Canon EOS-1D X Mark II vs. Nikon D5

Comparison

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EOS-1D X Mark II image
vs
D5 image
Canon EOS-1D X Mark II Nikon D5
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Megapixels
20.20
20.80
Max. image resolution
5472 x 3648
5568 x 3712

Sensor

Sensor type
CMOS
CMOS
Sensor size
36 x 24 mm
35.8 x 23.9 mm
Sensor resolution
5505 x 3670
5586 x 3724
Diagonal
43.27 mm
43.04 mm
Sensor size comparison
Sensor size is generally a good indicator of the quality of the camera. Sensors can vary greatly in size. As a general rule, the bigger the sensor, the better the image quality.

Bigger sensors are more effective because they have more surface area to capture light. An important factor when comparing digital cameras is also camera generation. Generally, newer sensors will outperform the older.

Learn more about sensor sizes »

Actual sensor size

Note: Actual size is set to screen → change »
vs
1.01 : 1
(ratio)
Canon EOS-1D X Mark II Nikon D5
Surface area:
864.00 mm² vs 855.62 mm²
Difference: 8.38 mm² (1%)
-1D X Mark II sensor is slightly bigger than D5 sensor (only 1% difference).
Pixel pitch
6.54 µm
6.41 µm
Pixel pitch tells you the distance from the center of one pixel (photosite) to the center of the next. It tells you how close the pixels are to each other.

The bigger the pixel pitch, the further apart they are and the bigger each pixel is. Bigger pixels tend to have better signal to noise ratio and greater dynamic range.
Difference: 0.13 µm (2%)
Pixel pitch of -1D X Mark II is approx. 2% higher than pixel pitch of D5.
Pixel area
42.77 µm²
41.09 µm²
Pixel or photosite area affects how much light per pixel can be gathered. The larger it is the more light can be collected by a single pixel.

Larger pixels have the potential to collect more photons, resulting in greater dynamic range, while smaller pixels provide higher resolutions (more detail) for a given sensor size.
Relative pixel sizes:
vs
Pixel area difference: 1.68 µm² (4%)
A pixel on Canon -1D X Mark II sensor is approx. 4% bigger than a pixel on Nikon D5.
Pixel density
2.34 MP/cm²
2.43 MP/cm²
Pixel density tells you how many million pixels fit or would fit in one square cm of the sensor.

Higher pixel density means smaller pixels and lower pixel density means larger pixels.
Difference: 0.09 µm (4%)
Nikon D5 has approx. 4% higher pixel density than Canon -1D X Mark II.
To learn about the accuracy of these numbers, click here.



Specs

Canon -1D X Mark II
Nikon D5
Crop factor
1
1.01
Total megapixels
21.50
21.33
Effective megapixels
20.20
20.80
Optical zoom
 
 
Digital zoom
ISO sensitivity
Auto, 100-51200 (expands to 50-409600)
Auto, 100-102400 (expandable to 50-3280000)
RAW
Manual focus
Normal focus range
Macro focus range
Focal length (35mm equiv.)
Aperture priority
Yes
Yes
Max. aperture
Max. aperture (35mm equiv.)
n/a
n/a
Metering
Multi, Center-weighted, Spot
Multi, Center-weighted, Highlight-weighted, Spot
Exposure compensation
±5 EV (in 1/3 EV, 1/2 EV steps)
±5 EV (in 1/3 EV, 1/2 EV, 1 EV steps)
Shutter priority
Yes
Yes
Min. shutter speed
30 sec
30 sec
Max. shutter speed
1/8000 sec
1/8000 sec
Built-in flash
External flash
Viewfinder
Optical (pentaprism)
Optical (tunnel)
White balance presets
6
12
Screen size
3.2"
3.2"
Screen resolution
1,620,000 dots
2,359,000 dots
Video capture
Max. video resolution
4096x2160 (60p/50p/30p/25p/24p)
3840x2160 (30p/25p/24p)
Storage types
CF/CFast
CF1 / XQD
USB
USB 3.0 (5 GBit/sec)
USB 3.0 (5 GBit/sec)
HDMI
Wireless
GPS
Battery
LP-E19 lithium-ion battery
EN-EL18a lithium-ion battery
Weight
1530 g
1415 g
Dimensions
158 x 167.6 x 82.6 mm
160 x 158.5 x 92 mm
Year
2016
2016




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Diagonal

Diagonal is calculated by the use of Pythagorean theorem:
Diagonal =  w² + h²
where w = sensor width and h = sensor height

Canon -1D X Mark II diagonal

w = 36.00 mm
h = 24.00 mm
Diagonal =  36.00² + 24.00²   = 43.27 mm

Nikon D5 diagonal

w = 35.80 mm
h = 23.90 mm
Diagonal =  35.80² + 23.90²   = 43.04 mm


Surface area

Surface area is calculated by multiplying the width and the height of a sensor.

-1D X Mark II sensor area

Width = 36.00 mm
Height = 24.00 mm

Surface area = 36.00 × 24.00 = 864.00 mm²

D5 sensor area

Width = 35.80 mm
Height = 23.90 mm

Surface area = 35.80 × 23.90 = 855.62 mm²


Pixel pitch

Pixel pitch is the distance from the center of one pixel to the center of the next measured in micrometers (µm). It can be calculated with the following formula:
Pixel pitch =   sensor width in mm  × 1000
sensor resolution width in pixels

-1D X Mark II pixel pitch

Sensor width = 36.00 mm
Sensor resolution width = 5505 pixels
Pixel pitch =   36.00  × 1000  = 6.54 µm
5505

D5 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 35.80 mm
Sensor resolution width = 5586 pixels
Pixel pitch =   35.80  × 1000  = 6.41 µm
5586


Pixel area

The area of one pixel can be calculated by simply squaring the pixel pitch:
Pixel area = pixel pitch²

You could also divide sensor surface area with effective megapixels:
Pixel area =   sensor surface area in mm²
effective megapixels

-1D X Mark II pixel area

Pixel pitch = 6.54 µm

Pixel area = 6.54² = 42.77 µm²

D5 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 6.41 µm

Pixel area = 6.41² = 41.09 µm²


Pixel density

Pixel density can be calculated with the following formula:
Pixel density =  ( sensor resolution width in pixels )² / 1000000
sensor width in cm

One could also use this formula:
Pixel density =   effective megapixels × 1000000  / 10000
sensor surface area in mm²

-1D X Mark II pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 5505 pixels
Sensor width = 3.6 cm

Pixel density = (5505 / 3.6)² / 1000000 = 2.34 MP/cm²

D5 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 5586 pixels
Sensor width = 3.58 cm

Pixel density = (5586 / 3.58)² / 1000000 = 2.43 MP/cm²


Sensor resolution

Sensor resolution is calculated from sensor size and effective megapixels. It's slightly higher than maximum (not interpolated) image resolution which is usually stated on camera specifications. Sensor resolution is used in pixel pitch, pixel area, and pixel density formula. For sake of simplicity, we're going to calculate it in 3 stages.

1. First we need to find the ratio between horizontal and vertical length by dividing the former with the latter (aspect ratio). It's usually 1.33 (4:3) or 1.5 (3:2), but not always.

2. With the ratio (r) known we can calculate the X from the formula below, where X is a vertical number of pixels:
(X × r) × X = effective megapixels × 1000000    →   
X =  effective megapixels × 1000000
r
3. To get sensor resolution we then multiply X with the corresponding ratio:

Resolution horizontal: X × r
Resolution vertical: X

-1D X Mark II sensor resolution

Sensor width = 36.00 mm
Sensor height = 24.00 mm
Effective megapixels = 20.20
r = 36.00/24.00 = 1.5
X =  20.20 × 1000000  = 3670
1.5
Resolution horizontal: X × r = 3670 × 1.5 = 5505
Resolution vertical: X = 3670

Sensor resolution = 5505 x 3670

D5 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 35.80 mm
Sensor height = 23.90 mm
Effective megapixels = 20.80
r = 35.80/23.90 = 1.5
X =  20.80 × 1000000  = 3724
1.5
Resolution horizontal: X × r = 3724 × 1.5 = 5586
Resolution vertical: X = 3724

Sensor resolution = 5586 x 3724


Crop factor

Crop factor or focal length multiplier is calculated by dividing the diagonal of 35 mm film (43.27 mm) with the diagonal of the sensor.
Crop factor =   43.27 mm
sensor diagonal in mm


-1D X Mark II crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 43.27 mm
Crop factor =   43.27  = 1
43.27

D5 crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 43.04 mm
Crop factor =   43.27  = 1.01
43.04

35 mm equivalent aperture

Equivalent aperture (in 135 film terms) is calculated by multiplying lens aperture with crop factor (a.k.a. focal length multiplier).

-1D X Mark II equivalent aperture

Aperture is a lens characteristic, so it's calculated only for fixed lens cameras. If you want to know the equivalent aperture for Canon -1D X Mark II, take the aperture of the lens you're using and multiply it with crop factor.

Since crop factor for Canon -1D X Mark II is 1, the equivalent aperture is aperture.

D5 equivalent aperture

Aperture is a lens characteristic, so it's calculated only for fixed lens cameras. If you want to know the equivalent aperture for Nikon D5, take the aperture of the lens you're using and multiply it with crop factor.

Crop factor for Nikon D5 is 1.01

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