Both Canon S90 and Panasonic LX3 have 10.0 MP resolution sensors but Canon S90's sensor is 1/1.7-inch (7.44 x 5.58 mm ) and Panasonic LX3's sensor is 1/1.63-inch (8.07 x 5.56 mm ).
Since Panasonic LX3'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 S90.
Below you can see the S90 and LX3 sensor size comparison.
Canon S90 and Panasonic LX3 have almost the same sensor size, so neither of them has any significant advantage over the other in terms of providing control over depth of field when used with the same focal length and aperture.
DxOMark Sensor Scores
Both Canon S90 and Panasonic LX3 sensors have been tested by DxoMark. DxoMark scores camera sensors for color depth (DXO Portrait), dynamic range (DXO Landscape) and low-light sensitivity (DXO Sports), and also gives them an overall score. Of the two cameras that we are comparing, S90 has scored 46, 7 points higher than LX3.
Model |
Overall |
Color Depth |
Dynamic Range |
Low-light ISO |
Canon S90 |
46 |
20.2 bits |
11.0 Evs |
185 ISO |
Panasonic LX3 |
39 |
19.6 bits |
10.8 Evs |
94 ISO |