Sensor size is generally a good indicator of the quality of the camera. Sensors can vary greatly in size. As a general rule, the bigger the sensor, the better the image quality.
Bigger sensors are more effective because they have more surface area to capture light. An important factor when comparing digital cameras is also camera generation. Generally, newer sensors will outperform the older.
Learn more about sensor sizes »
Actual sensor size
Note: Actual size is set to screen →
vs 1 : 1.48 [ratio] Panasonic Lumix DC-GF9 Canon EOS M3
Surface area:
Difference: 107.37 mm² [48%]
M3 sensor is approx. 1.48x bigger than Lumix DC-GF9 sensor.
Note: You are comparing cameras of different generations. There is a 2 year gap between Panasonic Lumix DC-GF9 [2017] and Canon M3 [2015]. All things being equal, newer sensor generations generally outperform the older.
Pixel pitch tells you the distance from the center of one pixel [photosite] to the center of the next. It tells you how close the pixels are to each other.
The bigger the pixel pitch, the further apart they are and the bigger each pixel is. Bigger pixels tend to have better signal to noise ratio and greater dynamic range.
Difference: 0.05 µm [1%]
Pixel pitch of Lumix DC-GF9 is approx. 1% higher than pixel pitch of M3.
Pixel area
14.06 µm²
13.69 µm²
Pixel or photosite area affects how much light per pixel can be gathered. The larger it is the more light can be collected by a single pixel.
Larger pixels have the potential to collect more photons, resulting in greater dynamic range, while smaller pixels provide higher resolutions [more detail] for a given sensor size.
Relative pixel sizes:
Pixel area difference: 0.37 µm² [3%]
A pixel on Panasonic Lumix DC-GF9 sensor is approx. 3% bigger than a pixel on Canon M3.
Pixel density tells you how many million pixels fit or would fit in one square cm of the sensor.
Higher pixel density means smaller pixels and lower pixel density means larger pixels.
Difference: 0.19 µm [3%]
Canon M3 has approx. 3% higher pixel density than Panasonic Lumix DC-GF9.
To learn about the accuracy of these numbers, click here.
Specs
Total megapixels
16.84
24.70
Effective megapixels
16.00
24.20
ISO sensitivity
Auto, 200-25600 [extends to 100]
Auto, 100-12800 [expands to 25600]
Focal length [35mm equiv.]
Aperture priority
Yes
Yes
Max. aperture [35mm equiv.]
n/a
n/a
Metering
Multi, Center-weighted, Spot
Multi, Center-weighted, Spot, Partial
Exposure compensation
±5 EV [in 1/3 EV steps]
±3 EV [in 1/3 EV steps]
Min. shutter speed
60 sec
30 sec
Max. shutter speed
1/16000 sec
1/4000 sec
Viewfinder
None
Electronic [optional]
White balance presets
5
6
Screen resolution
1,040,000 dots
1,040,000 dots
Max. video resolution
3840x2160 [30p/24p]
1920x1080 [30p/25p/24p]
Storage types
microSD/SDHC/SDXC
SD/SDHC/SDXC
USB
USB 2.0 [480 Mbit/sec]
USB 2.0 [480 Mbit/sec]
Battery
Rechargeable Lithium-ion battery pack
Li-ion Battery LP-E17
Dimensions
106.5 x 64.6 x 33.3 mm
110.9 x 68 x 44.4 mm
Choose cameras to compare
Popular comparisons:
- Panasonic Lumix DC-GF9 vs. Fujifilm X-A3
- Panasonic Lumix DC-GF9 vs. Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF8
- Panasonic Lumix DC-GF9 vs. Sony Alpha a5100
- Panasonic Lumix DC-GF9 vs. Sony Alpha a6000
- Panasonic Lumix DC-GF9 vs. Canon EOS M10
- Panasonic Lumix DC-GF9 vs. Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF7
- Panasonic Lumix DC-GF9 vs. Fujifilm X-A10
- Panasonic Lumix DC-GF9 vs. Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX10
- Panasonic Lumix DC-GF9 vs. Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II
- Panasonic Lumix DC-GF9 vs. Olympus PEN E-PL8
- Panasonic Lumix DC-GF9 vs. Canon EOS M3
Diagonal
Diagonal is calculated by the use of Pythagorean theorem:
where w = sensor width and h = sensor height
Panasonic Lumix DC-GF9 diagonal
w = 17.30 mm h = 13.00 mm
Diagonal = √ 17.30² + 13.00² = 21.64 mm
Canon M3 diagonal
w = 22.30 mm h = 14.90 mm
Diagonal = √ 22.30² + 14.90² = 26.82 mm
Surface area
Surface area is calculated by multiplying the width and the height of a sensor.
Lumix DC-GF9 sensor area
Width = 17.30 mm Height = 13.00 mm
Surface area = 17.30 × 13.00 = 224.90 mm²
M3 sensor area
Width = 22.30 mm Height = 14.90 mm
Surface area = 22.30 × 14.90 = 332.27 mm²
Pixel pitch
Pixel pitch is the distance from the center of one pixel to the center of the next measured in micrometers [µm]. It can be calculated with the following formula:
Pixel pitch = sensor width in mm × 1000 sensor resolution width in pixels
Lumix DC-GF9 pixel pitch
Sensor width = 17.30 mm Sensor resolution width = 4612 pixels
Pixel pitch = 17.30 × 1000 = 3.75 µm 4612
M3 pixel pitch
Sensor width = 22.30 mm Sensor resolution width = 6026 pixels
Pixel pitch = 22.30 × 1000 = 3.7 µm 6026
Pixel area
The area of one pixel can be calculated by simply squaring the pixel pitch:
Pixel area = pixel pitch²
You could also divide sensor surface area with effective megapixels:
Pixel area = sensor surface area in mm² effective megapixels
Lumix DC-GF9 pixel area
Pixel pitch = 3.75 µm
Pixel area = 3.75² = 14.06 µm²
M3 pixel area
Pixel pitch = 3.7 µm
Pixel area = 3.7² = 13.69 µm²
Pixel density
Pixel density can be calculated with the following formula:
Pixel density = [ sensor resolution width in pixels ]² / 1000000 sensor width in cm
One could also use this formula:
Pixel density = effective megapixels × 1000000 / 10000 sensor surface area in mm²
Lumix DC-GF9 pixel density
Sensor resolution width = 4612 pixels Sensor width = 1.73 cm
Pixel density = [4612 / 1.73]² / 1000000 = 7.11 MP/cm²
M3 pixel density
Sensor resolution width = 6026 pixels Sensor width = 2.23 cm
Pixel density = [6026 / 2.23]² / 1000000 = 7.3 MP/cm²
Sensor resolution
Sensor resolution is calculated from sensor size and effective megapixels. It's slightly higher than maximum [not interpolated] image resolution which is usually stated on camera specifications. Sensor resolution is used in pixel pitch, pixel area, and pixel density formula. For sake of simplicity, we're going to calculate it in 3 stages.
1. First we need to find the ratio between horizontal and vertical length by dividing the former with the latter [aspect ratio]. It's usually 1.33 [4:3] or 1.5 [3:2], but not always.
2. With the ratio [r] known we can calculate the X from the formula below, where X is a vertical number of pixels:
[X × r] × X = effective megapixels × 1000000 → X = √ effective megapixels × 1000000 r
3. To get sensor resolution we then multiply X with the corresponding ratio:
Resolution horizontal: X × r Resolution vertical: X
Lumix DC-GF9 sensor resolution
Sensor width = 17.30 mm Sensor height = 13.00 mm Effective megapixels = 16.00
r = 17.30/13.00 = 1.33 X = √ 16.00 × 1000000 = 3468 1.33
Resolution horizontal: X × r = 3468 × 1.33 = 4612 Resolution vertical: X = 3468
Sensor resolution = 4612 x 3468
M3 sensor resolution
Sensor width = 22.30 mm Sensor height = 14.90 mm Effective megapixels = 24.20
r = 22.30/14.90 = 1.5 X = √ 24.20 × 1000000 = 4017 1.5
Resolution horizontal: X × r = 4017 × 1.5 = 6026 Resolution vertical: X = 4017
Sensor resolution = 6026 x 4017
Crop factor
Crop factor or focal length multiplier is calculated by dividing the diagonal of 35 mm film [43.27 mm] with the diagonal of the sensor.
Crop factor = 43.27 mm sensor diagonal in mm
Lumix DC-GF9 crop factor
Sensor diagonal in mm = 21.64 mm
Crop factor = 43.27 = 2 21.64
M3 crop factor
Sensor diagonal in mm = 26.82 mm
Crop factor = 43.27 = 1.61 26.82
35 mm equivalent aperture
Equivalent aperture [in 135 film terms] is calculated by multiplying lens aperture with crop factor [a.k.a. focal length multiplier].
Lumix DC-GF9 equivalent aperture
Aperture is a lens characteristic, so it's calculated only for fixed lens cameras. If you want to know the equivalent aperture for Canon M3, take the aperture of the lens you're using and multiply it with crop factor.