A word about digital camera sensors

Relative size of a compact camera and a DSLR pixel.

A sensor is the heart of a digital camera. Composed of millions of small pixels, it records an image when you take a picture. The size of a sensor pixel has a strong influence on its ability to detect and record light accurately.

For most, sensor size is not a concern when buying a digital camera. And it really shouldn’t be of concern unless you take a lot of photos in low light, require high shutter speeds for subjects such as wildlife and action photography, or if you intend to do a lot of cropping.

Large sensor, less noise

A larger pixel records more light. Because of the way the electrical connections are designed, a larger sensor, which records larger pixels, produces less noise.

ISO 1600 comparison between a compact digital camera and a DSLR. 100% crop. Click for detail.

Unlike digital single lens reflex cameras, compact digital cameras have small sensors. Photo quality produced by a compact camera can rival those taken with a DSLR…if photos are taken in very good light.

However, the image quality of most compact digital cameras begins to degrade once the sensitivity is set above ISO 200. At the same time, sensors and the way compact cameras internally handle noise have improved quite a lot during the last few years.

Improvements in sensors of compact digital cameras

While the high ISO performance has indeed improved, too date no compact camera manufacturer has done it quite as well as FujiFilm with their development of the Super CCD sensor.*

The Super CCD sensor captures more light with less electronic noise. As a result, shots taken at ISO 400 are cleaner. Even those taken at ISO 800 are quite usable. While photos taken at ISO 1600 have noise and some loss of detail, they often contain less noise than shots taken at ISO 400 with other brand compact digital cameras.

The bottom line

To repeat, for the vast majority of individuals buying a new compact digital camera today, the size of the sensor should not be a concern. For many, the convenience and size of a compact far outweighs the size, weight, cost and better high ISO performance of a DSLR. But if low light photography is important to you, and you don’t want to go the DSLR route, a camera with a Super CCD may be your best bet.