Both Fujifilm XF1 and Canon S100 have 12.0 MP resolution sensors but Fujifilm XF1's sensor is 2/3-inch (8.8 x 6.6 mm ) and Canon S100's sensor is 1/1.7-inch (7.44 x 5.58 mm ).
Since Fujifilm XF1'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 S100.
Below you can see the XF1 and S100 sensor size comparison.
Sensor Size and Resolution Comparison image of Fujifilm XF1 and Canon S100 Cameras
As seen above, Fujifilm XF1 has a 1.4x Larger sensor area than Canon S100. 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.
DxOMark Sensor Scores
DxOMark is a benchmark that scientifically assesses image quality of camera sensors. It 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. Fujifilm XF1 and Canon S100 sensors have been tested by DxO and the results show that S100 has a better overall score of 50, 1 points higher compared to XF1's score of 49.
Model
Overall
Color Depth
Dynamic Range
Low-light ISO
Fujifilm XF1
49
20.5 bits
11.2 Evs
199 ISO
Canon S100
50
20.7 bits
11.6 Evs
153 ISO
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
Fujifilm XF1
or the
Canon S100 ,
including hyperfocal distance.
One thing to watch when comparing these two: they have different sensor sizes
(2/3-inch versus 1/1.7-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.
