What is the pixel pitch of the Contax N Digital?

The Contax N Digital provides 6.1 megapixels from a full frame sensor. This pixel density gives rise to a size of the individual pixel of 11.90µm.

The pixel size or pixel pitch can be calculated by dividing the sensor area by the pixel count and then taking the square root. In particular, the sensor in the Contax N Digital measures 36.0mm in width and 24.0mm in height, so that the total imaging area of the sensor amounts to 864 mm². Moreover, the N Digital has 3 040 horizontal pixels and 2 008 vertical pixels, for a total of 6.1 megapixels. Then, the size (height or width) of each individual pixel can be calculated as the square root of the ratio of the sensor area (864 mm²) to the MP count (6 104 320).

Larger pixels provide advantages with respect to gathering light, particularly in low-light situations. Large pixels notably have a better signal to noise ratio, meaning that they can better differentiate between incoming photons and the noisy signals that the internal processes of the camera create. As a result, big pixels are particularly helpful to the photographer when shooting with high ISO settings.

Sensor specs and performance

The table below compares the sensor specs of the Contax N Digital to those of several similar cameras. The reported DXO values are indicators of the sensor's imaging quality (higher is better), covering color depth (DXO Portrait), dynamic range (DXO Landscape), and high-ISO noise (DXO Sports). Larger sensor cameras tend to outperform cameras of the same generation that are equipped with a smaller imager. On the other hand, larger sensors are more expensive and require bigger and heavier lenses than smaller light receptors.

Sensor Characteristics

#		Camera Model	Sensor Class	Resolution (MP)	Horiz. Pixels	Vert. Pixels	Video Format	DXO Portrait	DXO Landscape	DXO Sports	DXO Overall
1.		Contax N Digital	Full Frame	6.1	3040	2008	none	21.5	10.5	1283	59
2.		Canon 10D	APS-C	6.3	3072	2048	none	21.1	10.9	571	57
3.		Canon Rebel	APS-C	6.3	3072	2048	none	21.0	10.8	544	55
4.		Canon 1Ds	Full Frame	11.0	4064	2704	none	21.8	11.0	954	63
5.		Canon D60	APS-C	6.3	3072	2048	none	20.3	9.8	301	47
6.		Leica M10-P	Full Frame	23.8	5952	3992	none	25.1	14.1	2739	93
7.		Leica M10	Full Frame	23.8	5952	3992	none	24.4	13.2	2133	86
8.		Leica SL	Full Frame	24.0	6000	4000	4K/30p	25.0	13.4	1821	88
9.		Leica M9	Full Frame	18.1	5212	3472	none	22.5	11.7	884	69
10.		Nikon D100	APS-C	6.0	3008	2000	none	20.4	9.9	394	48
11.		Nikon D1X	APS-C	5.9	3008	1960	none	..	..	..	..
Note: DXO values in italics represent estimates based on sensor size and age.

In the United States, the N Digital was initially launched in February 2002 at a price of $7,399.

Check N Digital offers at
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Camera to camera comparisons

If you would like to see a side-by-side review with another camera, just make your choice using the following search menu. An an alternative, you can also directly jump to any one of the listed comparisons that were previously generated by the CAM-parator tool.

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