Both Leica M8 and Nikon D200 have 10.0 MP resolution sensors but Leica M8's sensor is APS-H (27 x 18 mm ) and Nikon D200's sensor is APS-C (23.6 x 15.8 mm ).
Since Leica M8'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 Nikon D200.
Another difference between these two cameras is that Leica M8's sensor lacks 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 M8 and D200 sensor size comparison.
Sensor Size and Resolution Comparison image of Leica M8 and Nikon D200 Cameras
As seen above, Leica M8 has a 1.3x Larger sensor area than Nikon D200. 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. Leica M8 and Nikon D200 sensors have been tested by DxO and the results show that D200 has a better overall score of 64, 5 points higher compared to M8's score of 59.
Model
Overall
Color Depth
Dynamic Range
Low-light ISO
Leica M8
59
21.1 bits
11.3 Evs
663 ISO
Nikon D200
64
22.3 bits
11.5 Evs
583 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
Leica M8
or the
Nikon D200 ,
including hyperfocal distance.
One thing to watch when comparing these two: they have different sensor sizes
(APS-H versus APS-C),
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.
