The bigger the sensor the less noise in digital

I started this forum for any collecting hobby and it turned into my camera collecting and using forum. I use it mostly to keep a record of my photo adventures. Nobody but me seems to have photo adventures that visit here....but however. I have so many cameras now that I forget which is which and which ones work and which ones don't. If you have cameras and adventures you would be welcome to post here.

Moderator: DuncaninFrance

Post Reply
User avatar
Niner
Site Admin
Posts: 11520
Joined: Sat Mar 15, 2003 1:00 pm
Location: Lower Alabama

The bigger the sensor the less noise in digital

Post by Niner » Sat Aug 11, 2018 1:52 pm

I like smaller pocket able cameras. A good camera is a good camera and if you aren't going to make very large prints it probably doesn't make any difference how large the sensor in your camera is. However, if you want a large image, for printing in particular, a larger sensor is good to have. I took my new Sony RX100 with a one inch sensor and took a shot from my desk and then took the same view with my Lumix DC-Zs70. Both of comparable cost with the Lumix having other features to offset the twice as large sensor in the Sony. Both work fine...but with the Sony image at 5472 wide and the Lumix at 3440 and taking a crop of a section of the largest image and reducing the Sony to the same size as the Lumix....the results as an example of what I'm getting at.

The lumix photo at the same size scale down as the Sony
The lumix photo at the same size scale down as the Sony
The Sony photo scaled to post here
The Sony photo scaled to post here
Sony crop
Sony crop
sonycrop.jpg (86.36 KiB) Viewed 5388 times
Lumix crop same scale as Sony
Lumix crop same scale as Sony
lumix.jpg (83.85 KiB) Viewed 5388 times
User avatar
Niner
Site Admin
Posts: 11520
Joined: Sat Mar 15, 2003 1:00 pm
Location: Lower Alabama

Re: The bigger the sensor the less noise in digital

Post by Niner » Sat Aug 11, 2018 1:54 pm

Here is another example with the Sony took today out at the flea mark
example.jpg
red.jpg
User avatar
DuncaninFrance
Global Moderator Sponsor 2011-2017
Posts: 10934
Joined: Fri Oct 06, 2006 3:08 pm
Location: S.W.France
Contact:

Re: The bigger the sensor the less noise in digital

Post by DuncaninFrance » Sun Aug 12, 2018 3:14 am

Just so Robert :)
Duncan

What contemptible scoundrel has stolen the cork to my lunch? -- W.C. Fields
"Many of those who enjoy freedom know little of its price."
You can't fix Stupid, but you can occasionally head it off before it hurts something.
User avatar
Niner
Site Admin
Posts: 11520
Joined: Sat Mar 15, 2003 1:00 pm
Location: Lower Alabama

Re: The bigger the sensor the less noise in digital

Post by Niner » Sun Aug 12, 2018 10:54 am

That camera you have in the mail with a 51% larger sensor than my RX100 ought to produce amazing results.
User avatar
DuncaninFrance
Global Moderator Sponsor 2011-2017
Posts: 10934
Joined: Fri Oct 06, 2006 3:08 pm
Location: S.W.France
Contact:

Re: The bigger the sensor the less noise in digital

Post by DuncaninFrance » Sun Aug 12, 2018 2:29 pm

What I have seen so far from my pal in th Photographic Club is exceptional...........
Duncan

What contemptible scoundrel has stolen the cork to my lunch? -- W.C. Fields
"Many of those who enjoy freedom know little of its price."
You can't fix Stupid, but you can occasionally head it off before it hurts something.
User avatar
Niner Delta
Global Moderator Sponsor 2011-2017
Posts: 4866
Joined: Fri Apr 09, 2004 10:51 pm
Location: Sequim, WA

Re: The bigger the sensor the less noise in digital

Post by Niner Delta » Sun Aug 12, 2018 10:21 pm

Robert, the first 2 photos of your coronet collection remind me of Duncan's "Find the difference" photos..... :mrgreen:

.
:USA:

Peace is that brief, quiet moment in history.......... when everybody stands around reloading.
User avatar
Niner
Site Admin
Posts: 11520
Joined: Sat Mar 15, 2003 1:00 pm
Location: Lower Alabama

Re: The bigger the sensor the less noise in digital

Post by Niner » Sun Aug 12, 2018 10:44 pm

Well...ok. The top shelf are trumpets. The middle shelf are cornets. Notice the spelling of "cornet". And yes it is a lot like Duncan's old find the difference post. But the only difference is the resolution...and moving the rocker with the blue back cushion...and the standing lamp shade on the right. :bigsmile:
User avatar
ArchFluffy
Moderator
Posts: 306
Joined: Sat Jul 02, 2005 8:19 am

Re: The bigger the sensor the less noise in digital

Post by ArchFluffy » Wed Aug 15, 2018 1:17 pm

I love this kid of info because people like me that don't know a lot about photography don't know the best perimeters to compare cameras by or what's most important.

-ArchFluffy
User avatar
Niner
Site Admin
Posts: 11520
Joined: Sat Mar 15, 2003 1:00 pm
Location: Lower Alabama

Re: The bigger the sensor the less noise in digital

Post by Niner » Wed Aug 15, 2018 3:44 pm

Nothing is really simple and straight forward about what to look for in a camera. Depends on what you want a camera for really. The size of the sensor means something for detail in large print use and also can give better light gathering results in low light but it is only one factor. My Canon Sureshot with the 50x optical zoom, for instance, is an excellent all around camera for a range of photo work but it isn't a pocket camera and the sensor is only just over a half inch in size, and it operates with seemly low count 12.1MP processor. The more MP the better is the general mantra...but in this case the lessor size is better throughout the range of the super zoom lens. It works fine by design and more MP would not help produce a better image.

There are a lot of things in the computer engineering age that the new wonder camera may or may not do.... GPS... Tilting mirror...digital view finder.....raw ... 4K..... panorama... all sorts of image tweaking, like making the image all black and white except for all things that are some particular color. There are lots and lots of "features". Some may mean something to you and some you would never use at all...even out of curiosity.

I think what makes one camera better than another, with the same features, is the engineering and programming that goes into it and how close to intuitive it works. Some work wonderfully and some are a wonder that they work since it's often nearly impossible to understand the directions that leave out more than what is covered with all the "features" tripping over each other with some having to be turned off or on for others to work properly.

I think simple is generally better....even in the digital age. I've noticed with my film photography hobby that the last film cameras produced at the end of the 20th Century had more and more special features and programmed this and that which left no convenience forgotten . Minolta even produced it's last SLR for the photo taking public with every last innovation they had incorporated into all of their cameras over the years, and at a relatively cheap price for the day. You can pick up that model, Minolta Maxxum 70, for less than a go pick it up yourself Godfathers pizza now days. But if you want a Minolta SRT200... a heavy metal mechanical camera with nothing innovative about it beyond a working light meter.. it will cost you the price of two or three Godfathers pizzas.
Post Reply