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 »
Actual sensor size
Note: Actual size is set to screen →
vs 1 : 1 [ratio] Nikon D700 Nikon D750
Surface area:
Difference: 1.2 mm² [0.1%]
D750 sensor is slightly bigger than D700 sensor [only 0.1% difference].
Note: You are comparing sensors of very different generations. There is a gap of 6 years between Nikon D700 [2008] and Nikon D750 [2014]. Six years is a lot of time in terms of technology, meaning newer sensors are overall much more efficient than the older ones.
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.
Difference: 2.47 µm [42%]
Pixel pitch of D700 is approx. 42% higher than pixel pitch of D750.
Pixel area
70.9 µm²
35.4 µm²
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.
Relative pixel sizes:
Pixel area difference: 35.5 µm² [100%]
A pixel on Nikon D700 sensor is approx. 100% bigger than a pixel on Nikon D750.
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.
Difference: 1.42 µm [101%]
Nikon D750 has approx. 101% higher pixel density than Nikon D700.
To learn about the accuracy of these numbers, click here.
Specs
Total megapixels
12.87
24.93
Effective megapixels
12.10
24.30
ISO sensitivity
Auto, 100 - 25600
Auto, 100-12800 [expands to 50-51200]
Focal length [35mm equiv.]
Aperture priority
Yes
Yes
Max. aperture [35mm equiv.]
n/a
n/a
Metering
3D Matrix metering II, Centre weighted, Spot
Multi, Center-weighted, Spot, Highlight-weighted
Exposure compensation
±5 EV [in 1/3 EV, 1/2 EV, 1 EV steps]
±5 EV [in 1/3 EV, 1/2 EV steps]
Min. shutter speed
30 sec
30 sec
Max. shutter speed
1/8000 sec
1/4000 sec
Viewfinder
Optical [pentaprism]
Optical [pentaprism]
White balance presets
12
12
Screen resolution
920,000 dots
1,228,800 dots
Max. video resolution
1920x1080 [60p/50p/30p/25p/24p]
Storage types
CompactFlash type I, CompactFlash type II, Microdrive
SD/SDHC/SDXC
USB
USB 2.0 [480 Mbit/sec]
USB 2.0 [480 Mbit/sec]
Battery
Lithium-Ion EN-EL3e rechargeable battery
EN-EL15 rechargeable Li-ion battery
Dimensions
147 x 123 x 77 mm
140.5 x 113 x 78 mm
Choose cameras to compare
Popular comparisons:
- Nikon D700 vs. Nikon D750
- Nikon D700 vs. Nikon D810
- Nikon D700 vs. Nikon D7100
- Nikon D700 vs. Nikon D600
- Nikon D700 vs. Nikon D800
- Nikon D700 vs. Nikon D3
- Nikon D700 vs. Nikon D3s
- Nikon D700 vs. Nikon D610
- Nikon D700 vs. Canon EOS 6D
- Nikon D700 vs. Nikon D90
- Nikon D700 vs. Nikon D5200
Diagonal
Diagonal is calculated by the use of Pythagorean theorem:
where w = sensor width and h = sensor height
Nikon D700 diagonal
w = 36.00 mm h = 23.90 mm
Diagonal = √ 36.00² + 23.90² = 43.21 mm
Nikon D750 diagonal
w = 35.90 mm h = 24.00 mm
Diagonal = √ 35.90² + 24.00² = 43.18 mm
Surface area
Surface area is calculated by multiplying the width and the height of a sensor.
D700 sensor area
Width = 36.00 mm Height = 23.90 mm
Surface area = 36.00 × 23.90 = 860.40 mm²
D750 sensor area
Width = 35.90 mm Height = 24.00 mm
Surface area = 35.90 × 24.00 = 861.60 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
D700 pixel pitch
Sensor width = 36.00 mm Sensor resolution width = 4275 pixels
Pixel pitch = 36.00 × 1000 = 8.42 µm 4275
D750 pixel pitch
Sensor width = 35.90 mm Sensor resolution width = 6038 pixels
Pixel pitch = 35.90 × 1000 = 5.95 µm 6038
Pixel area
The area of one pixel can be calculated by simply squaring the pixel pitch:
Pixel area = pixel pitch²
You could also divide sensor surface area with effective megapixels:
Pixel area = sensor surface area in mm² effective megapixels
D700 pixel area
Pixel pitch = 8.42 µm
Pixel area = 8.42² = 70.9 µm²
D750 pixel area
Pixel pitch = 5.95 µm
Pixel area = 5.95² = 35.4 µm²
Pixel density
Pixel density can be calculated with the following 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
D700 pixel density
Sensor resolution width = 4275 pixels Sensor width = 3.6 cm
Pixel density = [4275 / 3.6]² / 1000000 = 1.41 MP/cm²
D750 pixel density
Sensor resolution width = 6038 pixels Sensor width = 3.59 cm
Pixel density = [6038 / 3.59]² / 1000000 = 2.83 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:
[X × r] × X = effective megapixels × 1000000 → X = √ effective megapixels × 1000000 r
3. To get sensor resolution we then multiply X with the corresponding ratio:
Resolution horizontal: X × r Resolution vertical: X
D700 sensor resolution
Sensor width = 36.00 mm Sensor height = 23.90 mm Effective megapixels = 12.10
r = 36.00/23.90 = 1.51 X = √ 12.10 × 1000000 = 2831 1.51
Resolution horizontal: X × r = 2831 × 1.51 = 4275 Resolution vertical: X = 2831
Sensor resolution = 4275 x 2831
D750 sensor resolution
Sensor width = 35.90 mm Sensor height = 24.00 mm Effective megapixels = 24.30
r = 35.90/24.00 = 1.5 X = √ 24.30 × 1000000 = 4025 1.5
Resolution horizontal: X × r = 4025 × 1.5 = 6038 Resolution vertical: X = 4025
Sensor resolution = 6038 x 4025
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
D700 crop factor
Sensor diagonal in mm = 43.21 mm
Crop factor = 43.27 = 1 43.21
D750 crop factor
Sensor diagonal in mm = 43.18 mm
Crop factor = 43.27 = 1 43.18
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].
D700 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 D750, take the aperture of the lens you're using and multiply it with crop factor.