Both Canon SX730 HS and Panasonic G97 have 20.3 MP resolution sensors but Canon SX730 HS's sensor is Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm ).
Since Panasonic G97'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 SX730 HS.
One other difference between these two cameras that is worth mentioning is that Panasonic G97's sensor doesn't have an anti-alias (Low-Pass) filter. Removing anti-alias filter increases the sharpness and level of detail but at the same time, it increases the chance of moiré occurring in certain scenes.
Below you can see the SX730 HS and G97 sensor size comparison.
Sensor Size and Resolution Comparison image of Canon SX730 HS and Panasonic G97 Cameras
As seen above, Panasonic G97 has a 8.0x Larger sensor area than Canon SX730 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 SX730 HS
or the
Panasonic G97 ,
including hyperfocal distance.
One thing to watch when comparing these two: they have different sensor sizes
( versus Four Thirds),
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.
