Nikon D40 has a
6.0MP APS-C (23.7 x 15.5 mm ) sized CCD sensor . On the other hand, Olympus E-P1 has a
12.0MP Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features TruePic V processor.
Olympus E-P1's sensor provides 6MP more than Nikon D40'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 D40 and E-P1 sensor size comparison.
As seen above, Nikon D40 has a 1.6x Larger sensor area than Olympus E-P1. 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 D40 and Olympus E-P1 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, D40 has scored 56, 1 points higher than E-P1.
Model |
Overall |
Color Depth |
Dynamic Range |
Low-light ISO |
Nikon D40 |
56 |
21.0 bits |
11.0 Evs |
561 ISO |
Olympus E-P1 |
55 |
21.4 bits |
10.4 Evs |
536 ISO |