Both Sony A6500 and Nikon Z5 have 24.0 MP resolution sensors but Sony A6500's sensor is APS-C (23.5 x 15.6 mm ) and Nikon Z5's sensor is Full frame (35.9 x 23.9 mm ).
Since Nikon Z5'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 A6500.
Below you can see the A6500 and Z5 sensor size comparison.
Sensor Size and Resolution Comparison image of Sony A6500 and Nikon Z5 Cameras
As seen above, Nikon Z5 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.
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 A6500
or the
Nikon Z5 ,
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.
