Canon 5D MIII has a
22.0MP Full frame (36 x 24 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Digic 5+ processor. On the other hand, Panasonic S5 has a
24.0MP Full frame (35.6 x 23.8 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Venus Engine processor.
One other difference between these two cameras that is worth mentioning is that Panasonic S5'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 5D MIII and S5 sensor size comparison.
Sensor Size and Resolution Comparison image of Canon 5D MIII and Panasonic S5 Cameras
Canon 5D MIII and Panasonic S5 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. Canon 5D MIII and Panasonic S5 sensors have been tested by DxO and the results show that S5 has a better overall score of 94, 13 points higher compared to 5D MIII's score of 81.
Model
Overall
Color Depth
Dynamic Range
Low-light ISO
Canon 5D MIII
81
24.0 bits
11.7 Evs
2293 ISO
Panasonic S5
94
25.1 bits
14.5 Evs
2697 ISO
Sensor size sets the circle of confusion, so it drives how much depth of field each
of these bodies gives you at a given aperture. You can calculate it exactly for the
Canon 5D MIII
or the
Panasonic S5 ,
including hyperfocal distance.
