Summary of Sensor Characteristics of Nikon (and a few other) DSLRs
Prepared 2007-12-04 by Bill Claff
Last updated 2009-02-06 18:50 (GMT-5)
		Known				Measured													Calculated
Model		ADC	ISO	photosite		DR			ISO		gain			read noise					saturation		Lo ISO		e at ISO (ISO)				DR
		bits	stated	microns		EV			ISO		e/ADU	e/ADU		ADU	ADU	ADU(u)	ADU		e		ISO		photosite	e/microns-2	"QE"		EV	EV
						DR	PTC		ISO		Gain	PTC		PTC	RN	RN	NP		(Gain)		(Gain)		(Gain)				(RN)	(NP)
D3x		14	100	5.94		10.37
D3x		12	100	5.94
D3		14	200	8.45		8.97			138		3.88						3.97		63,600		189		7,878	110	71			12.01
D3		12	200	8.45		9.01			133		15.51						1.01		63,500		181		7,604	107	68			11.99
D700		14	200	8.45		9.09											4.24											11.92
D700		12	200	8.45													1.10											11.86
D90		12	200	5.5		9.25											1.27											11.66
D300		14	200	5.5		8.67			138		1.27						3.51		20,900		148		2,585	85	55			12.19
D300		12	200	5.5		8.68			140		5.11						0.97		20,900		157		2,633	87	56			12.04
EOS-1Ds Mark II		12	100	7.2		8.44
D40x		12	100	6.05		8.05					7.42				2.02	1.68	1.46		30,400								10.99	11.45
D60		12	100	6.05		7.99									1.91	1.58	1.30											11.62
D80		12	100	6.05		7.92			93		6.41						1.62		26,300				4,395	120	38			11.30
D200		12	100	6.05		7.84	7.64		93		7.23	7.14		2.59	2.14	1.99	1.62		29,600				4,957	135	43		10.90	11.30
D2X		12	100	5.4		7.84					5.52								22,600
D50		12	200	7.8		7.58			137		7.46						2.01		30,600				3,768	62	40			10.99
D40		12	200	7.8		7.34			151		6.88						2.32		28,200				3,830	63	40			10.79
D70		12	200	7.8		7.16	7.19		202		6.40	6.59		2.93	2.72	2.26	2.80		26,200				4,766	78	50		10.56	10.51
D100		12	200	7.8		7.11
Manufacturer						Measurement method key
Nikon						DR: Dynamic Range Collaboration
Canon						(Photographic DR based on CoC corrected SNR of 20.)
						ISO: ISO Collaboration
						(Native ISO based on light required to attain 18% of saturation.)
						Gain: Gain Collaboration
						(e/ADU based on SVR versus signal.)
						PTC: Photon Transfer Curve
						(See web site for details.)
						RN: Read Noise
						(See web site for details.)
						NP: Nikon Proprietary noise data