Both Leica SL and Nikon D5500 have 24.0 MP resolution sensors but Leica SL's sensor is Full frame (36 x 24 mm ) and Nikon D5500's sensor is APS-C (23.5 x 15.6 mm ).
Since Leica SL'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 D5500.
Another similarity between these two cameras is that both Nikon D5500 and Leica SL sensors lack anti-alias (Low-Pass) filters. 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 D5500 sensor size comparison.
Sensor Size and Resolution Comparison image of Leica SL and Nikon D5500 Cameras
As seen above, Leica SL has a 2.4x Larger sensor area than Nikon D5500. 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
Both Leica SL and Nikon D5500 sensors have been tested by DxoMark. DxoMark 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. Of the two cameras that we are comparing, SL has scored 88, 4 points higher than D5500.
Model
Overall
Color Depth
Dynamic Range
Low-light ISO
Leica SL
88
25.0 bits
13.4 Evs
1821 ISO
Nikon D5500
84
24.1 bits
14.0 Evs
1438 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 SL
or the
Nikon D5500 ,
including hyperfocal distance.
One thing to watch when comparing these two: they have different sensor sizes
(Full frame 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.
