Nikon D5 has a
21.0MP Full frame (35.8 x 23.9 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Expeed 5 processor. On the other hand, Nikon D300S has a
12.0MP APS-C (23.6 x 15.8 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Expeed processor.
Nikon D5's sensor provides 9MP more than Nikon D300S'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 D5 and D300S sensor size comparison.
As seen above, Nikon D5 has a 2.3x Larger sensor area than Nikon D300S. 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 D5 and Nikon D300S 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, 18 points higher than D300S.
Model |
Overall |
Color Depth |
Dynamic Range |
Low-light ISO |
Nikon D5 |
88 |
25.1 bits |
12.3 Evs |
2434 ISO |
Nikon D300S |
70 |
22.5 bits |
12.2 Evs |
787 ISO |