Nikon D800 has a
36.0MP Full frame (35.9 x 24 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Expeed 3 processor. On the other hand, Samsung NX1 has a
28.0MP APS-C (23.5 x 15.7 mm ) sized BSI-CMOS sensor and features DRIMe 5 processor.
Nikon D800's sensor provides 8MP more than Samsung NX1'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.
One other difference between these two cameras that is worth mentioning is that Samsung NX1'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 D800 and NX1 sensor size comparison.
As seen above, Nikon D800 has a 2.3x Larger sensor area than Samsung NX1. 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 D800 and Samsung NX1 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, D800 has scored 95, 12 points higher than NX1.
Model |
Overall |
Color Depth |
Dynamic Range |
Low-light ISO |
Nikon D800 |
95 |
25.3 bits |
14.4 Evs |
2853 ISO |
Samsung NX1 |
83 |
24.2 bits |
13.2 Evs |
1363 ISO |