Sony a5100 has a
24.0MP APS-C (23.5 x 15.6 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Bionz X processor. On the other hand, Nikon 1 J5 has a
21.0MP 1' (13.2 x 8.8 mm ) sized BSI-CMOS sensor and features Expeed 5A processor.
One other difference between these two cameras that is worth mentioning is that Nikon 1 J5'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 a5100 and J5 sensor size comparison.
As seen above, Sony a5100 has a 3.2x Larger sensor area than Nikon 1 J5. 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 Sony a5100 and Nikon 1 J5 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, a5100 has scored 80, 15 points higher than J5.
Model |
Overall |
Color Depth |
Dynamic Range |
Low-light ISO |
Sony a5100 |
80 |
23.8 bits |
12.7 Evs |
1347 ISO |
Nikon 1 J5 |
65 |
22.1 bits |
12.0 Evs |
479 ISO |