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Nikon S6100 vs Nikon Df Comparison

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Nikon S6100

16 MP | 1/2.3" (6.17 x 4.55 mm) CCD Sensor

Nikon S6100
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Nikon Df

16 MP | Full frame (36 x 23.9 mm) CMOS Sensor

Nikon Df
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Nikon S6100 vs Nikon Df Comparison Overview

Here we are comparing two Nikon cameras cameras with different body types: Nikon S6100, which was introduced in February 2011 is a Small Sensor Compact camera with a 16.0MP 1/2.3-inch sensor whereas Nikon Df, which was introduced in December 2013 is a Advanced DSLR camera with a 16.0MP Full frame sensor. As you can see, S6100 is 2 years older than Df. Let's see if this age difference between two cameras makes a big difference.

Comparing a DSLR camera to a Fixed Lens camera is not an easy task but we will do our best to make this a fair comparison.

Here is a brief look at the main features of Nikon S6100 and Nikon Df before getting into our more detailed comparison.

Nikon S6100 Key Specs

  • Announcement Date: 2011-02-09
  • 16MP - 1/2.3-inch CCD Sensor
  • ISO 80 - 3200
  • 28-196 mm F3.7-5.6 Zoom Lens
  • Optical Image Stabilization
  • 3" Fixed Type Screen
  • 1 fps continuous shooting
  • HD - 1280 x 720 video resolution
  • 175g. 98 x 58 x 27 mm

Nikon Df Key Specs

  • Announcement Date: 2013-12-20
  • 16MP - Full frame CMOS Sensor
  • ISO 100 - 12800 ( expands to 50-204800)
  • Nikon F Mount
  • 3.2" Fixed Type Screen
  • Optical (pentaprism) viewfinder
  • 6 fps continuous shooting
  • No Video Mode
  • 760g. 144 x 110 x 67 mm
  • Weather Sealed Body

Let's read on the following sections in order to better understand in detail how Nikon S6100 and Nikon Df compares and hopefully end up with enough arguments to decide which one is better for you.

Reasons to choose Nikon Coolpix S6100 over Nikon Df
Image Stabilization
Optical vs None Sharper images at longer focal lengths and long exposures
Built-in Flash
Yes vs No Useful in low-light
Touch Screen
Yes vs No Easy control of camera functions
Weight
175 g vs 760 g 585 g lighter
Max Video Resolution
1280 x 720 vs None Higher Resolution Video


Reasons to choose Nikon Df over Nikon Coolpix S6100
External Flash Shoe
Yes vs No Better for flash photography
Viewfinder
Optical vs None Better framing and control
RAW Support
Yes vs No Better image quality
Max ISO
12.800 vs 3.200 300% higher Max ISO
Number of Focus Points
39 vs 9 30 more focus points
LCD Screen Size
3.2" vs 3" 0.2 inches larger display
LCD Screen Resolution
921k dots vs 460k dots 100% higher resolution screen
Max Mech. Shutter
1/4000s vs 1/2000s faster mechanical shutter
Continuous Shooting
6.0fps vs 1.0fps 5 fps faster
Battery Life
1400 shots vs 210 shots 1190 more frames with a single charge
Manual Exposure
Yes vs No better exposure control
Environmental Sealing
Yes vs No shoot at tough conditions
Sensor Pixel Area
53.24µm2 vs 1.76µm2 2925% larger pixel area
Top LCD
Yes vs No Help viewing and changing settings easily
AE Bracketing
Yes vs No Useful for tough lighting conditions and HDR
Flash Sync Port
Yes vs No Connect off-camera flash
Autofocus at f/8 aperture
7 points vs none Autofocus with teleconverters

Common Strengths of Nikon Coolpix S6100 and Nikon Df
Face Detection Focus
Yes vs Yes very handy for portraits
LCD Screen Size
3" vs 3.2" Large display
Common Weaknesses of Nikon Coolpix S6100 and Nikon Df
Fixed Screen
Fixed Type vs No No flexible viewing angles
New4
Nikon S6100 vs Nikon Df: Physical Specs and Body features Comparison

Size and weight is a big decision factor when you are trying to find the ideal camera for your needs. In this section, We are going to illustrate Nikon S6100 and Nikon Df side-by-side from the front, back and top in their relative dimensions. Nikon S6100 has external dimensions of 98 x 58 x 27 mm (3.86 x 2.28 x 1.06″) and weighs 175 g (0.39 lb / 6.17 oz) (including batteries). Nikon Df has external dimensions of 144 x 110 x 67 mm (5.67 x 4.33 x 2.64″) and weighs 760 g (1.68 lb / 26.81 oz) (including batteries).

Below you can see the front view size comparison of Nikon S6100 and Nikon Df. Nikon S6100 is clearly the smaller of the two cameras. Its body is 46mm narrower, 52mm shorter and 40mm thinner than Nikon Df. As you can tell, actually this is not a fair size comparison since Nikon S6100 has a built-in lens but Nikon Df doesn't. Once you put a lens on Df, its thickness will increase significantly.

Nikon S6100 vs Nikon Df Camera Size Comparison - Front View
Comparison image of Nikon S6100 and Nikon Df Size, Weight and External Dimensions - Front View

Here is the back view size comparison of Nikon S6100 and Nikon Df.

Nikon S6100 vs Nikon Df Camera Size Comparison - Back View
Comparison image of Nikon S6100 and Nikon Df Size and Weight - Back View

Now lets look at the top view comparison of Nikon S6100 and Nikon Df.
Nikon S6100 vs Nikon Df Camera Size Comparison - Top View
Top View Comparison image of Nikon S6100 and Nikon Df Size

Weight is another important factor especially when deciding on a camera that you want to carry with you all day. Nikon S6100 is significantly lighter (585g ) than the Nikon Df which may become a big advantage especially on long walking trips.

Again, this comparison may not be very useful in real life as we are comparing the weight of a camera with a built-in lens to the body-only weight of an interchangeable lens camera. Once you put a lens on Df, the total kit will weigh much higher.

Weather Sealing

Thanks to the weather sealed body of Df, you can use this camera with more confidence under conditions where there is risk of exposure to water and dust compared to S6100.

LCD Screen Size and Features

Nikon Df's 3.2" LCD screen is slightly larger than Nikon S6100's 3" screen.

Unfortunately, both cameras has fixed screens so they don't tilt or flip in directions.
Nikon S6100 vs Nikon Df: Sensor Comparison

Both Nikon S6100 and Nikon Df have 16.0 MP resolution sensors but Nikon S6100's sensor is 1/2.3-inch (6.17 x 4.55 mm ) and Nikon Df's sensor is Full frame (36 x 23.9 mm ).

Since Nikon Df'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 S6100.

Below you can see the S6100 and Df sensor size comparison.

Nikon S6100 vs Nikon Df Sensor Size Comparison
Sensor Size and Resolution Comparison image of Nikon S6100 and Nikon Df Cameras


As seen above, Nikon Df has a 30.7x Larger sensor area than Nikon S6100. 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.

What types of Photography are Nikon S6100 and Nikon Df Good for?
In this section, we rank and compare Nikon S6100 and Nikon Df for five different photography types in order to make your decision process easier in case you are specifically interested in one or more of these areas.

Nikon S6100 for Portrait Photography

POOR

Nikon Df for Portrait Photography

GOOD
Image Stabilization
Average Resolution Sensor: 16.0MP
Small 1/2.3" (6.17 x 4.55 mm) sensor
No RAW shooting capability
No External Flash Shoe
No Built-in Viewfinder
No Manual Exposure Mode
Not so good Ergonomics&Handling
Read the details
Large Full frame (36 x 23.9 mm) sensor
Optical Built-in Viewfinder
Good Ergonomics&Handling
Average Resolution Sensor: 16.0MP
No Image Stabilization
Read the details

Nikon S6100 for Street Photography

GOOD

Nikon Df for Street Photography

GOOD
Image Stabilization
Small Body
Live-view
Face-Detection Focusing
28 mm - Good Wide Angle Coverage
Small 1/2.3" (6.17 x 4.55 mm) sensor
No RAW shooting capability
No Built-in Viewfinder
Slow Lens at Wide: f3.70
Read the details
Large Full frame (36 x 23.9 mm) sensor
Optical Built-in Viewfinder
Live-view
Face-Detection Focusing
No Image Stabilization
Large Body
Read the details

Nikon S6100 for Sports Photography

POOR

Nikon Df for Sports Photography

EXCELLENT
Image Stabilization
Average Max shutter speed: 1/2000s
196 mm Tele Lens
No RAW shooting capability
No External Flash Shoe
No Built-in Viewfinder
No Manual Exposure Mode
Not so good Ergonomics&Handling
Slow Continuous Shooting: 1.0fps
Environmental Sealings
9 Focus Points
Poor Battery Life: 210 shots
Read the details
Optical Built-in Viewfinder
Good Ergonomics&Handling
Environmental Sealings
Fast Max shutter speed: 1/4000s
9 Cross Type Focus sensors
39 Focus Points
Good Battery Life: 1400 shots
Good Low Light ISO
Average Continuous Shooting: 6.0fps
No Image Stabilization
Read the details

Nikon S6100 for Daily Photography

AVERAGE

Nikon Df for Daily Photography

GOOD
Compact Body
175g
7.0X Optical Zoom
Small 1/2.3" (6.17 x 4.55 mm) sensor
No RAW shooting capability
Read the details
Large Full frame (36 x 23.9 mm) sensor
Environmental Sealings
Large Body
760g
Body Thickness 67mm
Read the details

Nikon S6100 for Landscape Photography

POOR

Nikon Df for Landscape Photography

AVERAGE
28 mm - Good Wide Angle Coverage
Average Resolution Sensor: 16.0MP
Small 1/2.3" (6.17 x 4.55 mm) sensor
No RAW shooting capability
No Manual Exposure Mode
No Environmental Sealings
Read the details
Large Full frame (36 x 23.9 mm) sensor
Environmental Sealings
Live-view
Average Resolution Sensor: 16.0MP
Read the details

Nikon S6100 vs Nikon Df: OUR DECISION

You may have already made your decision about which camera suits better for your needs and your budget so far but in case you wonder how we rated Nikon S6100 and Nikon Df, below you can find their scores in five different aspects. Our Decision Algorithm dynamically scores cameras using 63 different specs, current price and DxO Mark scores (where possible) in order to make a more objective and consistent comparison.

Here is a summary of how Nikon S6100 and Nikon Df scores compare:

Nikon S6100
Imaging
Features
Value
Portability
Overall
Ranked #184 out of 475 in Compact cameras
Ranked #749 out of 1223 in all Cameras
Nikon Df
Imaging
Features
Value
Portability
Overall
Ranked #43 out of 94 in Mid-size SLR cameras
Ranked #224 out of 1223 in all Cameras

Nikon Df is the overall winner of this comparison. It has a higher Overall Score and beats Nikon S6100 in all criteria except one: Portability.
If small size and light body is a big priority for you, choose Nikon S6100. Otherwise, Nikon Df is the better camera overall.

Nikon S6100
Nikon S6100
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Nikon Df
Nikon Df
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Nikon Df vs Nikon S6100 Specs Table
Detailed comparison of specifications
General Nikon Coolpix S6100 Nikon Df
Brand Nikon Nikon
Announced 2011-02-09 2013-12-20
Body Type Compact Mid-size SLR
Sensor
Type CCD CMOS
Size 1/2.3-inch Full frame
Dimensions 6.17 x 4.55 mm 36 x 23.9 mm
Area 28.07mm2 860.40mm2
Megapixels 16 megapixels 16 megapixels
Max Resolution 4608 x 3456 4928 x 3280
Max Native Light sensitivity 3,200 ISO 12,800 ISO
Max Boosted Light Sensitivity - 204800 ISO
Min Native Light sensitivity 80 ISO 100 ISO
Min Boosted Light Sensitivity - 50 ISO
RAW Support
Autofocus
AF Touch
AF Continuous
AF Single
AF Tracking
AF Selective
AF Center
AF Multi Area
AF Live View
AF Face Detection
AF Contrast Detection
AF Phase Detection
Number of Focus Points 9 39
Lens
Manual Focus
Lens Mount fixed lens Nikon F
Lens Focal Range 28-196 mm (7×) no lens
Max Aperture F3.7-5.6 no lens
Macro Focus Range 3cm no lens
Screen
Type Fixed type Fixed type
Size 3" 3.2"
Resolution 460k dots 921k dots
Touch Screen
Viewfinder
Viewfinder None Optical (pentaprism)
Viewfinder Coverage n/a 100%
Viewfinder Magnification n/a 0.7x
Photography Features
Max Mechanical Shutter 1/2000s 1/4000s
Shutter Priority
Aperture Priority
Manual Exposure Mode
Custom White Balance
Image Stabilization Optical No
Built-in Flash
Flash Range 4.50 m no built-in flash
Max Flash Sync n/a 1/250s
External Flash
Continuous Shooting 1.0 fps 6.0 fps
Multi-Segment
Average
Spot
Partial
AF-Area
Center Weighted
AE Bracketing
WB Bracketing
Video Features
Max Video Resolution 1280 x 720 None
Video Formats MPEG-4, Motion JPEG n/a
Microphone Port
Headphone Port
Connectivity
Wireless Connectivity None Optional
HDMI
Physical
Environmental Sealing
Weight 175g 760g
Dimensions 98 x 58 x 27mm 144 x 110 x 67mm
Battery Life 210 shots 1400 shots
Other Features
Timelapse Recording
GPS None Optional
DxO Sensor Scores
DxO Overall Score not tested 89
DxO Color Depth not tested 24.6
DxO Dynamic Range not tested 13.1
DxO Low Light ISO not tested 3279
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