Sony A6500 has a
24.0MP APS-C (23.5 x 15.6 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Bionz X processor. On the other hand, Nikon D3S has a
12.0MP Full frame (36 x 23.9 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Expeed processor.
Sony A6500's sensor provides 12MP more than Nikon D3S'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 A6500 and D3S sensor size comparison.
As seen above, Nikon D3S has a 2.3x Larger sensor area than Sony A6500. 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 A6500 and Nikon D3S 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, A6500 has scored 85, 3 points higher than D3S.
Model |
Overall |
Color Depth |
Dynamic Range |
Low-light ISO |
Sony A6500 |
85 |
24.5 bits |
13.7 Evs |
1405 ISO |
Nikon D3S |
82 |
23.5 bits |
12.0 Evs |
3253 ISO |