Both Canon M3 and Leica M10 have 24.0 MP resolution sensors but Canon M3's sensor is APS-C (22.3 x 14.9 mm ) and Leica M10's sensor is Full frame (35.8 x 23.9 mm ).
Since Leica M10's has a larger sensor area with the same resolution, this means that it also has a larger pixel area hence better light collecting capacity for a given aperture compared to Canon M3.
Below you can see the M3 and M10 sensor size comparison.
Sensor Size and Resolution Comparison image of Canon M3 and Leica M10 Cameras
As seen above, Leica M10 has a 2.6x Larger sensor area than Canon M3. 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. Canon M3 and Leica M10 sensors have been tested by DxO and the results show that M10 has a better overall score of 86, 14 points higher compared to M3's score of 72.
Model
Overall
Color Depth
Dynamic Range
Low-light ISO
Canon M3
72
22.8 bits
11.8 Evs
1169 ISO
Leica M10
86
24.4 bits
13.3 Evs
2133 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 M3
or the
Leica M10 ,
including hyperfocal distance.
One thing to watch when comparing these two: they have different sensor sizes
(APS-C versus Full frame),
so compare them at the same framing rather than the same focal length.
Put the same focal length on the smaller sensor and it will show less depth of
field, not more, because it also crops tighter. The calculator shows the
full frame equivalent focal length for each body so you can match the framing.
