We had a little argument over dinner. I think it honestly bug me.
So here's the theory of the argument.
A DX sensor is roughly 66% the size of an FX sensor. So reason would state that the 24mp in the D7100 would be be very similar in terms of pixel size and overall sensor quality.
That being said should we expect image quality to be on par with the D800 as the sensor should be some what similar or is it going to be down sampled by Nikon simply because it is a DX body?
Seems my friends like to refer to this as a mini D800 body in that the sensors should be equally as good even though I think there is more to it than that. Such things as dynamic range I would think would effect it.
That being said is it fair to expect the overall quality of the DX sensor to match the FX sensor given that the pixel size should be equal?
A 24MP 1.5x APS-C sensor is equivalent to a 54MP FF sensor. For your argument you'd want to use a 16MP 1.5x APS-C sensor (D7000), which is equivalent to a 36MP FF sensor (D800). If the sensor technology of an APS-C and FF sensor are of equal generation, then taking a 1.5x crop from the FF sensor will yield nearly identical results as the APS-C sensor, both in terms of detail, noise, and dynamic range. This is roughly the case between the D800 and D7000, even though the D800 is a modestly more efficient sensor than the D7000. Once you start comparing the whole sensor area though the differences emerge.
Does pixel size have anything to do with the 'quality' of which you are considering.
Will the lack of AA filter with the 7100 produce images that are sharper or better quality than the D800? What about dynamic range, blah blah blah.
How does one define quality, blah blah blah? The D800 certainly has a higher quality build.
It's subjective, but I'm sure there'll be a DxO score thingy soon if there isn't already?
I owned the D7000 and thought it was outstanding. I now own the D800 and the IQ is incredible but I don't seem to have the same love for it. I haven't tried the D7100 but in my opinion it's one of the greatest cameras Nikon have produced based on features, size, price, and possible IQ based on the sensor details and lack of AA.
