Comparison of sensor sizes
41 megapixels on a Nokia phone? By comparison, the new Canon EOS 5D Mark III at 22 megapixels, and Nikon D800 at 36 megapixels seem paltry. Are they?
Mobot has a good answer. The website compares the physical sizes of the sensors. And the result? The new DSLRs have sensors that are 13 times the size of the Nokia 808 PureView’s sensor, and almost 70 times the size of the iPhone 4S’s sensor.
“..pixel performance is affected directly by the amount of photons each pixel can collect: and as a rule, the smaller the pixel, the fewer photons it can absorb. ..the pixels on the iPhone 4S and Nokia 808 PureView are actually the same size — 1.4 microns .. Compare that to the new Nikon D800’s 4.8 micron pixels (on a 36.3MP sensor, let’s not forget) and pro photographers can clearly rest easy for now.”
— Martin James, Mobot, February 29, 2012.