Nikon 1 J5 has a 21.0MP 1' (13.2 x 8.8 mm ) sized BSI-CMOS sensor and features Expeed 5A processor. On the other hand, Sony A1 has a 50.0MP Full frame (35.9 x 24 mm ) sized Stacked CMOS sensor and features Dual Bionz XR processor.
Sony A1's sensor provides 29MP more than Nikon 1 J5'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 Nikon 1 J5'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 J5 and A1 sensor size comparison.
Sensor Size and Resolution Comparison image of Nikon 1 J5 and Sony A1 Cameras
As seen above, Sony A1 has a 7.4x Larger sensor area than Nikon 1 J5. 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 J5 and Sony A1 sensors have been tested by DxO and the results show that A1 has a better overall score of 98, 33 points higher compared to J5's score of 65.
| Model |
Overall |
Color Depth |
Dynamic Range |
Low-light ISO |
|
Nikon 1 J5 |
65 |
22.1 bits |
12.0 Evs |
479 ISO |
|
Sony A1 |
98 |
25.9 bits |
14.5 Evs |
3163 ISO |