Both Nikon D5 and Canon 5D MII have 21.0 MP resolution sensors but Nikon D5's sensor is Full frame (35.8 x 23.9 mm ) and Canon 5D MII's sensor is Full frame (36 x 24 mm ).
Since Canon 5D MII's has a larger sensor area with the same resolution, this means that it also has a larger pixel area hence better light collecting capacity for a given aperture compared to Nikon D5.
Below you can see the D5 and 5D MII sensor size comparison.
Nikon D5 and Canon 5D MII have almost the same sensor size, so neither of them has any significant advantage over the other in terms of providing control over depth of field when used with the same focal length and aperture.
DxOMark Sensor Scores
Both Nikon D5 and Canon 5D MII 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, D5 has scored 88, 9 points higher than 5D MII.
Model |
Overall |
Color Depth |
Dynamic Range |
Low-light ISO |
Nikon D5 |
88 |
25.1 bits |
12.3 Evs |
2434 ISO |
Canon 5D MII |
79 |
23.7 bits |
11.9 Evs |
1815 ISO |