Samsung NX500 has a
28.0MP APS-C (23.5 x 15.7 mm ) sized BSI-CMOS sensor and features DRIMe 5 processor. On the other hand, Panasonic S1R has a
47.0MP Full frame (36 x 24 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Venus Engine processor.
Panasonic S1R's sensor provides 19MP more than Samsung NX500'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.
Another similarity between these two cameras is that both Panasonic S1R and Samsung NX500 sensors lack anti-alias (Low-Pass) filters. 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 NX500 and S1R sensor size comparison.
As seen above, Panasonic S1R has a 2.3x Larger sensor area than Samsung NX500. 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. Samsung NX500 and Panasonic S1R sensors have been tested by DxO and the results show that S1R has a better overall score of 100, 13 points higher compared to NX500's score of 87.
Model |
Overall |
Color Depth |
Dynamic Range |
Low-light ISO |
Samsung NX500 |
87 |
24.8 bits |
13.9 Evs |
1379 ISO |
Panasonic S1R |
100 |
26.4 bits |
14.1 Evs |
3525 ISO |