Both Nikon D5500 and Nikon D7100 have 24.0 MP resolution sensors but Nikon D5500's sensor is APS-C (23.5 x 15.6 mm ) and Nikon D7100's sensor is APS-C (23.5 x 15.6 mm ).
Since Nikon D7100'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 D5500.
Another similarity between these two cameras is that both Nikon D7100 and Nikon D5500 sensors lack anti-alias (Low-Pass) filters. 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 D5500 and D7100 sensor size comparison.
Nikon D5500 and Nikon D7100 have the same sensor sizes so they will provide same level of control over the depth of field when used with same focal length and aperture.
DxOMark Sensor Scores
Both Nikon D5500 and Nikon D7100 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, D5500 has scored 84, 1 points higher than D7100.
Model |
Overall |
Color Depth |
Dynamic Range |
Low-light ISO |
Nikon D5500 |
84 |
24.1 bits |
14.0 Evs |
1438 ISO |
Nikon D7100 |
83 |
24.2 bits |
13.7 Evs |
1256 ISO |