Canon G16 has a
12.0MP 1/1.7-inch (7.44 x 5.58 mm ) sized BSI-CMOS sensor and features Digic 6 processor. On the other hand, Nikon D40 has a
6.0MP APS-C (23.7 x 15.5 mm ) sized CCD sensor .
Canon G16's sensor provides 6MP more than Nikon D40's sensor, which gives a significant advantage in real life. You can print your images larger or crop more freely.
On the other hand, please keep in mind that Max sensor resolution is not the only determinant of resolving power. Factors such as the optical elements, low pass filter, pixel size and sensor technology also affects the final resolution of the captured image.
Below you can see the G16 and D40 sensor size comparison.
As seen above, Nikon D40 has a 8.8x Larger sensor area than Canon G16. 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. Canon G16 and Nikon D40 sensors have been tested by DxO and the results show that D40 has a better overall score of 56, 2 points higher compared to G16's score of 54.
Model |
Overall |
Color Depth |
Dynamic Range |
Low-light ISO |
Canon G16 |
54 |
21.0 bits |
11.7 Evs |
230 ISO |
Nikon D40 |
56 |
21.0 bits |
11.0 Evs |
561 ISO |