Sensor sizes???

[vinski]

Hi I own a canon t2i and xti as well as a panasonic HVX200 HD camcorder. I am curious as to how to compare image sensor sizes if possible between the t2i and the panasonic. The panasonic has a 1/3 in chip and the canon has and APS-c sized sensor. cannot find a comparable frame of reference here. How many fractions of an inch is the canon sensor??

 

[Derrel]

The T2i sensor is around 22.2 x 14.8mm or 329 square millimeters in size.

In an on-line search, I found a videophile's reply to your question, that the actual area of your video camera's chip is apprx. 4.6809 x 2.6330 mm active area.

 

[Garbz]

There you go. Canon's APS-C is the one labelled 1.6x. I don't understand why they didn't just give it another name since every other normal definition for APS-C is the 1.5x line.

 

[vinski]

Geezus,

So my high end HD camcorder has a similar chip to a point and shoot?

 

[KmH]

Yep. Looks that way, and the cheapest of P&S still cameras to boot.

 

[vinski]

Well at least my clients don't know such things.. But that sucks!

 

[shaunly]

Video camera sensor will always be smaller than dslr. I believe the 35mm motion picture film are smaller than the 35mm picture camera film. So in that sense, a FF video cam sensor is going to be smaller than a FF dslr. Look up RED ONE camera. They are suppose to be the closest thing to film. They are the nikon D3X of motion pictures camera. Their sensor measures at 24.4×13.7mm and record resolution of 12mp raw!

 

[Garbz]

Here's a question. Why is this important? One of the most important metrics of sensor performance is the size of the sensor's individual photo cells.

What's the resolution of your high end point and shoot camera? What's the resolution of the Nikon? And then before you cry, what's the resolution of a point and shoot?

Nikon D3X = 6,048 x 4,032 = 24.39mpx.
HD Video camera = 1920x1080 = 2.07mpx
12mpx P&S = 4288 x 2848 = 12.2mpx

35mm dimensions = 36mmx24mm
1/3 dimensions = 4.8x3.6mm

Nikon 3DX photosite dimension = 36mm / 6048 = 5.95microns
HD Camcorder photosite dimension = 4.8 / 1920 = 2.5microns
Point and shoot photosite dimension = 4.8 / 4288 = 1.1microns

So based on sensor size alone, it may not be up to Nikon D3X's specs but it's definitely not a point and shoot.

And now for the real kicker to make you feel good:
DSLRs have a single sensor with each pixel split up in a grid of red, green, blue, and another green. These sensors are interpolated to make up the final image. Your Panasonic HVX200 on the other hand is a 3CCD device. It doesn't have 1 sensor, it has 3x 1/3" sensors. The light goes through the lens and then into a colour separation beam splitter, and then to 3 sensors measuring each red, green, and blue.

This gives your camera 3 times the light capturing ability of a DSLR, and you're back up on par with light capturing ability of the Nikon D3X. Even if that's not 100% right, don't mistake your camera with a point and shoot.


Assumptions since I'm too lazy to research the details: Your camera records a resolution of 1920x1080, the Nikon D3X skips lines in the sensor readout rather than recording the full resolution with each pass and then downsampling. This would give the D3X an advantage again.

 

[vinski]

Garbz, with a post like that you shouldn't call yourself lazy. Good point on the 3ccd I knew better.

 

[colonelcamp]

Hello,

I was considering a 1d mark iii or a 5d mark ii and I noticed that the crop factor for the 1d is 1.3 compared to no crop factor for the 5d. Does this even matter?

I don't believe it does.

Thanks,
Danny

 

[NateWagner]

well, it's a little off topic, but it can matter, and there are differences. That doesn't mean that it does matter, it depends on who you are, and what you need it for.

 

[Helen B]

The small sensor size allows you to have what would be an extraordinarily fast superzoom (an f/1.6 13x zoom) on an APS-C or full frame (ie 35 mm still) camera. The downside is that it is difficult to achieve selective focus to the same degree that is possible with a larger sensor, hence the various systems available for decreasing depth of field by relaying a larger format image.

Best,
Helen