Canon M3 has a
24.0MP APS-C (22.3 x 14.9 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features DIGIC 6 processor. On the other hand, Nikon Z9 has a
46.0MP Full frame (35.9 x 23.9 mm ) sized Stacked CMOS sensor and features Expeed 7 processor.
Nikon Z9's sensor provides 22MP more than Canon M3'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 M3 and Z9 sensor size comparison.
As seen above, Nikon Z9 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 Nikon Z9 sensors have been tested by DxO and the results show that Z9 has a better overall score of 98, 26 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 |
Nikon Z9 |
98 |
26.3 bits |
14.8 Evs |
2451 ISO |