Nikon D80 has a
10.0MP APS-C (23.6 x 15.8 mm ) sized CCD sensor . On the other hand, Olympus E-PL1 has a
12.0MP Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Truepic V processor.
Below you can see the D80 and E-PL1 sensor size comparison.
As seen above, Nikon D80 has a 1.7x Larger sensor area than Olympus E-PL1. 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 D80 and Olympus E-PL1 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, D80 has scored 61, 7 points higher than E-PL1.
Model |
Overall |
Color Depth |
Dynamic Range |
Low-light ISO |
Nikon D80 |
61 |
22.1 bits |
11.2 Evs |
524 ISO |
Olympus E-PL1 |
54 |
21.5 bits |
10.1 Evs |
487 ISO |