What is the crop factor of the Nikon D5100?

The Nikon D5100 is equipped with an APS-C sensor, whose diagonal measures 28.3mm. 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 D5100 is smaller than the receptor area of a 35mm film slide or negative. As a result, a lens that is attached to the Nikon D5100 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 D5100 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 D5100 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 D5100	APS-C	16.1	4928	3264	1080/30p	23.5	13.6	1183	80
2.		Canon T2i	APS-C	17.9	5184	3456	1080/30p	22.1	11.5	784	66
3.		Nikon D3100	APS-C	14.2	4608	3072	1080/24p	22.5	11.3	919	67
4.		Nikon D3200	APS-C	24.1	6016	4000	1080/30p	24.1	13.2	1131	81
5.		Nikon D5000	APS-C	12.2	4288	2848	720/24p	22.7	12.5	868	72
6.		Nikon D5200	APS-C	24.0	6000	4000	1080/60i	24.2	13.9	1284	84
7.		Nikon D5300	APS-C	24.0	6000	4000	1080/60p	24.0	13.9	1338	83
8.		Nikon D5500	APS-C	24.0	6000	4000	1080/60p	24.1	14.0	1438	84
9.		Nikon D5600	APS-C	24.0	6000	4000	1080/60p	24.1	14.0	1306	84
10.		Nikon D7000	APS-C	16.1	4928	3264	1080/24p	23.5	13.9	1167	80
11.		Sony NEX-5N	APS-C	16.0	4912	3264	1080/60i	23.6	12.7	1079	77

In the United States, the D5100 was initially launched in April 2011 at a price of $749.

Check D5100 offers at
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Camera to camera comparisons

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