What is the crop factor of the Nikon D3500?

The Nikon D3500 is equipped with an APS-C sensor, whose diagonal measures 28.2mm. The sensor has a crop factor (or format factor, or focal length multiplier) of 1.5.

The crop factor is defined as the ratio of the 35mm full-frame film diagonal to the diagonal of a digital sensor. This number indicates how a lens behaves in relation to the size of the image sensor.

Sensor size comparison with a film slide

With a crop factor of 1.5, the sensor in the Nikon D3500 is smaller than the receptor area of a 35mm film slide or negative. As a result, a lens that is attached to the Nikon D3500 will offer a narrower angle of view and provide deeper depth of field than a lens of similar focal length and aperture on a film camera. The equivalent focal length is obtained by multiplying the actual focal length of the lens with the crop factor. For example, a 33mm lens on the Nikon D3500 will provide the same angle of view and depth of field as a 50mm normal lens on a film camera (33mm * 1.5 = 50mm).

Sensor specs and performance

The table below compares the sensor specs of the Nikon D3500 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 D3500	APS-C	24.0	6000	4000	1080/60p	24.0	13.4	1851	83
2.		Canon SX740	1/2.3	20.2	5184	3888	4K/30p	20.6	12.1	1050	51
3.		Canon M100	APS-C	24.0	6000	4000	1080/60p	23.5	12.9	1272	78
4.		Canon SX730	1/2.3	20.2	5184	3888	1080/60p	20.5	11.9	924	50
5.		Fujifilm X-A5	APS-C	24.0	6000	4000	4K/15p	24.0	13.3	1800	82
6.		Nikon A1000	1/2.3	15.9	4608	3456	4K/30p	20.7	12.2	1095	52
7.		Nikon D3400	APS-C	24.0	6000	4000	1080/60p	24.8	13.9	1192	86
8.		Nikon D5500	APS-C	24.0	6000	4000	1080/60p	24.1	14.0	1438	84
9.		Nikon D3300	APS-C	24.0	6000	4000	1080/60p	24.3	12.8	1385	82
10.		Panasonic TZ95	1/2.3	20.2	5184	3888	4K/30p	20.7	12.2	1103	52
11.		Panasonic TZ90	1/2.3	20.2	5184	3888	4K/30p	19.1	10.6	106	36
Note: DXO values in italics represent estimates based on sensor size and age.

In the United States, the D3500 was initially launched in August 2018 at a price of $429.

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Camera to camera comparisons

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