Nikon D7100 has a
24.0MP APS-C (23.5 x 15.6 mm ) sized CMOS sensor . On the other hand, Nikon Df has a
16.0MP Full frame (36 x 23.9 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Expeed 3 processor.
Nikon D7100's sensor provides 8MP more than Nikon Df'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 D7100'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 D7100 and Df sensor size comparison.
As seen above, Nikon Df has a 2.3x Larger sensor area than Nikon D7100. 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
DxOMark is a benchmark that scientifically assesses image quality of camera sensors. It 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. Nikon D7100 and Nikon Df sensors have been tested by DxO and the results show that Df has a better overall score of 89, 6 points higher compared to D7100's score of 83.
Model |
Overall |
Color Depth |
Dynamic Range |
Low-light ISO |
Nikon D7100 |
83 |
24.2 bits |
13.7 Evs |
1256 ISO |
Nikon Df |
89 |
24.6 bits |
13.1 Evs |
3279 ISO |