Nikon D80 has a
10.0MP APS-C (23.6 x 15.8 mm ) sized CCD sensor . On the other hand, Fujifilm X100 has a
12.0MP APS-C (23.6 x 15.8 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features EXR processor.
One other difference between these two cameras that is worth mentioning is that Fujifilm X100's sensor doesn't have an anti-alias (Low-Pass) filter. 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 D80 and X100 sensor size comparison.
Nikon D80 and Fujifilm X100 have the same sensor sizes so they will provide same level of control over the depth of field when used with same focal length and aperture. On the other hand, since Nikon D80 has 21% larger pixel area compared to Fujifilm X100, it has potential to collect more light on pixel level hence have less noise in low light / High ISO images.
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 D80 and Fujifilm X100 sensors have been tested by DxO and the results show that X100 has a better overall score of 73, 12 points higher compared to D80's score of 61.
Model |
Overall |
Color Depth |
Dynamic Range |
Low-light ISO |
Nikon D80 |
61 |
22.1 bits |
11.2 Evs |
524 ISO |
Fujifilm X100 |
73 |
22.9 bits |
12.4 Evs |
1001 ISO |