Full frame question ?

RickMezza

RickMezza

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With all the talk of the new Nikon D3 being the first full frame Nikon DSLR I wondered - what exactly are the advantages?

I know that the crop factor of the DX sensors will increase the focal length of my 70-300 zoom ( a good thing when shooting birds etc :) ), but a wide angle or fisheye lens on a full frame body will make the photo look even w i i i i i i der ( another good thing if you're into landscapes/cityscapes etc), but what are the other advantages/disadvantages?

I read about 'better subject isolation' with a full frame sensor - whats that mean in English then :shrug:

Anyone want to explain it to me in simple terms please ? :D

Thanks,
Rich
 
Short version Rick - the much promoted long lens advantage with a 1:1 sensor is a rather misleading. You get the same size image on the sensor regardless of sensor size. The actual advantage is in less cropping with a smaller sensor to show the (for example) Blue Tit, filling the fame nicely. It all rather depends how many pixels you start out with though, as to the image quality you end up with when you've finished cropping. ;)

At the wider end you get a greater (wider) FOV but it's quite possible you may see some vignetting in the corners of your images on a full frame sensor.

One of the biggest problems with a full frame is it mercilessly exploits any weaknesses in your lenses, so only the very best glass really hacks it on a 1:1 sensor.

That's the bones of it. :)

Oh... the better subject isolation bit refers to the fact that a 1:1 sensor has less DOF than a crop sensor. Again it's a bit misleading - this is only true when you're framing a subject identically on both sensors. Because you'd need to step back further with the crop sensor, you're increasing the camera to subject distance which = greater DOF.
 
The main advantages of having a full frame sensor are that you can get more pixies on it and you don't have to resort to silly 10mm or 12mm lenses to get a wideangle shot.

There are other techy things but those are the ones that most directly affect day to day shooting in my world.

There is so much confusion about what you gain/lose in each direction though. The common one being that you increase focal length with a crop sensor. You don't, you're just capturing less of the image. Hence crop sensor.

The depth of field and commpresion charateristics of the lens that come from it's focal length, stay the same regardless of sensor size.

Even this crop/magnifiaction thing is not as simple as it seems. Take a 300mm on an EOS 1d II or a 5D. With the 1d's crop sensor the image I see through the finder is the same field of view that a 420mm would show on the 5D. So, I've gained some reach if I use it on the 1D right?

Well no. If I put the lens on the 5D the subject will seem to move away from me and give me more surrounding view...... but I can then crop the image back to the one the 1D would have taken and have the same picture. Only the croped version from the 5D will still be a bigger file.

It's enough to do your head in. :lol::lol:

In short, as far as I can tell a FF camera was good because my 17-40 is quite good and the 12-24 I had to use before I got it wasn't. :)
 
pffftt. Next time you're going to answer a post better and quicker than me CT, can you drop me a pm so I don't sit and type for nothing. ;):lol:
 
PMSL, Roughly translated, I think we said the same. :D
 
This gives you a good idea of what is going on with different sensor sizes. Clicky
 
OK, thanks everyone. :thumbs:
Still can't afford a D3, but its nice to know anyway :'( :)
 
the future is full frame. well, the history is but i always believed it's where it's going. i feel bad for those never experienced full framed on either film or digital.
 
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