Samsung NX1 has a
28.0MP APS-C (23.5 x 15.7 mm ) sized BSI-CMOS sensor and features DRIMe 5 processor. On the other hand, Nikon D5 has a
21.0MP Full frame (35.8 x 23.9 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Expeed 5 processor.
Samsung NX1's sensor provides 7MP more than Nikon D5'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 Samsung NX1'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 NX1 and D5 sensor size comparison.
As seen above, Nikon D5 has a 2.3x Larger sensor area than Samsung NX1. 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. Samsung NX1 and Nikon D5 sensors have been tested by DxO and the results show that D5 has a better overall score of 88, 5 points higher compared to NX1's score of 83.
Model |
Overall |
Color Depth |
Dynamic Range |
Low-light ISO |
Samsung NX1 |
83 |
24.2 bits |
13.2 Evs |
1363 ISO |
Nikon D5 |
88 |
25.1 bits |
12.3 Evs |
2434 ISO |