Contax N Digital vs. Nikon D3200

Comparison

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N Digital image
vs
D3200 image
Contax N Digital Nikon D3200
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Megapixels
6.00
24.20
Max. image resolution
3008 x 2008
6016 x 4000

Sensor

Sensor type
CCD
CMOS
Sensor size
36 x 24 mm
23.2 x 15.4 mm
Sensor resolution
3000 x 2000
6045 x 4003
Diagonal
43.27 mm
27.85 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
2.42 : 1
(ratio)
Contax N Digital Nikon D3200
Surface area:
864.00 mm² vs 357.28 mm²
Difference: 506.72 mm² (142%)
N sensor is approx. 2.42x bigger than D3200 sensor.
Note: You are comparing sensors of vastly different generations. There is a gap of 12 years between Contax N (2000) and Nikon D3200 (2012). Twelve years is a huge amount of time, technology wise, resulting in newer sensor being much more efficient than the older one.
Pixel pitch
12 µm
3.84 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: 8.16 µm (213%)
Pixel pitch of N is approx. 213% higher than pixel pitch of D3200.
Pixel area
144 µm²
14.75 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: 129.25 µm² (876%)
A pixel on Contax N sensor is approx. 876% bigger than a pixel on Nikon D3200.
Pixel density
0.69 MP/cm²
6.79 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: 6.1 µm (884%)
Nikon D3200 has approx. 884% higher pixel density than Contax N .
To learn about the accuracy of these numbers, click here.



Specs

Contax N
Nikon D3200
Crop factor
1
1.55
Total megapixels
6.29
24.70
Effective megapixels
6.00
24.20
Optical zoom
Digital zoom
No
No
ISO sensitivity
100, 200, 400, 800, 1600
Auto, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, 6400 (12800 with boost)
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
Centre weighted, Matrix, Spot
Multi, Center-weighted, Spot AF-area
Exposure compensation
±2 EV (in 1/3 EV, 1/2 EV steps)
±5 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)
Shutter priority
Yes
Yes
Min. shutter speed
32 sec
30 sec
Max. shutter speed
1/8000 sec
1/4000 sec
Built-in flash
External flash
Viewfinder
Optical (pentaprism)
Optical (pentamirror)
White balance presets
6
12
Screen size
2"
3"
Screen resolution
200,000 dots
921,000 dots
Video capture
Max. video resolution
1920x1080 (30p/25p/24p)
Storage types
CompactFlash type I, CompactFlash type II, Microdrive
SD/SDHC/SDXC UHS-I compliant
USB
USB 1.0
USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)
HDMI
Wireless
GPS
Battery
Lithium-Ion rechargeable
Lithium-Ion EN-EL14 rechargeable battery
Weight
1000 g
505 g
Dimensions
152 x 138 x 79.5 mm
125 x 96 x 77 mm
Year
2000
2012




Choose cameras to compare

vs

Diagonal

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

Contax N diagonal

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

Nikon D3200 diagonal

w = 23.20 mm
h = 15.40 mm
Diagonal =  23.20² + 15.40²   = 27.85 mm


Surface area

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

N sensor area

Width = 36.00 mm
Height = 24.00 mm

Surface area = 36.00 × 24.00 = 864.00 mm²

D3200 sensor area

Width = 23.20 mm
Height = 15.40 mm

Surface area = 23.20 × 15.40 = 357.28 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

N pixel pitch

Sensor width = 36.00 mm
Sensor resolution width = 3000 pixels
Pixel pitch =   36.00  × 1000  = 12 µm
3000

D3200 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 23.20 mm
Sensor resolution width = 6045 pixels
Pixel pitch =   23.20  × 1000  = 3.84 µm
6045


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

N pixel area

Pixel pitch = 12 µm

Pixel area = 12² = 144 µm²

D3200 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 3.84 µm

Pixel area = 3.84² = 14.75 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

N pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 3000 pixels
Sensor width = 3.6 cm

Pixel density = (3000 / 3.6)² / 1000000 = 0.69 MP/cm²

D3200 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 6045 pixels
Sensor width = 2.32 cm

Pixel density = (6045 / 2.32)² / 1000000 = 6.79 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

N sensor resolution

Sensor width = 36.00 mm
Sensor height = 24.00 mm
Effective megapixels = 6.00
r = 36.00/24.00 = 1.5
X =  6.00 × 1000000  = 2000
1.5
Resolution horizontal: X × r = 2000 × 1.5 = 3000
Resolution vertical: X = 2000

Sensor resolution = 3000 x 2000

D3200 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 23.20 mm
Sensor height = 15.40 mm
Effective megapixels = 24.20
r = 23.20/15.40 = 1.51
X =  24.20 × 1000000  = 4003
1.51
Resolution horizontal: X × r = 4003 × 1.51 = 6045
Resolution vertical: X = 4003

Sensor resolution = 6045 x 4003


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


N crop factor

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

D3200 crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 27.85 mm
Crop factor =   43.27  = 1.55
27.85

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).

N 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 Contax N , take the aperture of the lens you're using and multiply it with crop factor.

Since crop factor for Contax N is 1, the equivalent aperture is aperture.

D3200 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 D3200, take the aperture of the lens you're using and multiply it with crop factor.

Crop factor for Nikon D3200 is 1.55

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