S/N or signal to noise ratio is something that spectroscopists of all brands dream about maximising. There is a small slogan on our lab whiteboard:
Sensitivity x Resolution x Convenience = Constant.
This sums up the picture very succinctly. Right now, I was busy reading a pep-me-up article about the 4/3rds system. Why did I need the pep-me-up? Because of the disgusting unwillingness of third-party companies to provide cheap tele lenses for the 4/3 mount. Undoubtedly, Nikon and Canon make brilliant cameras, but I have used an E-500 for the better part of ten months now, and I am delighted with its performance. I would not exchange it for anything short of, say a D200. But there is a lot of crap information floating around which needs to be taken with a massive truckload of salt.
1. Sensor Area:
The dimensions of different sensors are given below in mm:
Point & Shoot 2/3 = 6.6 x 8.8 Area(sq. mm) = 58.8
4/3 = 13.0 x 17.3 Area(sq. mm) = 224.9
Sigma/Foveon = 13.8 x 20.7 Area(sq. mm) = 285.66 % of 4/3 sensor area = 127
Canon APS-C (almost equivalent to Nikon APS-C) = 14.8 x 22.2 Area(sq. mm) = 328.56 % of 4/3 sensor area = 146
Full Frame = 24 x 36 Area(sq. mm) = 864 % of 4/3 sensor area = 384
Barring gigantic leaps in semiconductor technology (which I do not rule out), the trend should be towards improving the performance of existing signal processing algorithms and optics, as we seem to be stuck with small sensors for now.
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