Both Sony A290 and Panasonic FH2 have 14.0 MP resolution sensors but Sony A290's sensor is APS-C (23.5 x 15.7 mm ) and Panasonic FH2's sensor is 1/2.3-inch (6.08 x 4.56 mm ).
Since Sony A290'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 Panasonic FH2.
Below you can see the A290 and FH2 sensor size comparison.
Sensor Size and Resolution Comparison image of Sony A290 and Panasonic FH2 Cameras
As seen above, Sony A290 has a 13.3x Larger sensor area than Panasonic FH2. 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
Sony A290
or the
Panasonic FH2 ,
including hyperfocal distance.
One thing to watch when comparing these two: they have different sensor sizes
(APS-C 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.
