Nikon Coolpix P6000

[passerby]

I saw nikon Coolpix P6000 specifications in the link below and one of the poster (in other site) mentioned that it only has 1/1.7, which is according to him is just patheticly same as any other including canon G9.
Can anyone explain what is this 1/1.7 is all about? It is right in the first line in the bracket.

http://www.seriouscompacts.com/2008/07/rumor-coolpix-p6000-return-of-serious.html

 

[passerby]

*Bump*

Anyone know what 1/1.7 means?

 

[Big Mike]

It's the size of the sensor...it means that the sensor is 0.5882 inches (probably a diagonal measurement.

95% of digital cameras have sensors about this size, give or take. It's quite small, about the size of a fingernail. Small sensors will usually mean a fair bit of digital noise, especially at high ISO.

This is one big reason why many of us like digital SLR cameras, they have much larger image sensors.