What is the sensor size of the Nikon D3?

The Nikon D3 is a digital camera that has a full frame sensor at its core. This imager measures 36.0mm in width and 23.9mm in height, so that the total imaging area of the sensor amounts to 860 mm².

The D3 provides an image resolution of 12.1 megapixels, based on 4 256 horizontal pixels and 2 832 vertical pixels.

Sensor size comparison with a film slide

The sensor diagonal measures 43.2mm, which gives rise to a format factor (or crop factor) of 1.0. Therefore, the Nikon D3 is a full-frame camera, as its sensor size corresponds to that of a traditional 35mm film slide or negative.

Sensor specs and performance

The table below compares the sensor specs of the Nikon D3 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.		Nikon D3	Full Frame	12.1	4256	2832	none	23.5	12.2	2290	81
2.		Canon 1D Mark III	APS-H	10.1	3888	2592	none	22.7	11.7	1078	71
3.		Nikon D2X	APS-C	12.2	4288	2848	none	22.1	10.9	476	59
4.		Nikon D2Xs	APS-C	12.2	4288	2848	none	22.2	10.9	489	59
5.		Nikon D3S	Full Frame	12.1	4256	2832	720/24p	23.5	12.0	3253	82
6.		Nikon D3X	Full Frame	24.4	6048	4032	none	24.7	13.7	1992	88
7.		Nikon D4	Full Frame	16.2	4928	3280	1080/30p	24.7	13.1	2965	89
8.		Nikon D4S	Full Frame	16.2	4928	3280	1080/60p	24.4	13.3	3074	89
9.		Nikon D5	Full Frame	20.7	5588	3712	4K/30p	25.1	12.3	2343	88
10.		Nikon D300	APS-C	12.2	4288	2848	none	22.1	12.0	679	67
11.		Nikon D700	Full Frame	12.1	4256	2832	none	23.5	12.2	2303	80

In the United States, the D3 was initially launched in August 2007 at a price of $4,999.

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Camera to camera comparisons

In case you are interested in seeing how this camera compares to another one, just use the search menu below. There is also a set of direct links to comparison reviews that other users of the CAM-parator app explored.

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