Both Sony NEX-7 and Leica SL have 24.0 MP resolution sensors but Sony NEX-7's sensor is APS-C (23.5 x 15.6 mm ) and Leica SL's sensor is Full frame (36 x 24 mm ).
Since Leica SL'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 Sony NEX-7.
One other difference between these two cameras that is worth mentioning is that Leica SL'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 NEX-7 and SL sensor size comparison.
Sensor Size and Resolution Comparison image of Sony NEX-7 and Leica SL Cameras
As seen above, Leica SL has a 2.4x Larger sensor area than Sony NEX-7. 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. Sony NEX-7 and Leica SL sensors have been tested by DxO and the results show that SL has a better overall score of 88, 7 points higher compared to NEX-7's score of 81.
Model
Overall
Color Depth
Dynamic Range
Low-light ISO
Sony NEX-7
81
24.1 bits
13.4 Evs
1016 ISO
Leica SL
88
25.0 bits
13.4 Evs
1821 ISO
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
Sony NEX-7
or the
Leica SL ,
including hyperfocal distance.
One thing to watch when comparing these two: they have different sensor sizes
(APS-C 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.
