Canon 5D MII has a
21.0MP Full frame (36 x 24 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Digic 4 processor. On the other hand, Sony A290 has a
14.0MP APS-C (23.5 x 15.7 mm ) sized CCD sensor and features Bionz processor.
Canon 5D MII's sensor provides 7MP more than Sony A290'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.
Below you can see the 5D MII and A290 sensor size comparison.
As seen above, Canon 5D MII has a 2.3x Larger sensor area than Sony A290. 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 Canon 5D MII and Sony A290 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, 5D MII has scored 79, 13 points higher than A290.
Model |
Overall |
Color Depth |
Dynamic Range |
Low-light ISO |
Canon 5D MII |
79 |
23.7 bits |
11.9 Evs |
1815 ISO |
Sony A290 |
66 |
22.6 bits |
11.5 Evs |
615 ISO |