Sony a5000 has a
20.0MP APS-C (23.2 x 15.4 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Bionz X processor. On the other hand, Nikon D5300 has a
24.0MP APS-C (23.5 x 15.6 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Expeed 4 processor.
One other difference between these two cameras that is worth mentioning is that Nikon D5300's sensor doesn't have an 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 a5000 and D5300 sensor size comparison.
Sony a5000 and Nikon D5300 have almost the same sensor size, so neither of them has any significant advantage over the other in terms of providing control over depth of field when used with the 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. Sony a5000 and Nikon D5300 sensors have been tested by DxO and the results show that D5300 has a better overall score of 83, 4 points higher compared to a5000's score of 79.
Model |
Overall |
Color Depth |
Dynamic Range |
Low-light ISO |
Sony a5000 |
79 |
23.8 bits |
13.0 Evs |
1089 ISO |
Nikon D5300 |
83 |
24.0 bits |
13.9 Evs |
1338 ISO |