Panasonic G3 has a
16.0MP Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Venus Engine FHD processor. On the other hand, Nikon Z7 has a
46.0MP Full frame (35.9 x 23.9 mm ) sized BSI-CMOS sensor and features Expeed 6 processor.
Nikon Z7's sensor provides 30MP more than Panasonic G3'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 Nikon Z7'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 G3 and Z7 sensor size comparison.
As seen above, Nikon Z7 has a 3.8x Larger sensor area than Panasonic G3. 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
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. Panasonic G3 and Nikon Z7 sensors have been tested by DxO and the results show that Z7 has a better overall score of 99, 43 points higher compared to G3's score of 56.
Model |
Overall |
Color Depth |
Dynamic Range |
Low-light ISO |
Panasonic G3 |
56 |
21.0 bits |
10.6 Evs |
667 ISO |
Nikon Z7 |
99 |
26.3 bits |
14.6 Evs |
2668 ISO |