SteveR Loc: Michigan

A previous poster mentioned that if you can't fill your frame up then a crop sensor camera would be better. I have both a dx and fx camera. When shooting sports or other activities like birthday parties where I have to shoot at a distance (around swimming pools, for instance), I use my crop camera because it gives me additional field of view.

Remember what a crop camera does. It sees things at the same size as a full frame camera. However, if the subject is at the center of the full frame sensor, it cuts out the extraneous material around the edges to make the subject take up a larger percentage of the crop sensor. The full frame camera retains all that material. There are illustrations that show this much better.

repleo Loc: Boston

For me, its mostly a matter of quality of my A7Rii versus convenience of my A6000.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

The other side of that is that in addition to seeing a little bit less of the subject, you also have to take into consideration that if you are using the DX frame's full compositional width and height, You will have to magnify the image 50% more to get to a similar print size, so some of the advantage of a crop sensor is lost as you amplify camera movement, focus error and lens aberrations, making them more visible, with corresponding lower image quality.

I will never shoot wildlife or sports with anything less than a full frame camera ever again. A 20 mp full frame for 10 fps frame rate for sports, and a minimum of 36 mp for everything else - when quality is important. When it doesn't matter, a camera with a 1" sensor is fine for most situations. Even a cell phone camera will be more than enough in many situations.

SteveR Loc: Michigan

What lenses, though, are you sticking on that D5, Gene, when you shoot sports? Not all of us on UHH can afford the biggest and best and must learn how to get the best out of what we CAN afford.

Bobspez Loc: Southern NJ, USA

For telephoto details use the APS-C camera. For wide angle like landscapes or groups or interiors use the full frame. For shallower depth of field use the full frame.

SteveR Loc: Michigan

It should be noted, however, that that "crop" factor can actually be obtained in post processing as well. The crop camera simply does in "in camera."

BebuLamar

Since you have both types of cameras wouldn't you already each on is good for? I don't know because I only have the full frame.

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

I have a choice between purchasing a KP for $900 or a K-1 for $1800

Taking a picture of a bird or squirrel, if the K-1 can put 16mp on the animal, the KP will put 24mp on it using the same lens.

Why would I purchase the K-1?

juanbalv Loc: Los Angeles / Hawthorne

The best answer I have gotten to my question came to me as a private message. I will share it with you without revealing the source. I think it answers your question as well:

"The low-down on Full frame and crop factor: Here it is in a nut shell. you have a Full frame and a crop sensor Canon you put the cameras on a tripod with say a 50mm 1.4 lens on each camera, you look through both cameras and what you will see is different. The 50mm on the full frame will give you the true field of view of that lens, the APSC body will have a narrow field of view, say that of a 75mm lens, that is what the crop sensor does. .....Now people will say the subject in the middle does not change, that may be true but when you download the file on your computer from each camera you will see the center object in the crop body will be larger than the full frame camera. Now say both cameras are 24MP , The crop body has all ready cropped the sides of the photo and kept it's 24mp, when you crop the full frame file to match the APSC camera you will lose about 12mp in that file. Also when you use the same lens and take a photo at F. 1.4 the depth of field will be different on both cameras, the full frame camera DOF will be less. As the sensor gets smaller the depth of field is grater and the field of view or angle becomes narrower. ...Hope this helps..."

Bobspez Loc: Southern NJ, USA

From my own experience I have to disagree. For one thing the cropped view presents more of the subject to the autofocusing mechanism.
For another thing, as juanbalv stated above, the cropped view gets the benefits of all the megapixels, but the cropped picture loses all the cropped megapixels. I personally have found that although the sensor size and number of pixels has an effect, the main factor in getting more detail in a telephoto picture, is the equivalent focal length.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Crop has the advantage of cost, and that’s really the bottom line. FF will produce higher quality and better low light, high ISO performance, but will cost you ~1.5-2x. You can produce the same “reach” with a FF, but it will cost you more. There is no free lunch.

bull drink water Loc: pontiac mi.

for most of us it's no big deal/

jacklewis014

I have a full frame camera and I use APS-C when my long lens isn't quite long enough. It will fill my frame with more of the subject and less of the surrounding area.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Yes, you are the only one. Every other person on earth settles this yesterday at 3:47 PM. : )

This is a never-ending question. Why, oh why, did they have to start with small sensors?!

A crop sensor will give more zoom effect to any lens, if that's what you want. Other than that, buy a FF and use it.

reguli Loc: Uruguay

Suppose you take a photo with FF camera with 50mm lens and f5.6. With an APS-C camera to have the same photo you need to change your focal to 50/1.6 more or less 30mm with f3.5, so you'll fill the frame equally and you'll have yhe same DOF. Up to here everything OK. But the problem is when you enlarge the photo to 300x200mm size for example. The FF photo will be enlarged 300x200/(35x24)=71 times but the APS-C will be enlarged 300x200/(24x15)=167 times, 2.3 times more than FF. So you increase by 2.3 the noise and imperfections of the shot. That is why in the APS-C you need to reduce by aprox. one half the ISO to get the same noise than a FF.