Compare digital camera

sensor sizes: 1″-Type, 4/3,

APS-C, full frame 35mm
O CT OBER 27 , 20 13 BY T OM DE MPS EY

Since 2016, a “1-inch Type” sensor size now optimizes the portability of
serious travel cameras(recommended here). In comparison, cameras using
larger APS-C sensors require heftier 11x to 19x travel zoom lenses which struggle
to sharpen the edges of the frame. Cameras using even bigger full-frame
sensors restrict zoom ranges and overburden most travelers. Sensors smaller
than “1-inch” size can support super zoom ranges, but at the cost of poor image
quality, especially in dim light. Smartphones compensate for tiny cameras via
computational power and instantly-shareable images, but zoom poorly and
fumble in dim light.
The archaic inch-sizing of camera light sensors is clarified in the illustration
and table below, with relative sizes and millimeters. Legacy sizing labels such
as 1/2.5″ Type harken back to antiquated 1950s-1980s Vidicon video camera
tubes!
For a given year of technological advance, a camera with physically bigger
sensor area tends to capture better image quality by gathering more light, but at
the cost of larger-diameter, bulkier lenses. Recent digital sensor advances have
shrunk cameras and increased optical zoom ranges while preserving image
quality. An evocative image can clearly be created with any decent camera in the
hands of a skilled or lucky photographer. Top smartphone cameras can
potentially make good 18-inch prints and share publishable pictures. But I
recommend a bigger camera for superior optical zoom, better performance in
dim light, and sharper prints.
Below, compare sensor sizes for digital cameras:
 This illustration compares digital camera sensor sizes: full frame 35mm (which is actually
36mm wide), APS-C, Micro Four Thirds, 1-inch, 1/1.7″ and 1/2.5” Type. For new digital
cameras, a bigger sensor area captures better quality, but requires larger-diameter,
bulkier lenses. As of 2018, 1-inch Type sensors optimize the size of a serious travel
camera. “Full-frame 35mm” sensor (36 x 24 mm) is a standard for comparison, with a
diagonal field-of-view crop factor = 1.0; in comparison, a pocket camera’s 1/2.5” Type
sensor crops the light gathering by 6.0x smaller diagonally (with a surface area 35 times
smaller than full frame).
Click here for Tom’s latest camera recommendations.
1″-Type sensor size is now optimal for travel camera
portability
I upgrade my digital camera every 2-4 years because the latest devices
keep beating older models. Since 2016, 1″-Type sensors optimize the bulk of
serious travel cameras, as in the following which capture excellent dynamic
range (bright to dark) with exceptionally fast autofocus:

 The best & brightest pocketable zoom camera is Sony Cyber-shot DSC-
RX100 VI (at Amazon) (2018, 11 oz, 8x zoom 24–200mm f/2.8-4.5) — my new
backpacking camera. Read my RX100M6 review.
 Cheaper alternative: Panasonic LUMIX ZS100 camera (Amazon)
(2016, 11oz, 10x zoom, 25-250mm equivalent, 20mp). The pocketable ZS100
(read my review) is not as sharp as the 3x-zoom Sony RX100 V, IV or III cameras,
but captures close macro at more zoom settings and enormously extends optical
telephoto reach 70-250mm, which clearly beats digitally cropping those 3x-zoom
rivals.
 Capturing 20 high-quality megapixels, both the Panasonic ZS100 and
superior Sony RX100 version VI rival the daylight image quality of all my
camera systems used over 34 years until 2012 (beating my cameras up to
4 times heavier, up to 11x zoom range, up to 12 megapixels, shot at base ISO
100).
 My main camera: Sony RX10 IV (price at Amazon) (2018, 37 oz, 25x
zoom) is the world’s most versatile midsize camera for on-the-go
photographers (read my RX10 IV review).
APS-C size sensor and larger
Although I prefer the above portable all-in-one solutions for travel convenience,
the following top APS-C-sensor camera lets you interchange lenses and capture
less noise in dim light at ISO 3200+:

 Sony A6300 (read my article).

 Traditionalists wanting an optical viewfinder, more lens choices, and night
photography may pick a bulkier DSLR-style camera with APS-C sensor:
 Nikon D3500 mounted with versatile Tamron 16-300mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC
lens is a good-value 32-ounce DSLR travel system.
If you are considering one of the excellent cameras with Micro Four Thirds
sensor, consider that the Sony A6xxx camera series is nearly as compact yet
collects more light onto a larger APS-C sensor. Also older models save mucho
money.
The next step up to full-frame-sensor cameras costs extra, adds bulk, and
is only needed if you regularly shoot in dim light higher than ISO 6400 (such
as for indoor action), or often print images larger than 2 or 3 feet in size (to be
viewed closer than their longest dimension by critically sharp eyes), or specialize
in night photography.
But there’s no need to go overboard. Let’s put this in perspective: huge effective
billboards can be printed from small 3-megapixel cameras (read my article).
How to compare cameras
 My CAMERAS article updates Light Travel camera recommendations
several times per year.
 If possible, compare cameras shot side-by-side under a variety of actual
field conditions (which I do just before selling a former camera to confirm the
quality of the new replacement camera). I like to “pixel-peep” a side-by-side
comparison of two different cameras capturing the same subject under same
lighting conditions in the field. Be sure to mentally or digitally normalize any two
given shots to compare their fine detail as if printed with equal overall image
size.
 I judge image quality and resolution not by megapixel (MP) count but
instead by comparing standardized studio test views at 100% pixel
enlargement.
 Check resolvable lines per picture height (LPH) at the
authoritative dpreview.com (owned by Amazon since 2007) and
handy Comparometer at imaging-resource.com.
 Check other review sites analyzing a camera’s telephoto in addition to
standard lens.
Yearly advances of 2014-16 put the sweet spot for serious travel cameras
between 1”-Type and APS-C size sensors. Then from 2016-2018, camera designs
using 1”-Type sensors surpassed the portability of APS-C offerings.
 Most cheaper compact cameras have smaller but noisier sensors such as 1/2.3″
Type (6.17 x 4.56 mm) — tiny enough to miniaturize a superzoom lens, but poor
for capturing dim light or for enlarging prints much beyond 12-18 inches.
Smartphones can have even tinier sensors, such as 1/3.0″ Type (4.8 mm x 3.6
mm) in Apple iPhone versions 5S through 8. Remarkably, top smartphone
cameras have improved miniature sensors to the point where citizen journalists
can capture newsworthy photos with image quality good enough for fast sharing
and quick international publication. The best cameras are in the latest Google
Pixel, Samsung Galaxy, and Apple iPhones. My former Samsung Note5
smartphone (same camera as in S6 & S7 with 1/2.6″ sensor) captures sunny 16-
megapixel images sufficient to make a sharp 18-inch print, virtually
indistinguishable from that taken by a larger camera.
Smartphone tips: To isolate subjects, avoid the digital zoom on smartphones,
which records extra pixels without adding quality. Instead move closer before
shooting, or crop at editing time. Use your phone’s 2x telephoto camera (~50mm
equivalent lens), if any. Tiny subjects can be enlarged best at close focus using
the 2x tele lens, as on Samsung Galaxy S9+ or my Note9.
Read this pointed perspective on how far image quality has progressed from
early DSLR to 2014 smartphone cameras. Historically, evocative images can
clearly be captured regardless of camera size or modernity. But for a given year
of technological advance, tiny-sensor cameras can have severe limitations
compared to physically larger cameras in terms of print enlargement, autofocus
speed, blurred performance in dim/indoor light, and so forth. The “best” travel
camera is the one that you are willing to carry.
More details:
The non-standardized fractional-inch sensor sizing labels such as 1/2.5-inch
Type and 1/1.7″ Typeconfusingly refer to antiquated 1950s-1980s Vidicon
video camera tubes. When you see those archaic “inch” size labels, instead
look up the actual length and width in millimeters reported in the specifications
for each camera:
Table of camera sensor size, area, and diagonal crop factor relative to 35mm full-
frame
Full frame
Sensor Area (in sensor area is Diagonal crop
Diagonal Width Height square x times factor* versus
Sensor Type (mm) (mm) (mm) millimeters) bigger full frame

1/3.2″ (Apple iPhone

5 smartphone 2012) 5.68 4.54 3.42 15.50 55 7.6
1/3.0″ (Apple iPhone
8, 7, 6, 5Ssmartphone) 6.00 4.80 3.60 17.30 50 7.2

1/2.6″ Type (Samsung

Galaxy S9, Note9, S8,
S7, S6, Note5) 6.86 5.5 4.1 22.55 38 6.3

1/2.5″ Type 7.18 5.76 4.29 24.70 35 6.0

1/2.3″ Type (Canon

PowerShot SX280HS,
Olympus Tough TG-2) 7.66 6.17 4.56 28.07 31 5.6

1/1.7″ (Canon
PowerShot S95,
S100, S110, S120) 9.30 7.44 5.58 41.51 21 4.7

1/1.7″ (Pentax Q7) 9.50 7.60 5.70 43.30 20 4.6

2/3″ (Nokia Lumia

1020 smartphone with
41 MP camera; Fujifilm
X-S1, X20, XF1) 11.00 8.80 6.60 58.10 15 3.9

Standard 16mm Film

Frame 12.7 10.26 7.49 76.85 11 3.4

1” Type (Sony RX100

& RX10, Nikon CX,
Panasonic ZS100,
ZS200, FZ1000) 15.86 13.20 8.80 116 7.4 2.7

Micro Four Thirds,

4/3 21.60 17.30 13 225 3.8 2.0

APS-C: Canon EF-S 26.70 22.20 14.80 329 2.6 1.6

APS-C: Nikon DX,

Sony NEX/Alpha DT,
Pentax K 28.2 – 28.4 23.6 – 23.7 15.60 368 – 370 2.3 1.52 – 1.54

35mm full-frame
(Nikon FX, Sony
Alpha/Alpha FE,
Canon EF) 43.2 – 43.3 36 23.9 – 24.3 860 – 864 1.0 1.0

Kodak KAF 39000 CCD

Medium Format 61.30 49 36.80 1803 0.48 0.71

Hasselblad H5D-60
Medium Format 67.08 53.7 40.2 2159 0.40 0.65

Phase One P 65+,

IQ160, IQ180 67.40 53.90 40.40 2178 0.39 0.64
 IMAX Film Frame 87.91 70.41 52.63 3706 0.23 0.49

* Crop Factor: Note that a “full frame 35mm” sensor/film size (about 36 x 24
mm) is a common standard for comparison, having a diagonal field of view crop
factor of 1.0. The debatable term crop factor comes from an attempt by 35mm-
film users to understand how much the angle of viewof their existing full-
frame lenses would narrow (increase in telephoto power) when mounted on
digital SLR (DSLR) cameras which had sensor sizes (such as APS-C) which are
smaller than 35mm.
With early DSLR cameras, many photographers were concerned about the loss of
image quality or resolution by using a digital sensor with a light-gathering area
smaller than 35mm film. However, for my publishing needs, APS-C-size sensor
improvements easily surpassed my scanning of 35mm film by 2009.
An interesting number for comparing cameras is “Full frame sensor area is x
times bigger” in the above table.

 In comparison to full a frame sensor, a pocket camera’s 1/2.5-inch

Type sensor crops the light gathering surface 6.0 times smaller diagonally, or 35
times smaller in area.
 An APS-C size sensor gathers about 15 times more light (area) than
a 1/2.5” Type sensor and 2.4 times less than full frame.
 APS-C sensors in Nikon DX, Pentax, and Sony E have 1.5x
diagonal field of view crop factor.
 APS-C sensors in Canon EF-S DSLRs have 1.6x diagonal field of
view crop factor.
 1 stop is a doubling or halving of the amount of gathered light. Doubling a
sensor’s area theoretically gathers one stop more light, but depends upon lens
design.
Lens quality & diameter also affect image quality
For improving image quality, the quality and diameter of the lens can rival
the importance of having a physically larger sensor area. Prime (non-zoom)
lenses usually are sharpest for larger prints, but zoom lenses are more
versatile and recommended for travelers.
A small sensor can beat larger with newer design (BSI) plus faster
optics:
In my side-by-side field tests, the sharp, bright 25x zoom of Sony RX10
III (read my version IV review)resoundingly beats the resolution of 11x
SEL18200 lens on flagship APS-C Sony A6300 at 90+ mm equivalent
 telephoto, even as high as ISO 6400. (Wider angle zoom settings show little
quality difference.) Apparently RX10’s faster f/2.4-4 lens plus backside
illumination(BSI) technology magically compensate for the sensor size
difference, 1″-Type versus APS-C. Like most APS-C-sensor cameras in
2016, A6300 lacks BSI. Surprisingly little noise affects RX10’s image quality at
high ISO 6400 in dim light. Its larger lens diameter gathering more lightalso
helps in this comparison (72mm filter size of RX10 III versus 67mm SEL18200
on A6300).
Larger lens diameter can help dim light photography:
In my field tests, the linear sharpness of Sony’s high-quality SEL1670Z
3x zoom f/4 lens on flagship A6300 is only about 5% better than Sony
RX10 III f/2.4-4 in bright light in the wider half of its 24-105mm equivalent
range, but no better in dim light. I expect that RX10’s catch-up in quality
under dim light is due to superior light sensitivity of BSI sensor plus larger
lens diameter gathering more light, 72mm versus 55mm.
Using sweet spot of full-frame lenses on APS-C may not improve quality:
In principle, you might expect a slightly sharper image on an APS-C sensor when
using the sweet spot of a lens designed for a full frame (which has a larger
imaging circle), but results actually vary, especially when using older film-
optimized lenses. In fact, a lens which is designed and optimized specially “for
digital, for APS-C” can equal or exceed the quality of an equivalent full-frame lens
on the same sensor, while also reducing bulk and weight (as in the Sony E-
mount example further below).
Theoretically, new full-frame lenses “designed for digital” (using image-space
telecentric design) may perform better on a digital sensor than would older
lenses designed for film:
 Unlike film, digital sensors receive light best when struck squarely
rather than at a grazing angle.
 Digital cameras perform best with lenses optimized specially “for digital”,
using image-space telecentric designs, in which all the rays land squarely on the
sensor (as opposed to having incoming rays emerge at the same angle as they
entered, as in a pinhole camera). The light buckets (sensels) on digital sensors
require light rays to be more parallel than with film (to enter at close to a 90
degree angle to the sensor).
 Film can record light at more grazing angles than a digital sensor.
Because older film-optimized lenses bend light to hit the sensor at more of a
glancing angle, they reduce light-gathering efficiency and cause more
vignetting around the edges (which is somewhat mitigated by the image circle
 being cropped by the APS-C sensor, which uses just the center part of the full-
frame lens).
Side-by-side testing works better than theory to distinguish lenses:
Compare the following two Sony E-mount zoom lenses, full-frame versus APS-C:

1. 2015 full-frame “Sony E-mount FE 24-240mm f/3.5-6.3 OSS” lens (27.5

oz, 36-360mm equivalent).
2. 2010 APS-C “Sony E-mount 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 OSS (silver SEL-18200)”
lens (18.5 oz, 27-300mm equiv).
Both lenses are optimized for digital, yet the APS-C lens is much lighter
weight andperforms equal to or better than the full-frame lens. Side-by-
side comparisons and also DxOMark tests on a Sony A6000 camera show that
while they are about equally sharp, the Sony 24-240 has more distortion,
vignetting and chromatic aberration than the 18-200mm.
Raw format and advantages of large sensors over small
For a given angle of view, cameras with larger sensors can achieve a shallower
depth of fieldthan smaller sensors, a feature which movie
makers and portrait photographers like to use for blurring the background (at
brightest aperture setting, smallest F number value) to draw more attention to
the focused subject. Conversely, smaller-sensor cameras like the Sony RX10 III
and RX100 III tend to be much better at capturing close-focus (macro)
shots with great depth of field(especially at wide angle), at ISO up to 800. But
the macro advantages of small-sensor cameras can diminish in dim
light or when shooting at ISO higher than 800.
Landscape photographers often prefer to capture a deep depth of field,
which can be achieved with both small and large sensor cameras. Optimal edge-
to-edge sharpness usually occurs when stopping down the aperture once or twice
from brightest opening, such as between f/4 to f/5.6 on 1-inch Type sensor, or
between f/5.6 to f/8 on APS-C (which also helps diminish chromatic aberrations).
Stopping down further with f/numbers larger than this increases depth of field,
but worsens diffraction through the smaller pupil opening (such as at f/11-f/16 on
1″ sensor or f/22 on APS-C), noticeably softening detail.
To maximize raw dynamic range of brightness values from bright to dark,
use base ISO (around ISO 100 or 200 in most digital still cameras), rather
than higher ISO settings which amplify noise(blotchiness at the pixel level, most-
visibly in shadows). However, using the latest full-frame sensors at high ISO
values 6400+ can capture unprecedentedly low noise and open new
possibilities for dim-light action photography at hand-held shutter speeds,
indoors or at night.
Without the help of a flash, night and dim indoor photography is best with a
full-frame sensor to gather more light with less noise. Low-noise night
photography is usually best shot on a tripod at slow shutter speeds in raw
format between ISO 100 and 800 (or as high as 1600-3200 on the latest large
sensors).
For a given year of technological advance, cameras with larger
sensors typically capture a widerdynamic range of brightness values from
bright to dark per image than smaller sensors, with lessnoise. In 2016, Sony’s 1″-
Type backside illumination (BSI) sensors capture sufficient dynamic range for
my needs.
Camera raw format allows editing recovery of several stops of highlight and
shadow detail which would be lost (truncated) in JPEG file format (if
overexposed or underexposed). Alternatively, PC software or camera firmware
using HDR (High Dynamic Range) imaging lets any size of sensor greatly increase
an image’s dynamic range by combining multiple exposures. But for me, the
great dynamic range of a single raw file (from 1″-Type BSI or APS-C sensor)
usually makes shooting extra images for HDR unnecessary.
Despite advanced circuitry, cameras are not smart enough to know which
subjects are supposed to be white, black, or midtone in brightness. By
default, all cameras underexpose scenes where white tones (such as snow)
predominate, and overexpose highlights in scenes where black tones
predominate. IMPORTANT TIP: To correctly expose for all tones, you need
to lock exposure upon a perceived midtone (such as a gray card; or on a
line halfway between light and shadow) in the same light as your framed
subject.
For greatest editing flexibility, rather than shooting JPEG format, serious
photographers should record and edit images in raw format, which is
supported in advanced cameras (but often not in small-sensor devices). Editing
raw format fully recovers badly-exposed images − allowing you to “point and
shoot” more freely than with JPEG. Even so, I carefully shoot to expose
each histogramto the far right while avoiding truncation of highlights, in order
to capture the highest signal-to-noise ratio in each scene. Try to stay close
to base ISO 100 or 200. I typically first shoot a test shot on automatic Aperture-
preferred priority, inspect the histogram, check any blinking highlight warnings,
then compensate subsequent shots using Manual Exposure (or temporary
Exposure Lock grabbed from the scene). Tonal editing of JPEGs can
 quickly truncate color channels or accumulate round-off errors, often making the
image appear pasty, pixelated, or posterized.White Balance (Color
Balance) is easily adjustable after shooting raw files, but tonal editing often
skews colors oddly in JPEG. 12-bit Raw format has 16 times the tonal editing
headroom and color accuracy compared to JPEG (which has only 8 bits per pixel
per red, green, or blue color channel). In their favor, automatic point-and-shoot
JPEG camera exposure modes get smarter every year, making advanced larger
cameras less necessary for many people.
Detailed full-frame comparison of low-light Sony A7S 12 MP versus A7R
36 MP
How can we distinguish the image quality captured by different cameras? Images
are best compared at a normalized pixel level (with fine detail examined on a
monitor as if printed with equal overall image size) after shooting side-by-side
in the field with comparable lens and shutter speed settings. Consider
two sibling full-frame-sensor cameras:
1. Sony Alpha A7S (12 MP of large-bucket photosites optimized for high
ISO, low light, and videography plus stills, new in 2015) versus
2. Sony Alpha A7R (36 megapixels of smaller-bucket photosites optimized
for high resolution, new in 2014)
Despite its tinier but denser photosite buckets (also called sensels or pixel
wells for catching light photons), the 36 MP Sony Alpha A7R beats the dynamic
range of 12 MP Sony Alpha A7S in a normalized comparison of raw files
(see dpreview article). While both cameras spread their photosites across the
same surface area of a full-frame sensor, the 36 MP A7R trumps the 12 MP A7S
for exposure latitude flexibility in raw post-processing at ISO 100
through 6400. Overall image quality of the 12 MP A7S doesn’t beat the A7R
until ISO 12,800 and higher (but only in the shadows through midtones under
low-light conditions). Sony A7S is better for low-lightvideographers, whereas
A7R is better for low-light landscape photographers who value high resolution
and dynamic range.