Leica SL has a
24.0MP Full frame (36 x 24 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Maestro II processor. On the other hand, Hasselblad X1D II 50C has a
51.0MP Medium format (44 x 33 mm ) sized CMOS sensor .
Hasselblad X1D II 50C's sensor provides 27MP more than Leica SL'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.
Another difference between these two cameras is that Leica SL'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 SL and X1D II 50C sensor size comparison.
As seen above, Hasselblad X1D II 50C has a 1.7x Larger sensor area than Leica SL. 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 SL and Hasselblad X1D II 50C sensors have been tested by DxO and the results show that X1D II 50C has a better overall score of 102, 14 points higher compared to SL's score of 88.
Model |
Overall |
Color Depth |
Dynamic Range |
Low-light ISO |
Leica SL |
88 |
25.0 bits |
13.4 Evs |
1821 ISO |
Hasselblad X1D II 50C |
102 |
26.2 bits |
14.8 Evs |
4489 ISO |