Both Nikon D3500 and Leica SL have 24.0 MP resolution sensors but Nikon D3500's sensor is APS-C (23.5 x 15.6 mm ) and Leica SL's sensor is Full frame (36 x 24 mm ).
Since Leica SL'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 D3500.
Another similarity between these two cameras is that both Leica SL and Nikon D3500 sensors lack anti-alias (Low-Pass) filters. 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 D3500 and SL sensor size comparison.
Sensor Size and Resolution Comparison image of Nikon D3500 and Leica SL Cameras
As seen above, Leica SL has a 2.4x Larger sensor area than Nikon D3500. 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 D3500
or the
Leica SL ,
including hyperfocal distance.
One thing to watch when comparing these two: they have different sensor sizes
(APS-C versus Full frame),
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.
