A new sensor size roughly half way between the small sensors in point and shoot digital cameras and the much larger ones in digital SLRs and mirrorless cameras. It’s found in more advanced high-end compact cameras, and Nikon uses it for its Nikon 1 mirrorless cameras. It’s been adopted by a number of makers as […]
Cameras A-Z
1/2.3-inch sensor
This is the smallest sensor size in widespread use for photography. You’ll find it (or sensors of a similarly small size) in smartphones, point and shoot cameras and some bridge and long zoom travel cameras.
12-bit RAW
RAW files are captured at a greater ‘bit depth’ than regular JPEG images, which makes them much more resilient for editing later. Basic cameras tend to shoot 12-bit RAW files, which are adequate, but arguably not as good as the 14-bit RAW files captured by more advanced/professional cameras.
14-bit RAW
The ‘bit depth’ of RAW files is a factor in the picture quality they can produce, so this is a selling point for advanced digital cameras. Some cheaper models can only shoot 12-bit RAW files, but while this sounds like a small difference, the extra bit depth potentially offers 4x the image data so 14-bit […]
16:9 ratio
This is the aspect ratio of full HD and 4K UHD video and it’s been widely adopted as the aspect ratio for domestic TVs and computer monitors. The 16:9 ratio means that the picture is 16 units wide by 9 units high. These units can be anything from pixels to centimetres to inches, but the […]