Nikon 1 J5 has a
21.0MP 1' (13.2 x 8.8 mm ) sized BSI-CMOS sensor and features Expeed 5A processor. On the other hand, Olympus E-620 has a
12.0MP Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features TruePic III+ processor.
Nikon 1 J5's sensor provides 9MP more than Olympus E-620'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.
Another difference between these two cameras is that Nikon 1 J5's sensor lacks anti-alias (Low-Pass) filter. Removing anti-alias filter increases the sharpness and level of detail but at the same time, it increases the chance of moiré occurring in certain scenes.
Below you can see the J5 and E-620 sensor size comparison.
As seen above, Olympus E-620 has a 1.9x Larger sensor area than Nikon 1 J5. 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
Both Nikon 1 J5 and Olympus E-620 sensors have been tested by DxoMark. DxoMark 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. Of the two cameras that we are comparing, J5 has scored 65, 10 points higher than E-620.
Model |
Overall |
Color Depth |
Dynamic Range |
Low-light ISO |
Nikon 1 J5 |
65 |
22.1 bits |
12.0 Evs |
479 ISO |
Olympus E-620 |
55 |
21.3 bits |
10.3 Evs |
536 ISO |