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, Sony A99 has a
24.0MP Full frame (35.8 x 23.8 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Bionz processor.
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 A99 sensor size comparison.
As seen above, Sony A99 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 Sony A99 sensors have been tested by DxO and the results show that A99 has a better overall score of 89, 6 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 |
Sony A99 |
89 |
25.0 bits |
14.0 Evs |
1555 ISO |