Manufacturers can sometimes be strangely coy about revealing exactly how big a cameras image sensor is. And even when they do volunteer this information, its often in a hard-to-understand naming convention … as the last section may have proved. Seriously, how many people would be able to tell you exactly how big a 1/1.2-inch or Micro Four Thirds sensor is without consulting the internet? Bizarrely, the mostly fractional measurements used to detail sensor size date back to the age when vacuum tubes were used in video and television cameras. But the size designation is still nothing like as simple as the diagonal measurement of the sensor. Instead, its the outer diameter measurement of a tube needed to produce an image, when the usable image takes up two thirds of the circle. Yes, its that crazy. It also doesnt help that different manufacturers use the same title to refer to different sizes, such as APS-C. While a Canon APS-C sensor measures 22.2 x 14.8 mm, the offerings from Sony, Pentax, Fujifilm and Nikon (DX) vary from 23.5 x 15.6 mm to 23.7 x 15.6 mm. While wed like to see all camera manufacturers listing the size of their sensors in millimeters, we cant see it happening any time soon. So, in the mean time, heres a couple of graphics showing some of the most common sensor sizes in relation to a Full Frame one. Different sensor sizes compared with each other shows how big Full Frame, APS-H, APS-C (Ni... Different sensor sizes from Full Frame to 1/3.2-inch compared with each other Obviously there are also Medium Format cameras with even bigger sensors than those shown here, but if youre in the market for one of those, hopefully you already know how they differ.
Posted on: Wed, 06 Aug 2014 18:23:07 +0000