hmmm...
Interesting, so the F number is the lens aperture (think of an iris of an eye), the smaller the F number, the bigger the aperture, which allows more light in. The 4MP has a slightly smaller aperture (F1.9) compared to the 2MP with a F1.6 aperture, so the 2MP still has a bigger aperture and could allow more light in vs the 4MP.
Let’s not confuse clear aperture with focal ratio (f/stop). Without knowing the focal length of the lens, we don’t know the clear aperture or entrance pupil, and can’t compare the light gathering capability. The larger the sensor, the larger the lens required to bathe it in photons, and generally speaking, the greater the focal length of the lens. Otherwise, the f1.8 4.25mm lens on my phone would result in better low light performance than the 35mm f2 lens on my full frame DSLR. The entrance pupil on the 35mm f2 lens is 17.5mm vs 2.3mm on the phone, resulting in >50x greater light gathering capability. Find the lens focal length and compare the entrance pupil (focal length/f-stop). I’m guessing the starlight+ designation is not simply marketing in this case.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge dougri. Clearly a lot more to it than just the size of the aperture, novice mistake in judging the specs.
Having expensive hobbies (photography & astronomy), I tend to acquire some generally useless knowledge that occasionally bleeds into my other expensive hobbies I still usually get it wrong!
Ditto
