Both Sony NEX-3 and Nikon 1 AW1 have 14.0 MP resolution sensors but Sony NEX-3's sensor is APS-C (23.4 x 15.6 mm ) and Nikon 1 AW1's sensor is 1-inch (13.2 x 8.8 mm ).
Since Sony NEX-3's has a larger sensor area with the same resolution, this means that it also has a larger pixel area hence better light collecting capacity for a given aperture compared to Nikon 1 AW1.
Below you can see the NEX-3 and 1 AW1 sensor size comparison.
As seen above, Sony NEX-3 has a 3.1x Larger sensor area than Nikon 1 AW1. 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 Sony NEX-3 and Nikon 1 AW1 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, NEX-3 has scored 68, 17 points higher than 1 AW1.
Model |
Overall |
Color Depth |
Dynamic Range |
Low-light ISO |
Sony NEX-3 |
68 |
22.1 bits |
12.0 Evs |
830 ISO |
Nikon 1 AW1 |
51 |
20.2 bits |
10.9 Evs |
428 ISO |