Both Canon S95 and Panasonic LX5 have 10.0 MP resolution sensors but Canon S95's sensor is 1/1.7-inch (7.44 x 5.58 mm ) and Panasonic LX5's sensor is 1/1.63-inch (8.07 x 5.56 mm ).
Since Panasonic LX5'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 S95.
Below you can see the S95 and LX5 sensor size comparison.
Canon S95 and Panasonic LX5 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 S95 and Panasonic LX5 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, S95 has scored 47, 6 points higher than LX5.
Model |
Overall |
Color Depth |
Dynamic Range |
Low-light ISO |
Canon S95 |
47 |
20.4 bits |
11.3 Evs |
153 ISO |
Panasonic LX5 |
41 |
19.6 bits |
10.8 Evs |
132 ISO |