Leica SL (Typ 601) vs. Leica M9-P

Comparison

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SL (Typ 601) image
vs
M9-P image
Leica SL (Typ 601) Leica M9-P
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Megapixels
24.00
18.00
Max. image resolution
6000 x 4000
5270 x 3516

Sensor

Sensor type
CMOS
CCD
Sensor size
36 x 24 mm
35.8 x 23.9 mm
Sensor resolution
6000 x 4000
5196 x 3464
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)
Leica SL (Typ 601) Leica M9-P
Surface area:
864.00 mm² vs 855.62 mm²
Difference: 8.38 mm² (1%)
SL (Typ 601) sensor is slightly bigger than M9-P sensor (only 1% difference).
Note: You are comparing cameras of different generations. There is a 4 year gap between Leica SL (Typ 601) (2015) and Leica M9-P (2011). All things being equal, newer sensor generations generally outperform the older.
Pixel pitch
6 µm
6.89 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: 0.89 µm (15%)
Pixel pitch of M9-P is approx. 15% higher than pixel pitch of SL (Typ 601).
Pixel area
36 µm²
47.47 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: 11.47 µm² (32%)
A pixel on Leica M9-P sensor is approx. 32% bigger than a pixel on Leica SL (Typ 601).
Pixel density
2.78 MP/cm²
2.11 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: 0.67 µm (32%)
Leica SL (Typ 601) has approx. 32% higher pixel density than Leica M9-P.
To learn about the accuracy of these numbers, click here.



Specs

Leica SL (Typ 601)
Leica M9-P
Crop factor
1
1.01
Total megapixels
18.50
Effective megapixels
24.00
18.00
Optical zoom
Digital zoom
No
ISO sensitivity
Auto, 50-50000
Auto, Pull 80, 160, 200, 250, 320, 400, 500, 640, 800, 1000, 1250, 1600, 2000, 2500
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
Center-weighted
Exposure compensation
±3 EV (in 1/3 EV, 1/2 EV steps)
±3 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)
Shutter priority
Yes
No
Min. shutter speed
60 sec
4 sec
Max. shutter speed
1/8000 sec
1/4000 sec
Built-in flash
External flash
Viewfinder
Electronic
Optical (rangefinder)
White balance presets
8
6
Screen size
3"
2.5"
Screen resolution
1,040,000 dots
230,000 dots
Video capture
Max. video resolution
4096x2160 (24p)
Storage types
SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-II support)
SDHC, Secure Digital
USB
USB 3.0 (5 GBit/sec)
USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)
HDMI
Wireless
GPS
Battery
Proprietary lithium-ion battery
Lithium-Ion rechargeable battery
Weight
847 g
600 g
Dimensions
147 x 104 x 39 mm
139 x 37 x 80 mm
Year
2015
2011




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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

Leica SL (Typ 601) diagonal

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

Leica M9-P 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.

SL (Typ 601) sensor area

Width = 36.00 mm
Height = 24.00 mm

Surface area = 36.00 × 24.00 = 864.00 mm²

M9-P 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

SL (Typ 601) pixel pitch

Sensor width = 36.00 mm
Sensor resolution width = 6000 pixels
Pixel pitch =   36.00  × 1000  = 6 µm
6000

M9-P pixel pitch

Sensor width = 35.80 mm
Sensor resolution width = 5196 pixels
Pixel pitch =   35.80  × 1000  = 6.89 µm
5196


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

SL (Typ 601) pixel area

Pixel pitch = 6 µm

Pixel area = 6² = 36 µm²

M9-P pixel area

Pixel pitch = 6.89 µm

Pixel area = 6.89² = 47.47 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

SL (Typ 601) pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 6000 pixels
Sensor width = 3.6 cm

Pixel density = (6000 / 3.6)² / 1000000 = 2.78 MP/cm²

M9-P pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 5196 pixels
Sensor width = 3.58 cm

Pixel density = (5196 / 3.58)² / 1000000 = 2.11 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

SL (Typ 601) sensor resolution

Sensor width = 36.00 mm
Sensor height = 24.00 mm
Effective megapixels = 24.00
r = 36.00/24.00 = 1.5
X =  24.00 × 1000000  = 4000
1.5
Resolution horizontal: X × r = 4000 × 1.5 = 6000
Resolution vertical: X = 4000

Sensor resolution = 6000 x 4000

M9-P sensor resolution

Sensor width = 35.80 mm
Sensor height = 23.90 mm
Effective megapixels = 18.00
r = 35.80/23.90 = 1.5
X =  18.00 × 1000000  = 3464
1.5
Resolution horizontal: X × r = 3464 × 1.5 = 5196
Resolution vertical: X = 3464

Sensor resolution = 5196 x 3464


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


SL (Typ 601) crop factor

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

M9-P 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).

SL (Typ 601) 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 Leica SL (Typ 601), take the aperture of the lens you're using and multiply it with crop factor.

Since crop factor for Leica SL (Typ 601) is 1, the equivalent aperture is aperture.

M9-P 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 Leica M9-P, take the aperture of the lens you're using and multiply it with crop factor.

Crop factor for Leica M9-P is 1.01

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