Please stop promoting crop sensors for the "extra reach"

[jaomul]

To much maths. Just get the lens that fits fits framing the way you want it. It doesn't matter the numbers on the lens focal length if it gets the image you want

 

[Braineack]

I'd rather a d7100 if I was shooting for reach

Care to elaborate?

Standing in the same location, with the same lenses, the D7100 will have a narrower FOV at a full 24MP.

Both result in a 6000x4000px image. But the D7100 will essentially record an image that looks 1.5x closer than my D600.

I'll have to crop my image to ~10MP to achieve the same, or use a 1.5x longer lens. (a 300mm lens vs a 200mm)

If I then crop the D7100 image down to 10MP, it's essentially 3x the "zoom".

Or you buy a D800 (36MP, 16MP in DX) or the Tamronzuooka or both

 

[astroNikon]

Well holy crap the d610 doesn't have a sensor update... so it's DX mode is about the same ~10MP.

Okay so I stand corrected here. The pixel density of the d7100 is much higher than the pixel density on any FF camera. So there really is more reach.

Seeing is this thread is likely to continue indefinitely maybe a moderator can close it or delete it please

more "cropability" instead of "reach" maybe might make more sense.


I like the picture quality of my d600 cropped alot compared to my d7000, but I've never done an apples to apples comparison.

 

[runnah]

I think we can all conclude that science will never truly understand the differences between FF and Crop.

 

[BillM]

FF be more better, except when it isn't.

 

[runnah]

I can't wait until medium format sensors start becoming mainstream.

Heads will explode.

 

[BillM]

But then I can use my FF for more reach

 

[astroNikon]

But then I can use my FF for more reach

You could always take a few more steps forward 'ya know.

That's what is told to ppl with crop cameras on using a 85mm but in reverse ..

 

[BillM]

Sounds like too much work

 

[goodguy]

I think we can all conclude that science will never truly understand the differences between FF and Crop.

I think that is a great way to sum up this very interesting which is starting to get a bit annoying and boring discussion.
We can say crop sensor is getting better and better because technology gets better and better well same technology applies to crop sensors as it does to FF sensors.
You can say the processors gets smarter and smarter, true but you use same processor technology for crop sensor cameras as you put on FF cameras.
The fact is FF sensors bring in more light that's a FACT!!! so if not for anything else that's one advantage that FF will always have on other sensors.
Is it worth for you to lug around bigger body and bigger lenses to get that advantages and shallower DOF and more DR is a personal issue.
I saw Samsung 16-50mm 2.8 and 50-150mm 2.8 lenses and I gotta tell you they aint tiny and aint feather weight but they are smaller and lighter then FF 24-70 2.8 and 70-200mm 2.8
Its all a matter of personal needs, taste and above all deeper pockets.
If money wasn't an issue I probably would have bought few different formats for different scenarios but I am not rich and I can afford one system and one sensor size and I think most people here are the same, no good or but but just a matter of personal needs and taste.

 

[rexbobcat]

I can't wait until medium format sensors start becoming mainstream.

Heads will explode.

They're mainstream on photo blogs.

"YOU too can take simple photos with just one/two lights *pulls out $50,000 worth of camera and lighting gear*

Buy my tutorial!"

 

[runnah]

I can't wait until medium format sensors start becoming mainstream.

Heads will explode.

They're mainstream on photo blogs.

"YOU too can take simple photos with just one/two lights *pulls out $50,000 worth of camera and lighting gear*

Buy my tutorial!"

I just don't understand how Medium is bigger than Full.

 

[photoguy99]

Crop sensor cameras are smaller, and give you quite a bit more reach as a projectile.

 

[bratkinson]

Actually, crop-sensor cameras give the appearance of 'extra reach' when the image is viewed on your computer or printed.

OK, we all fully know that the lens doesn't change in any way whether it is mounted on a full frame or crop sensor camera. And yes, the DOF on a full frame camera vs crop is also different for the same lens on the two cameras shot from the same position.

But....consider this: I mount my 50mm lens on a tripod-mounted full-frame Canon 5diii (sorry, no comprendo Nikon-speak) and take a broadside shot of a parked car on the street. I move the camera and tripod such that the front and rear bumpers just fit within the frame. Now I swap body only to a crop sensor Canon 60D and take the same image from the same spot with the 60D. Now the image is from the front windshield to the rear window.

Now then...I import both images (JPG, just for convenience) to my computer and look at both of them enlarged to fill my computer screen. The (cropped)18mp image produced by the 60D is identical to a zoomed-in (extra enlargement - about 40% bigger) of the 5Diii-produced image. Had I put an 85mm lens on the 5Diii, the results would be approximately the same as what the 60D produced with the 50mm lens. Skip all the calculation mumbo-jumbo...unless one is pixel-peeping, the crop image from the 60D DOES give more 'reach'. If the trade-off 'costs' of shooting with a crop sensor (more noise, less IQ due to pixel density, etc) is 'acceptable', then I say 'go for it'!

Perhaps the biggest surprise I had when moving from a 60D to 5Diii was that my 'wider' lens (16-35 zoom) spends far more time 'in the bag' than it used to, as 24-105 gives the 'wide enough' images I had using the 60D with the 16-35.

 

[Derrel]

Crop-sensor camera put millions more pixels on the SAME-SIZED image of an eagle or bear or football player than do full-frame or "FX" cameras. Take a 300mm lens and shoot pictures of an osprey at 40 yards with a full-frame or "FX" Nikon and say, a D7100. The image shot with the D7100, a 24-million pixel crop-sensor camera will have millions more pixels of information in its rendering of the bird than will a Nikon D610 image shot with the same lens, at the same distance. This is why "crop-body" AKA "crop-frame" AKA "crop-sensor" AKA "APS-C" AKA "1.5x FOV" sensor cameras are so,so,so popular with people who do a lot of telephoto work on subjects that are physically small and or are often only encountered at fairly long distances from the camera.