Both Nikon D3 and Panasonic ZS50 have 12.0 MP resolution sensors but Nikon D3's sensor is Full frame (36 x 23.9 mm ) and Panasonic ZS50's sensor is (1/2. ).
Since Nikon D3'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 Panasonic ZS50.
Below you can see the D3 and ZS50 sensor size comparison.
As seen above, Nikon D3 has a infx Larger sensor area than Panasonic ZS50. 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 Nikon D3 and Panasonic ZS50 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, D3 has scored 81, 37 points higher than ZS50.
Model |
Overall |
Color Depth |
Dynamic Range |
Low-light ISO |
Nikon D3 |
81 |
23.5 bits |
12.2 Evs |
2290 ISO |
Panasonic ZS50 |
44 |
20.0 bits |
11.2 Evs |
138 ISO |