bgrn Loc: Pleasant Grove UT

Hang in there for a bit, I need to qualify what I'm asking and then I will ask the question. I read a lot of posts that will give advice on settings to start out with, such as the sunny 16 rule or anything else, while understanding the lighting conditions will not truly be known, hence only as a starting point. When I try to copy some of the advice I an noticing my setting can be quite a bit different to get an exceptable picture (could be due to the unknown lighting for the suggestion). I shoot with a cannon 80D, crop sensor. Lets take a look at something where the lighting is more consistent such as a full moon. I typically read about the same xyz settings, x aperture, y shutter, z ISO. Now to get to where I am going with this. If you take a full frame Canon which allows more light, and my Canon 80D crop sensor for a side by side comparison for the moon, and both using the same 100-400 lens, would I be correct in having to make the crop factor adjustments to the suggested settings and would this get me closer to a better starting settings point. For example if someone gives a starting point of x aperture, y shutter, and lets say 400 ISO, would it be safe to say I could use the same aperture and shutter but I would have to increase my ISO to say 600 to get the same starting results? If the suggested shutter was say 600 then would I have to set my crop sensor shutter to 400 to get the same starting results? Now I am only talking about exposure, not any other effects. I don't have a full frame body to make any comparisons but I would think this would have to be taken into consideration when listening to advice on settings. And would that adjustment factor be the same as the crop view factor, such as the 1.5 crop on a Nikon or 1.6 for Canon?

Anyway, your thoughts? Just throwing this out there :)

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

Full frame cameras don't allow more light than crop sensor cameras. Exposure remains the same no matter the sensor size. The sensor size only determines the angle of view of the lens.

pquiggle Loc: Monterey Bay California

The physical dimensions of the sensor has no effect on exposure. Think of the APS-C as being just the center portion of a full frame sensor only cropped; it produces the same effect as if you printed an image form a full frame sensor and then trimmed it with a pair of scissors.

bgrn Loc: Pleasant Grove UT

Thanks,

So if a full frame doesn't let in more light, help me to understand why it is understood that a full frame is better in low light conditions?

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

The larger sensor has less noise at high ISOs.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

Full frame sensors generally have larger photosites than crop frame sensors. These larger photosites capture more light and generally generate less noise.

BebuLamar

No you use the same settings as the full frame camera don't need to apply the crop factor. Now if you want to apply the crop factor then you open the lens aperture 1 stop larger and reduce the ISO 1 stop less. For example if the FF settings are f/8, 1/125, ISO 400 then you would set f/5.6, 1/125, ISO 200. But only if you want to.
Anyway, your thoughts? Just throwing this out there

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

I fear this comment is going to confuse new folks who don't yet have a good understanding of exposure and the properties of aperture and shutter speed. Wouldn't it be more productive to thoroughly learn the camera and lenses you have than to be concerned with "f/8 on this sensor size = f/whatever on this one."

Depth of field of a given lens/camera combo can be easily tested by the photographer - preferably controlled tests, not random

And back to the OP's mention of using settings suggested by others: as you discovered, those may be helpful for a starting point, but then it's up to you to adjust your exposure based on what you see on your playback screen. You change whichever settings are appropriate to the result you want (aperture for depth of field, shutter speed when motion is an issue).

While it might seem that lighting would be consistent for your full moon and mine, there can be atmospheric conditions that affect (haze, other pollution, humidity, thin clouds). Far better to learn how to adjust exposure while in the moment than to be concerned with what someone else did.

HarryBinNC Loc: Blue Ridge Mtns, No.Carolina, USA

Are you one of those people who believes that you have to alter the f-stop on an APS or MFT camera to obtain the same DOF with the same lens as on a 35mm camera? If so, I would really be interested in knowing your reasons for that belief. Or, if you don't believe that, what is the meaning of your closing sentences? In what circumstance(s) should I do that thing with the aperture and ISO?

BebuLamar

Not really. If you use the same lens the DOF is less with the smaller sensor. In my previous post I didn't specify that you would have to use a shorter focal length on the crop sensor to get the same view and in that case the DOF for the smaller sensor is more.

chrisg-optical Loc: New York, NY

Because a FF sensor has bigger photo sites than a crop sensor - the surface area of a FF sensor is 2.3 x that of an APSC sensor - so for the same # of given pixels (let's say 24 MP approx. - D7200 vs D750) you can make the individual photo sites larger on a FF sensor - larger photosites = less gain to amplify the light signal = lower noise since more gain (higher ISO setting) increases signal noise. It's just simple geometry and signal processing. This assumes all else being equal - the difference is about 1-1.5 stops equivalent noise level. Dynamic range is also a bit better on FF. Think bigger eyeballs behind the window pane, not a bigger window pane, but for a larger window, you can put the same # of eyes but larger.

The Villages Loc: The Villages, Florida

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

This is an amazingly effective analogy

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

Sunny 16 works anywhere in this planet. 2 hours after sunrise and 2 hours before sunset sunny 16 works IF there are no other weather conditions interfering with the light. It is applicable to ANY type of camera. A "full frame" sensor is larger than a cropped sensor not meaning that its light gathering capacity is better than the cropped sensor. Larger pixels (photosites) is what really matters when it comes to light gathering capacity. Cameras today get easily a 13 stop of dynamic range and that would be my last concern buying one camera over the other. Understand that using a lens designed for a cropped sensor camera uses the full size of the sensor.

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

The Northrups explain it all here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5zN6NVx-hY .