Below you can see the front view size comparison of Nikon D3S and Sony A7S II. Sony A7S II is clearly the smaller of the two cameras. Its body is 33mm narrower, 61mm shorter and 28mm thinner than Nikon D3S.
Now lets look at the top view comparison of Nikon D3S and Sony A7S II.
Weight is another important factor especially when deciding on a camera that you want to carry with you all day.
Sony A7S II is significantly lighter (613g ) than the Nikon D3S which may become a big advantage especially on long walking trips.
Also keep in mind that body weight is not the only deciding factor when comparing two interchangeable camera bodies, you have to also take into account the lenses that you will be using with these bodies. Since both Nikon D3S and Sony A7S II have the same Full frame sized sensor, their lenses for a similar focal length and aperture will be similar in size and weight.
Weight Comparison
Mirrorless Cameras
Thickness Comparison
Mirrorless Cameras
Both Nikon D3S and Sony A7S II have Full frame sized 12.0 MP resolution sensors so sensor size and resolution is not a differentiator between these two cameras.
Below you can see the D3S and A7S II sensor size comparison.
Nikon D3S and Sony A7S II have almost the same sensor size so none of them has any significant advantage over other in providing control over depth of field when used with same focal length and aperture.
In this section, we rank and compare Nikon D3S and Sony A7S II for five different photography types in order to make your decision process easier in case you are specifically interested in one or more of these areas.
Nikon D3S for Portrait Photography
Sony A7S II for Portrait Photography
Large Full frame (36 x 23.9 mm) sensor
Optical Built-in Viewfinder
Good Ergonomics&Handling
Average Resolution Sensor: 12.0MP
No Image Stabilization
Read the details
Large Full frame (35.6 x 23.8 mm) sensor
Image Stabilization
Electronic Built-in Viewfinder
Good Ergonomics&Handling
Average Resolution Sensor: 12.0MP
Read the details
Nikon D3S for Street Photography
Sony A7S II for Street Photography
Large Full frame (36 x 23.9 mm) sensor
Optical Built-in Viewfinder
Live-view
No Image Stabilization
Large Body
Read the details
Large Full frame (35.6 x 23.8 mm) sensor
Image Stabilization
Electronic Built-in Viewfinder
Live-view
Face-Detection Focusing
Tilting LCD Screen
Medium sized Body
Read the details
Nikon D3S for Sports Photography
Sony A7S II for Sports Photography
Optical Built-in Viewfinder
Good Ergonomics&Handling
Fast Continuous Shooting: 11.0fps
Environmental Sealings
Fast Max shutter speed: 1/8000s
51 Focus Points
Good Battery Life: 4200 shots
Good Low Light ISO
No Image Stabilization
Read the details
Image Stabilization
Electronic Built-in Viewfinder
Good Ergonomics&Handling
Environmental Sealings
Fast Max shutter speed: 1/8000s
169 Focus Points
Good Low Light ISO
Wireless Connection
Average Continuous Shooting: 5.0fps
Read the details
Nikon D3S for Daily Photography
Sony A7S II for Daily Photography
Large Full frame (36 x 23.9 mm) sensor
Environmental Sealings
Large Body
1240g
Body Thickness 88mm
Read the details
Large Full frame (35.6 x 23.8 mm) sensor
Environmental Sealings
Medium size Body
627g
Body Thickness 60mm
Read the details
Nikon D3S for Landscape Photography
Sony A7S II for Landscape Photography
Large Full frame (36 x 23.9 mm) sensor
Environmental Sealings
Live-view
Average Resolution Sensor: 12.0MP
Read the details
Large Full frame (35.6 x 23.8 mm) sensor
Environmental Sealings
Live-view
Average Resolution Sensor: 12.0MP
Read the details
Number of available lenses is a big decision factor while choosing your interchangeable lens camera. When we look at the available lenses for these two cameras, we see that Nikon D3S has an advantage over Sony A7S II. There are 286 lenses for Nikon D3S's Nikon F mount, on the other hand there are only 83 lenses for Sony A7S II's Sony E (NEX) lens mount.
Another important factor is the availability of image stabilization. Sony A7S II has a big advantage in this regard because it has a sensor based image stabilization which means that all the lenses mounted to this body will be stabilized. On the other hand, Nikon D3S doesn't have this feature so you have to buy a lens with optical stabilization feature. Currently there are 88 lenses for Nikon F mount with Optical Image Stabilization features.
| Lens Type |
# of Nikon D3S Lenses |
# of Sony A7S II Lenses |
| Standard Zoom |
33 (17 Full Frame) |
9 (7 Full Frame) |
| Standard Prime |
18 (15 Full Frame) |
13 (5 Full Frame) |
| Wideangle Zoom |
30 (14 Full Frame) |
4 (3 Full Frame) |
| Wideangle Prime |
45 (43 Full Frame) |
27 (14 Full Frame) |
| Telephoto Zoom |
49 (39 Full Frame) |
6 (5 Full Frame) |
| Telephoto Prime |
40 (39 Full Frame) |
10 (7 Full Frame) |
| SuperZoom |
30 (6 Full Frame) |
8 (1 Full Frame) |
| Wideangle Fisheye Prime |
8 (3 Full Frame) |
1 (0 Full Frame) |
| Macro Prime |
22 (19 Full Frame) |
4 (3 Full Frame) |
| Perspective Control Prime |
10 (10 Full Frame) |
1 (1 Full Frame) |
| Telephoto Mirror Prime |
1 (0 Full Frame) |
n/a |
| TOTAL |
286 (205 Full Frame) |
83 (46 Full Frame) |
You may have already made your decision about which camera suits better for your needs and your budget so far but in case you wonder how we rated Nikon D3S and Sony A7S II, below you can find their scores in five different aspects.
Our Decision Algorithm dynamically scores cameras using 63 different specs, current price and DxO Mark scores (where possible) in order to make a more objective and consistent comparison.
Here is a summary of how Nikon D3S and Sony A7S II scores compare:
Nikon D3S
Ranked
#5 out of 10 in Large SLR cameras
Ranked
#161 out of 1131 in all Cameras
Sony A7S II
Ranked
#7 out of 49 in SLR-style mirrorless cameras
Ranked
#16 out of 1131 in all Cameras
Sony A7S II is the clear winner of this comparison. It has a higher Overall Score and beats Nikon D3S in all criterias.
It has better general image quality, more features, more compact body and offers more value for the money
| General |
Nikon D3S |
Sony Alpha A7S II |
| Brand |
Nikon |
Sony |
| Announced |
2010-02-16 |
2015-10-12 |
| Body Type |
Large SLR |
SLR-style mirrorless |
| Price |
$5,199.95 |
$2,398.00 |
Sensor |
|
|
| Type |
CMOS |
CMOS |
| Size |
Full frame |
Full frame |
| Dimensions |
36 x 23.9 mm |
35.6 x 23.8 mm |
| Area |
860.40mm2 |
847.28mm2 |
| Megapixels |
12 megapixels |
12 megapixels |
| Max Resolution |
4256 x 2832 |
4240 x 2832 |
| Max Native Light sensitivity |
12,800 ISO |
102,400 ISO |
| Max Boosted Light Sensitivity |
102400 ISO |
409600 ISO |
| Min Native Light sensitivity |
200 ISO |
100 ISO |
| Min Boosted Light Sensitivity |
100 ISO |
50 ISO |
| RAW Support |
|
|
Autofocus |
|
|
| AF Touch |
|
|
| AF Continuous |
|
|
| AF Single |
|
|
| AF Tracking |
|
|
| AF Selective |
|
|
| AF Center |
|
|
| AF Multi Area |
|
|
| AF Live View |
|
|
| AF Face Detection |
|
|
| AF Contrast Detection |
|
|
| AF Phase Detection |
|
|
| Number of Focus Points |
51 |
169 |
Lens |
|
|
| Manual Focus |
|
|
| Lens Mount |
Nikon F |
Sony E (NEX) |
| Number of Available Lenses |
286 |
83 |
Screen |
|
|
| Type |
Fixed type |
Tilting |
| Size |
3″ |
3″ |
| Resolution |
921k dots |
1,229k dots |
| Touch Screen |
|
|
Viewfinder |
|
|
| Viewfinder |
Optical (pentaprism) |
Electronic |
| Viewfinder Resolution |
no electronic viewfinder |
2,359k dots |
| Viewfinder Coverage |
100% |
100% |
| Viewfinder Magnification |
0.7 |
0.78 |
Photography Features |
|
|
| Max Shutter Speed |
1/8000s |
1/8000s |
| Shutter Priority |
|
|
| Aperture Priority |
|
|
| Manual Exposure Mode |
|
|
| Custom White Balance |
|
|
| Image Stabilization |
No |
Sensor-shift |
| Built-in Flash |
|
|
| Max Flash Sync |
1/250s |
no built-in flash |
| External Flash |
|
|
| Continuous Shooting |
11.0 fps |
5.0 fps |
| Multi-Segment |
|
|
| Average |
|
|
| Spot |
|
|
| Partial |
|
|
| AF-Area |
|
|
| Center Weighted |
|
|
| AE Bracketing |
|
|
| WB Bracketing |
|
|
Video Features |
|
|
| Max Video Resolution |
1280 x 720 |
3840 x 2160 |
| Video Formats |
Motion JPEG |
MPEG-4, AVCHD, XAVC S |
| Microphone Port |
|
|
| Headphone Port |
|
|
Connectivity |
|
|
| Wireless Connectivity |
None |
Built-In |
| HDMI |
|
|
Physical |
|
|
| Environmental Sealing |
|
|
| Weight |
1240g |
627g |
| Dimensions |
160 x 157 x 88mm |
127 x 96 x 60mm |
| Battery Life |
4200 shots |
370 shots |
Other Features |
|
|
| Timelapse Recording |
|
With Downloadable App |
| GPS |
Optional |
None |
DxO Sensor Scores |
|
|
| DxO Overall Score |
82 |
85 |
| DxO Color Depth |
23.5 |
23.6 |
| DxO Dynamic Range |
12.0 |
13.3 |
| DxO Low Light ISO |
3253 |
2993 |
|
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