Canon G12 has a
10.0MP 1/1.7-inch (7.44 x 5.58 mm ) sized CCD sensor and features Digic 4 processor. On the other hand, Sony NEX-5N has a
16.0MP APS-C (23.4 x 15.6 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Bionz processor.
Sony NEX-5N's sensor provides 6MP more than Canon G12'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 G12 and NEX-5N sensor size comparison.
As seen above, Sony NEX-5N has a 8.8x Larger sensor area than Canon G12. 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 G12 and Sony NEX-5N sensors have been tested by DxO and the results show that NEX-5N has a better overall score of 77, 30 points higher compared to G12's score of 47.
Model |
Overall |
Color Depth |
Dynamic Range |
Low-light ISO |
Canon G12 |
47 |
20.4 bits |
11.2 Evs |
161 ISO |
Sony NEX-5N |
77 |
23.6 bits |
12.7 Evs |
1079 ISO |