Nikon D810 has a
36.0MP Full frame (35.9 x 24 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features EXPEED 4 processor. On the other hand, Sony A57 has a
16.0MP APS-C (23.5 x 15.6 mm ) sized CMOS sensor .
Nikon D810's sensor provides 20MP more than Sony A57'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 D810'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 D810 and A57 sensor size comparison.
As seen above, Nikon D810 has a 2.4x Larger sensor area than Sony A57. 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 D810 and Sony A57 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, D810 has scored 97, 22 points higher than A57.
Model |
Overall |
Color Depth |
Dynamic Range |
Low-light ISO |
Nikon D810 |
97 |
25.7 bits |
14.8 Evs |
2853 ISO |
Sony A57 |
75 |
23.4 bits |
13.0 Evs |
785 ISO |