16mp v 12.1mp & HS or not?

Cobra

Cobra

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I'll elaborate a little I've been looking for a compact optical zoom camera as a day to day "carry"
I've now narrowed it down to 3 Canon's under £200.

Has anyone used a camera with the HS system? the blurb sounds interesting,
I wonder if it lived up to Canons advertising stuff.

One camera has 12mp the other 16mp both have Dicig 4 sensors but one has the digic 6.
I'm intending to print very much just web use / sharing etc.
There is a theory that large pixels on a sensor that size are better, than cramming in a 1/3rd more,
due to the amount of light they can absorb.
And I guess the pixel argument will continue as long as there are digital camera's.
Oh and the video is of no consequence to me.

I do kinda favour the sx 510 HS for the body shape and the price,
the sx500 has no HS and is another £60 more.
the sx 700 has just about everything but is a typical compact shape but the digic6 sensor
and again £60 more than the sx510 HS
Thoughts Guys?

SX700 HS
  • Ultra-compact 30x optical zoom, 25mm wide-angle lens. 60x ZoomPlus
  • Stunning photos even in low light with HS System: 16.1 Megapixel CMOS, DIGIC 6
  • Sharp results in any situation with Intelligent IS plus 5-axis Dynamic IS for steady movies
  • Connect, backup and share easily using Wi-Fi with NFC support.Remote shooting and GPS tracking via smartphone
  • Full HD (1080p) movies at 60 fps in stereo with optical zoom

SX500 IS
  • 30x optical zoom, 24mm wide lens in a mini ultra-zoom body. 60x with ZoomPlus
  • 16 Megapixels for detailed shots and poster-size prints
  • Optical Image Stabilizer with Intelligent IS for sharp photos and steady movies
  • Large 7.5 cm (3.0”) LCD (460k) with helpful Hints & Tips
  • Smart Auto detects 32 scenes (21 in movies) for point and shoot simplicity.

SX510 HS
  • 30x optical zoom, 24mm wide lens in a mini body. 60x ZoomPlus
  • HS System with 12.1 Megapixel CMOS, and DIGIC 4 for great results in low light
  • Optical Image Stabiliser with Intelligent IS for sharp photos and steady movies
  • Wi-Fi for easy sharing* and GPS tagging via mobile
  • Full HD movies (1080p) with stereo sound, movie button, optical zoom and HDMI

 
I know nothing about the HS system but philosophically I would go for the fewest MP possible on a small sensor.
 
Nawty said:
I know nothing about the HS system but philosophically I would go for the fewest MP possible on a small sensor.
Click to expand...
That was my thinking too, only ever owning one many years ago, I thought I'd throw it open as technology marches on at an alarming rate.

Canon says, on the HS
As well as the latest sensor technologies, the 10.0MP resolution means that each pixel is larger than on higher resolution models.
Bigger pixels can capture more light and this increased sensitivity leads to clearer, more refined images with less unwanted noise.

The HS System is in its element in low light conditions such as capturing a well exposed subject against a dark,
night-time background or a moving subject when shooting indoors
 
For your intended final use, even 2MP will be enough!

Another vote for fewer, larger photosites (pixels).

If you intend buying from a proper shop and they hold all 3 in stock (and have display/test copies available), take the same shot with each and see what (if any) differences the files show at your final use.
 
Nod said:
Another vote for fewer, larger photosites (pixels).

If you intend buying from a proper shop and they hold all 3 in stock (and have display/test copies available), take the same shot with each and see what (if any) differences the files show at your final use.
Click to expand...
Cheers Nod, I have an Amazon voucher burning a hole in my hard drive so that was going to be my source. :D

Nod said:
For your intended final use, even 2MP will be enough!
Click to expand...
The thing that sorta confuses me is that I have a 5mp camera on my phone and its crap to say the least ;)
 
Cobra said:
Cheers Nod, I have an Amazon voucher burning a hole in my hard drive so that was going to be my source. :D


The thing that sorta confuses me is that I have a 5mp camera on my phone and its crap to say the least ;)
Click to expand...
It's just possible (probable) Ethel meant 12MP!
 
No, I meant 2MP! For web use, that should be plenty, although 3 or 5 would probably give better results. It's only really when printing that you need higher pixel counts.
 
Nod said:
No, I meant 2MP! For web use, that should be plenty, although 3 or 5 would probably give better results. It's only really when printing that you need higher pixel counts.
Click to expand...
Yep I guessed thats what you meant, hence me saying that at 5mp my camera on the phone is crap.
 
Cobra said:
Yep I guessed thats what you meant, hence me saying that at 5mp my camera on the phone is crap.
Click to expand...


Chris a lot of that is like in the real world, it's down to the lens on the phone.
I've seen some cracking pictures taken with low res phone cameras.
My D50 DSLR sensor was only that size sensor
 
Gremlin said:
Chris a lot of that is like in the real world, it's down to the lens on the phone.
Click to expand...
Having since done a little googling it would seem that depending on the "source" of the phone some of the lens covers are plastic, rather than glass
having tapped it lightly with a pin head it certainly sounds like plastic to me :rolleyes:
Oh well its as well that I hardly use it anyway ;)

manualfocus-g said:
Um I've done some research and the 16MP sensor gets some negative comments about dynamic range.
Didn't see that on any of the 12MP based sensor camera reviews.
Click to expand...
Thanks for that, :thumbs:
my head's still spinning from all the stuff I've read, trouble is these days,
every time I learn something new it pushes something old out of my head :D
I did read one, but only one that said something about it ( the 510) was prone to purple fringing.
But as above thats only been one, out of God knows how many reports.
 
Some of the phone sensors are very small, for example the HTC one X is just 4.54 x 3.52 mm.
And has 8mp, 3264 x 2448 pixels, 7.6 crop factor.
The Nokia Lumia is 8.8 x 6.6 mm with 41mp, 7728 x 5368 pixels, 3.93 crop factor.
Which for some thing that has 5.125 times more pixels has a sensor that is only 3.634 times bigger.
Nokia uses over sampling to achieve this.

Just to help the confusion... :naughty:
 
crofter said:
I have an HS 510, nice little camera for the price,very crisp and the video is good.
Click to expand...
Thanks for that Rob its looks good :thumbs:
 
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