Nikon D800 vs. Nikon D3s
Comparison
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| Nikon D800 | Nikon D3s | ||||
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Megapixels
36.30
12.10
Max. image resolution
7360 x 4912
4256 x 2832
Sensor
Sensor type
CMOS
CMOS
Sensor size
35.9 x 24 mm
36 x 23.9 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 »
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 »
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| Nikon D800 | Nikon D3s | |
Surface area:
| 861.60 mm² | vs | 860.40 mm² |
Difference: 1.2 mm² (0.1%)
D800 sensor is slightly bigger than D3s sensor (only 0.1% difference).
Note: You are comparing cameras of different generations.
There is a 3 year gap between Nikon D800 (2012) and Nikon D3s (2009).
All things being equal, newer sensor generations generally outperform the older.
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.
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.
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.
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: 47.18 µm² (199%)
A pixel on Nikon D3s sensor is approx. 199% bigger than a pixel on Nikon D800.
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.
Higher pixel density means smaller pixels and lower pixel density means larger pixels.
To learn about the accuracy of these numbers,
click here.
Specs
Nikon D800
Nikon D3s
Total megapixels
36.80
12.87
Effective megapixels
36.30
12.10
Optical zoom
Digital zoom
No
No
ISO sensitivity
Auto, 100 - 6400
200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, 6400, 12800 (100-102400 with boost)
RAW
Manual focus
Normal focus range
Macro focus range
Focal length (35mm equiv.)
Aperture priority
Yes
Yes
Max. aperture
Metering
3D Matrix metering II, Centre weighted, Multi-segment, Spot
3D Matrix metering II, Centre weighted, Spot
Exposure compensation
±5 EV (in 1/3 EV, 1/2 EV, 1 EV steps)
±5 EV (in 1/3 EV, 1/2 EV, 1 EV steps)
Shutter priority
Yes
Yes
Min. shutter speed
Bulb+30 sec
30 sec
Max. shutter speed
1/8000 sec
1/8000 sec
Built-in flash
External flash
Viewfinder
Optical (pentaprism)
Optical (pentaprism)
White balance presets
12
12
Screen size
3.2"
3"
Screen resolution
921,000 dots
921,000 dots
Video capture
Max. video resolution
1920x1080 (30/25/24p)
Storage types
CompactFlash type I, SDHC, SDXC, Secure Digital
CompactFlash type I, CompactFlash type II, Microdrive
USB
USB 3.0 (5 GBit/sec)
USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)
HDMI
Wireless
GPS
Battery
Lithium-Ion EN-EL15 rechargeable battery
Lithium-Ion EN-EL4a rechargeable battery
Weight
900 g
1240 g
Dimensions
146 x 123 x 82 mm
159.5 x 157 x 87.5 mm
Year
2012
2009
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Diagonal
Diagonal is calculated by the use of Pythagorean theorem:
where w = sensor width and h = sensor height
| Diagonal = √ | w² + h² |
Nikon D800 diagonal
w = 35.90 mm
h = 24.00 mm
h = 24.00 mm
| Diagonal = √ | 35.90² + 24.00² | = 43.18 mm |
Nikon D3s diagonal
w = 36.00 mm
h = 23.90 mm
h = 23.90 mm
| Diagonal = √ | 36.00² + 23.90² | = 43.21 mm |
Surface area
Surface area is calculated by multiplying the width and the height of a sensor.
D800 sensor area
Width = 35.90 mm
Height = 24.00 mm
Surface area = 35.90 × 24.00 = 861.60 mm²
Height = 24.00 mm
Surface area = 35.90 × 24.00 = 861.60 mm²
D3s sensor area
Width = 36.00 mm
Height = 23.90 mm
Surface area = 36.00 × 23.90 = 860.40 mm²
Height = 23.90 mm
Surface area = 36.00 × 23.90 = 860.40 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 |
D800 pixel pitch
Sensor width = 35.90 mm
Sensor resolution width = 7379 pixels
Sensor resolution width = 7379 pixels
| Pixel pitch = | 35.90 | × 1000 | = 4.87 µm |
| 7379 |
D3s pixel pitch
Sensor width = 36.00 mm
Sensor resolution width = 4275 pixels
Sensor resolution width = 4275 pixels
| Pixel pitch = | 36.00 | × 1000 | = 8.42 µm |
| 4275 |
Pixel area
The area of one pixel can be calculated by simply squaring the pixel pitch:
You could also divide sensor surface area with effective megapixels:
Pixel area = pixel pitch²
You could also divide sensor surface area with effective megapixels:
| Pixel area = | sensor surface area in mm² |
| effective megapixels |
D800 pixel area
Pixel pitch = 4.87 µm
Pixel area = 4.87² = 23.72 µm²
Pixel area = 4.87² = 23.72 µm²
D3s pixel area
Pixel pitch = 8.42 µm
Pixel area = 8.42² = 70.9 µm²
Pixel area = 8.42² = 70.9 µm²
Pixel density
Pixel density can be calculated with the following formula:
One could also use this 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 |
D800 pixel density
Sensor resolution width = 7379 pixels
Sensor width = 3.59 cm
Pixel density = (7379 / 3.59)² / 1000000 = 4.22 MP/cm²
Sensor width = 3.59 cm
Pixel density = (7379 / 3.59)² / 1000000 = 4.22 MP/cm²
D3s pixel density
Sensor resolution width = 4275 pixels
Sensor width = 3.6 cm
Pixel density = (4275 / 3.6)² / 1000000 = 1.41 MP/cm²
Sensor width = 3.6 cm
Pixel density = (4275 / 3.6)² / 1000000 = 1.41 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:
3. To get sensor resolution we then multiply X with the corresponding ratio:
Resolution horizontal: X × r
Resolution vertical: X
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 → |
|
Resolution horizontal: X × r
Resolution vertical: X
D800 sensor resolution
Sensor width = 35.90 mm
Sensor height = 24.00 mm
Effective megapixels = 36.30
Resolution horizontal: X × r = 4919 × 1.5 = 7379
Resolution vertical: X = 4919
Sensor resolution = 7379 x 4919
Sensor height = 24.00 mm
Effective megapixels = 36.30
| r = 35.90/24.00 = 1.5 |
|
Resolution vertical: X = 4919
Sensor resolution = 7379 x 4919
D3s sensor resolution
Sensor width = 36.00 mm
Sensor height = 23.90 mm
Effective megapixels = 12.10
Resolution horizontal: X × r = 2831 × 1.51 = 4275
Resolution vertical: X = 2831
Sensor resolution = 4275 x 2831
Sensor height = 23.90 mm
Effective megapixels = 12.10
| r = 36.00/23.90 = 1.51 |
|
Resolution vertical: X = 2831
Sensor resolution = 4275 x 2831
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 |
D800 crop factor
Sensor diagonal in mm = 43.18 mm
| Crop factor = | 43.27 | = 1 |
| 43.18 |
D3s crop factor
Sensor diagonal in mm = 43.21 mm
| Crop factor = | 43.27 | = 1 |
| 43.21 |
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).
D800 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 D800, take the aperture of the lens
you're using and multiply it with crop factor.
Since crop factor for Nikon D800 is 1, the equivalent aperture is aperture.
Since crop factor for Nikon D800 is 1, the equivalent aperture is aperture.
D3s 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 D3s, take the aperture of the lens
you're using and multiply it with crop factor.
Since crop factor for Nikon D3s is 1, the equivalent aperture is aperture.
Since crop factor for Nikon D3s is 1, the equivalent aperture is aperture.
More comparisons of Nikon D800:
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