Sensor Sizes: Camera System: Glossary: Learn: Digital Photogr...

This diagram shows the typical sensor sizes compared to 35mm film. The sensor sizes of digital SLRs are typically 40% to 100% of the surface of 35mm film. Digital compact cameras have substantially smaller sensors offering a similar number of pixels. As a consequence, the pixels are much smaller, which is a key reason for the image quality difference, especially in terms of noise and dynamic range.

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