sensor resolution = 1365 x 1026

SX400 IS sensor resolution

Sensor width = 6.16 mm
Sensor height = 4.62 mm
Effective megapixels = 16.00
r = 6.16/4.62 = 1.33
X = √  16.00 × 1000000  = 3468
1.33
Resolution horizontal: X × r = 3468 × 1.33 = 4612
Resolution vertical: X = 3468

Sensor resolution = 4612 x 3468


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


D700 crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 8.00 mm
Crop factor =   43.27  = 5.41
8.00

SX400 IS 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).

D700 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 5.41
Aperture = f2.0 - f2.4

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f2.0 - f2.4) × 5.41 = f10.8 - f13

SX400 IS equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 5.62
Aperture = f3.4 - f5.8

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f3.4 - f5.8) × 5.62 = f19.1 - f32.6

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