Olympus E-3 has a
10.0MP Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features TruePic III processor. On the other hand, Nikon D6 has a
21.0MP Full frame (35.9 x 23.9 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Expeed 6 processor.
Nikon D6's sensor provides 11MP more than Olympus E-3'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 E-3 and D6 sensor size comparison.
Sensor Size and Resolution Comparison image of Olympus E-3 and Nikon D6 Cameras
As seen above, Nikon D6 has a 3.8x Larger sensor area than Olympus E-3. 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.
Sensor size sets the circle of confusion, so it drives how much depth of field each
of these bodies gives you at a given aperture. You can calculate it exactly for the
Olympus E-3
or the
Nikon D6 ,
including hyperfocal distance.
One thing to watch when comparing these two: they have different sensor sizes
(Four Thirds versus Full frame),
so compare them at the same framing rather than the same focal length.
Put the same focal length on the smaller sensor and it will show less depth of
field, not more, because it also crops tighter. The calculator shows the
full frame equivalent focal length for each body so you can match the framing.
