Both Canon ELPH 360 HS and Sony a5000 have 20.0 MP resolution sensors but Canon ELPH 360 HS's sensor is 1/2.3' (6.17 x 4.55 mm ) and Sony a5000's sensor is APS-C (23.2 x 15.4 mm ).
Since Sony a5000's has a larger sensor area with the same resolution, this means that it also has a larger pixel area hence better light collecting capacity for a given aperture compared to Canon ELPH 360 HS.
Below you can see the 360 HS and a5000 sensor size comparison.
Sensor Size and Resolution Comparison image of Canon ELPH 360 HS and Sony a5000 Cameras
As seen above, Sony a5000 has a 12.7x Larger sensor area than Canon ELPH 360 HS. Larger sensors give photographer more control on the depth of field and blurry background compared to smaller sensor when shot in same focal length and aperture.
Sensor size sets the circle of confusion, so it drives how much depth of field each
of these bodies gives you at a given aperture. You can calculate it exactly for the
Canon ELPH 360 HS
or the
Sony a5000 ,
including hyperfocal distance.
One thing to watch when comparing these two: they have different sensor sizes
(1/2.3' versus APS-C),
so compare them at the same framing rather than the same focal length.
Put the same focal length on the smaller sensor and it will show less depth of
field, not more, because it also crops tighter. The calculator shows the
full frame equivalent focal length for each body so you can match the framing.
