Both Canon S100 and Canon SX230 HS have 12.0 MP resolution sensors but Canon S100's sensor is 1/1.7-inch (7.44 x 5.58 mm ) and Canon SX230 HS's sensor is 1/2.3-inch (6.17 x 4.55 mm ).
Since Canon S100'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 SX230 HS.
Below you can see the S100 and SX230 HS sensor size comparison.
Sensor Size and Resolution Comparison image of Canon S100 and Canon SX230 HS Cameras
As seen above, Canon S100 has a 1.5x Larger sensor area than Canon SX230 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 S100
or the
Canon SX230 HS ,
including hyperfocal distance.
One thing to watch when comparing these two: they have different sensor sizes
(1/1.7-inch versus 1/2.3-inch),
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.
