Nikon D50 has a
6.0MP APS-C (23.7 x 15.5 mm ) sized CCD sensor . On the other hand, Nikon D3100 has a
14.0MP APS-C (23.1 x 15.4 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Expeed 2 processor.
Nikon D3100's sensor provides 8MP more than Nikon D50'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 D50 and D3100 sensor size comparison.
Nikon D50 and Nikon D3100 have almost the same sensor size, so neither of them has any significant advantage over the other in terms of providing control over depth of field when used with the same focal length and aperture.
DxOMark Sensor Scores
DxOMark is a benchmark that scientifically assesses image quality of camera sensors. It 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. Nikon D50 and Nikon D3100 sensors have been tested by DxO and the results show that D3100 has a better overall score of 67, 12 points higher compared to D50's score of 55.
Model |
Overall |
Color Depth |
Dynamic Range |
Low-light ISO |
Nikon D50 |
55 |
20.9 bits |
10.8 Evs |
560 ISO |
Nikon D3100 |
67 |
22.5 bits |
11.3 Evs |
919 ISO |