Nikon D4 has a
16.0MP Full frame (36 x 23.9 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Expeed 3 processor. On the other hand, Sony A77 II has a
24.0MP APS-C (23.5 x 15.6 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Bionz X processor.
Sony A77 II's sensor provides 8MP more than Nikon D4'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.
Below you can see the D4 and A77 II sensor size comparison.
As seen above, Nikon D4 has a 2.3x Larger sensor area than Sony A77 II. 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 D4 and Sony A77 II 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, D4 has scored 89, 7 points higher than A77 II.
Model |
Overall |
Color Depth |
Dynamic Range |
Low-light ISO |
Nikon D4 |
89 |
24.7 bits |
13.1 Evs |
2965 ISO |
Sony A77 II |
82 |
24.4 bits |
13.4 Evs |
1013 ISO |