A85, sensor too small?

[MBArkestra]

Today I was talking to someone about cameras and I brought up the kind I have (canon a85). Anyway, he said he heard the A75 took better pictures than the 85 because they both have the same sized photographic sensor, which is too small for the 85 but just right for the 75. Anybody know what he's talking about?

[Newbie]

He's talking about 3mp on a 1/2.7" sensor vs 4mp on a 1/2.7" sensor. So in a way, it is true...

Is the sensor too small for the A85 ? is the sensor just right for the A75 ? There's no real answer to that question, my answer would be that the larger the sensor, the better it is. Put a larger sensor on the A75 and u get pictures less prone to noise and to PF. So ya, it is true, but the sensor too small ? It just has a small incidence.

[MBArkestra]

right, but wouldn't this pretty much null the effects of having that extra megapixel on the 85? By that I mean packing more megapixels on a camera than its sensor is really fitted for (the a85) would pretty much leave the image quality the same between the 75 and 85.

[MrSleep]

The least these manufacturers can do is give us the option to reduce the megapixels rather fine, superfine, low res etc.

Canon G3 is a much more sought after cam than a brand new G6 because of this.

[teak]

From what little I understand the ratio between sensor size and number of pixels is important to image quality. But that in general and especially with like for like MP comparisons, a larger sensor should produce photos with less noise. Something to do with the increased surface area per pixel on the sensor? I guess the quality of the sensor itself, lens and image processor also have an impact on image quality too though.

But I also assume this is why that even though the A80 and A85 are both 4MP, the larger 4MP CCD sensor of the A80 (1/1.8" vs A85's 1/2.7") is meant to produce better photos (less noise).

I guess the debate about the A75 (3.2MP) vs A85 (4MP), is that both use a 1/2.7" sized CCD sensor but the A75 packs less pixels on it. So in theory each pixel on the A75's sensor should have a larger surface area, supposedly resulting in less noise. If the extra pixels of the A85 can make up for that or if it's ultimately only noticable on certain sized prints or ISO settings, I don't know.

Assuming Canon haven't done something different between the cameras, like not used all the sensor surface area on the A75 or tweaked the DIGIC image processor on the A85, etc.

Any direct A75 vs A85 image quality comparisons around to prove there is actually a noticable difference? In photos and ultimately actual prints as well? Just that I heard someone claim Canon told them they had done something to the A85 so the higher MP wouldn't really hurt image quality.

[teak]

Found a user review section (text only) of the A85 on a retailer site:



Having bought both the A75 and the A85 in the last two weeks.. I have to disagree with the previous comments that there in no point in buying the A85. There is no noticable difference in noise from the sensor and there is definitely more resolution/information to make a larger print or crop without losing detail. The rest of the camera is essentially the same

[Prah]

the images in the review galleries on this site for the A75 look better than the A85s' :confused:

[teak]

Haven't had a good look yet. Were they taken under the same conditions? Same Lighting, location, camera settings? Or just different photos and that the A75 ones seem better?

Would also be interested to know if any differences in the image also ultimately appear in the actual prints or maybe just the larger sized prints?

Ok, here is an A85 photo (http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/canon/powershot_a85-review/IMG_0127-pp.JPG) vs a similar A75 photo (http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/canon/powershot_a75-review/IMG_0016-pp.JPG). Though not taken under the exact same conditions, so not exactly the same lighting.