Both Nikon D200 and Leica M8.2 have 10.0 MP resolution sensors but Nikon D200's sensor is APS-C (23.6 x 15.8 mm ) and Leica M8.2's sensor is APS-H (27 x 18 mm ).
Since Leica M8.2'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 D200.
One other difference between these two cameras that is worth mentioning is that Leica M8.2's sensor doesn't have an 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 D200 and M8.2 sensor size comparison.
Sensor Size and Resolution Comparison image of Nikon D200 and Leica M8.2 Cameras
As seen above, Leica M8.2 has a 1.3x Larger sensor area than Nikon D200. 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.
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
Nikon D200
or the
Leica M8.2 ,
including hyperfocal distance.
One thing to watch when comparing these two: they have different sensor sizes
(APS-C versus APS-H),
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.
