Canon EOS DCS 3 Specs, Sensor Size & Crop Factor

Q: What is the crop factor of the Canon EOS DCS 3?

The Canon EOS DCS 3 has a crop factor of 1.85× relative to 35 mm full frame (diagonal 23.4 mm vs 43.3 mm).

1.85×

Crop factor

18.7×14.0 mm

Sensor size

262 mm²

Area · 30% of full frame

1.3 MP

Resolution

14.75 µm

Pixel pitch

f/22.0

Diffraction-limited aperture

Specifications#

Brand: Canon
Model: EOS DCS 3
Camera type: Large-sensor compact
Sensor size: 18.7 × 14.0 mm (1.5" sensor)
Crop factor: 1.85×
Resolution: 1.3 MP (1,268 × 1,012 px)
Continuous shooting: 2.7 fps
Weight: 1,800 g (63.5 oz)
Sensor: CCD, 1.5x crop factor
Storage: PCMCIA card slot
Viewfinder: Optical
AF points / area: 5 points
Metering: TTL, full aperture, zones
Exposure modes: Full auto, programmed, shutter-priority, aperture priority, manual
Shutter: electronic focal plane
Flash: Canon hotshoe
Battery: Built-in, rechargeable
Lens: Interchangeable (EF)
Drive: up to 2.7 frame/s, max 8 frames

Specifications merged from Wikipedia and Wikidata. Spot an error? Tell us.

Sensor size compared#

The Canon EOS DCS 3 sensor (highlighted) drawn to scale against common formats. Its area is 30% of a full-frame sensor, which collects about 1.7 stops less total light at the same exposure.

Focal length equivalents & field of view#

Multiply any focal length by 1.85 to get the full-frame field of view. For fixed-lens cameras use the real focal length printed on the lens (e.g. “6.1–18.3 mm”), not the 35 mm equivalent.

Lens on this camera	Full-frame equivalent	Horizontal	Vertical	Diagonal
8 mm	15 mm	98.9°	82.4°	111.2°
10 mm	19 mm	86.2°	70.0°	98.9°
12 mm	22 mm	75.8°	60.5°	88.5°
14 mm	26 mm	67.5°	53.1°	79.7°
16 mm	30 mm	60.6°	47.3°	72.3°
18 mm	33 mm	54.9°	42.5°	66.0°
20 mm	37 mm	50.1°	38.6°	60.6°
24 mm	44 mm	42.6°	32.5°	51.9°
28 mm	52 mm	36.9°	28.1°	45.3°
35 mm	65 mm	29.9°	22.6°	36.9°
40 mm	74 mm	26.3°	19.9°	32.6°
50 mm	93 mm	21.2°	15.9°	26.3°
56 mm	104 mm	19.0°	14.3°	23.6°
70 mm	130 mm	15.2°	11.4°	18.9°
85 mm	157 mm	12.6°	9.4°	15.6°
100 mm	185 mm	10.7°	8.0°	13.3°
135 mm	250 mm	7.9°	5.9°	9.9°
200 mm	370 mm	5.4°	4.0°	6.7°
300 mm	556 mm	3.6°	2.7°	4.5°
400 mm	741 mm	2.7°	2.0°	3.3°
600 mm	1111 mm	1.8°	1.3°	2.2°

Depth of field table#

Total depth of field at each subject distance, using a circle of confusion of 16.2 µm (the 0.030 mm full-frame standard scaled by the crop factor). Detailed tables: 24 mm f/1.8, 24 mm f/2.8, 35 mm f/1.8, 35 mm f/2.8, 50 mm f/1.8, 50 mm f/2.8.

Focal	Aperture	50.0 cm	1.00 m	2.00 m	3.00 m	5.00 m	10.0 m	Hyperfocal
12 mm	f/1.8	10.0 cm	41.7 cm	1.92 m	5.73 m	∞	∞	4.95 m
12 mm	f/2.8	15.7 cm	68.9 cm	4.12 m	49.4 m	∞	∞	3.19 m
12 mm	f/4	23.1 cm	1.11 m	17.9 m	∞	∞	∞	2.23 m
12 mm	f/8	54.4 cm	8.48 m	∞	∞	∞	∞	1.12 m
23 mm	f/1.8	2.6 cm	10.8 cm	44.1 cm	1.01 m	2.97 m	15.8 m	18.2 m
23 mm	f/2.8	4.1 cm	16.9 cm	69.8 cm	1.64 m	5.22 m	63.7 m	11.7 m
23 mm	f/4	5.9 cm	24.3 cm	1.03 m	2.52 m	9.70 m	∞	8.19 m
23 mm	f/8	11.8 cm	50.8 cm	2.53 m	9.34 m	∞	∞	4.11 m
39 mm	f/1.8	0.9 cm	3.7 cm	15.1 cm	34.2 cm	96.0 cm	3.96 m	52.2 m
39 mm	f/2.8	1.4 cm	5.7 cm	23.5 cm	53.4 cm	1.51 m	6.51 m	33.6 m
39 mm	f/4	2.0 cm	8.2 cm	33.6 cm	76.9 cm	2.21 m	10.3 m	23.5 m
39 mm	f/8	3.9 cm	16.5 cm	68.7 cm	1.62 m	5.15 m	60.6 m	11.8 m
64 mm	f/1.8	0.3 cm	1.3 cm	5.5 cm	12.5 cm	35.2 cm	1.42 m	141 m
64 mm	f/2.8	0.5 cm	2.1 cm	8.6 cm	19.5 cm	54.8 cm	2.23 m	90.4 m
64 mm	f/4	0.7 cm	3.0 cm	12.3 cm	27.9 cm	78.6 cm	3.22 m	63.3 m
64 mm	f/8	1.4 cm	5.9 cm	24.6 cm	56.2 cm	1.60 m	6.98 m	31.7 m

Equivalent aperture#

Exposure is identical at the same f-number on any format; equivalence only describes depth of field and total light.

Aperture on this camera	Full-frame equivalent (depth of field)	Hyperfocal at 23 mm
f/1.2	f/2.2	27.2 m
f/1.4	f/2.6	23.4 m
f/1.8	f/3.3	18.2 m
f/2	f/3.7	16.4 m
f/2.8	f/5.2	11.7 m
f/4	f/7.4	8.19 m
f/5.6	f/10.4	5.86 m
f/8	f/14.8	4.11 m

Diffraction & pixel pitch#

With 14.75 µm pixels, diffraction starts to soften pixel-level detail around f/22.0. For maximum sharpness keep landscapes between f/12.1 and f/22; stopping down further trades detail for depth of field.

Aperture	Airy disk diameter	Spread over	At 100% view
f/2.8	3.8 µm	0.3 px	sharp
f/4	5.4 µm	0.4 px	sharp
f/5.6	7.5 µm	0.5 px	sharp
f/8	10.7 µm	0.7 px	sharp
f/11	14.8 µm	1.0 px	sharp
f/16	21.5 µm	1.5 px	sharp
f/22	29.5 µm	2.0 px	slight softening

Maximum print sizes#

At 1.3 MP the Canon EOS DCS 3 produces 1,268 × 1,012 pixel images. See the 2 megapixel guide or the print size calculator.

Resolution	Typical use	Inches	Centimetres
300 DPI	Photo-lab quality	4.2 × 3.4 in	11 × 9 cm
240 DPI	Fine-art inkjet	5.3 × 4.2 in	13 × 11 cm
200 DPI	Wall print	6.3 × 5.1 in	16 × 13 cm
150 DPI	Poster, viewed from 1 m+	8.5 × 6.7 in	21 × 17 cm

Night-sky exposure limits#

Longest exposure before stars trail. The NPF rule accounts for pixel pitch and is stricter than the classic 500 rule — use it for pin-sharp stars on high-resolution sensors.

Focal length	500 rule	NPF f/1.8	NPF f/2.8	NPF f/4
8 mm (15 mm eq.)	33.7 s	63.2 s	67.6 s	72.8 s
11 mm (20 mm eq.)	24.5 s	45.9 s	49.1 s	52.9 s
13 mm (24 mm eq.)	20.8 s	38.9 s	41.6 s	44.8 s
19 mm (35 mm eq.)	14.2 s	26.6 s	28.4 s	30.7 s
27 mm (50 mm eq.)	10.0 s	18.7 s	20.0 s	21.6 s

Open the NPF / 500 rule calculator →

Handheld shutter speed guide#

The reciprocal rule uses the equivalent focal length. High-resolution sensors may need one stop faster than this for pixel-sharp results.

Focal length	No stabilisation (1/equiv. focal)	With 3-stop IS	With 5-stop IBIS
13 mm	1/25 s	0.3 s	1.3 s
27 mm	1/50 s	1/6 s	0.6 s
54 mm	1/100 s	1/13 s	0.3 s
108 mm	1/200 s	1/25 s	1/6 s

Lens#

The Canon EOS DCS 3 has a built-in, non-interchangeable lens. Use the real focal length of that lens with the tables above; its full-frame equivalent is that number × 1.85.

Similar cameras#

Other 1.5" cameras from around the same time.

Frequently asked questions#

What is the crop factor of the Canon EOS DCS 3?

The Canon EOS DCS 3 has a crop factor of 1.85× relative to 35 mm full frame (diagonal 23.4 mm vs 43.3 mm).

What size is the Canon EOS DCS 3 sensor?

18.7 × 14.0 mm (1.5"), an area of 262 mm² — 30% of full frame.

Is the Canon EOS DCS 3 full frame?

No — its sensor is 1.5", which is 3.3× smaller in area than full frame.

How many megapixels does the Canon EOS DCS 3 have?

1.3 megapixels (1,268 × 1,012 pixels), enough for a 4 × 3 inch print at 300 DPI.

How long can I expose the night sky with the Canon EOS DCS 3?

With a 11 mm lens (20 mm equivalent) the 500 rule gives 25 s and the stricter NPF rule at f/2.8 gives 49 s.

Sources & licences#

Wikipedia: Canon EOS DCS 3 — CC BY-SA 4.0
Wikidata Q66365 — CC0

Last updated October 03, 2026 · How we calculate · Sources