Nikon 1 J3 has a
14.0MP 1-inch (13.2 x 8.8 mm ) sized CMOS sensor . On the other hand, Canon 20D has a
8.0MP APS-C (22.5 x 15 mm ) sized CMOS sensor .
Nikon 1 J3's sensor provides 6MP more than Canon 20D'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 1 J3 and 20D sensor size comparison.
As seen above, Canon 20D has a 2.9x Larger sensor area than Nikon 1 J3. 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. Nikon 1 J3 and Canon 20D sensors have been tested by DxO and the results show that 20D has a better overall score of 62, 10 points higher compared to 1 J3's score of 52.
Model |
Overall |
Color Depth |
Dynamic Range |
Low-light ISO |
Nikon 1 J3 |
52 |
20.4 bits |
11.0 Evs |
420 ISO |
Canon 20D |
62 |
21.9 bits |
11.0 Evs |
721 ISO |