Why smaller sensors beat full-frame sensors for wildlife photography

[Derrel]

One thing to keep in mind is that from both Canon and Nikon,The full frame cameras offer in-camera size reduction.

 

[Original katomi]

Pixel pitch. Noise. S/N ratio. Crop factor.

Pffft... just grab a camera and go shoot something.

Now that I do understand

 

[Original katomi]

One thing to keep in mind is that from both Canon and Nikon,The full frame cameras offer in-camera size reduction.

I have enough trouble getting all that I want in the frame
Ok joking aside my current trend for panaramas means that I am taking 20 shots to male 1 photo
I have looked at FF and the advantage for me is minimal I would have to move to Med format
So big pixels small pixels... I work with what I have

 

[freixas]

I have enough trouble getting all that I want in the frame

Then I would have to say that this thread is not for you.

Seriously, this topic was intended for people who don't use all of whatever sensor size they have. I just went out doing some bird photography at a local wetland and there might be one or two photos that I don't crop (and that's shooting with an APS-C camera and a 400mm lens with a 1.4x extender).

 

[freixas]

Pixel pitch. Noise. S/N ratio. Crop factor.

Pffft... just grab a camera and go shoot something.

No one is forcing you to pay attention to any of these things. Do you feel some need to put down those who do?

 

[480sparky]

Pixel pitch. Noise. S/N ratio. Crop factor.

Pffft... just grab a camera and go shoot something.

No one is forcing you to pay attention to any of these things. Do you feel some need to put down those who do?

Sorry you feel 'put down'. Perhaps if you concentrated on taking photos instead of sweating bullets over such minutiæ....

 

[freixas]

Perhaps if you concentrated on taking photos instead of sweating bullets over such minutiæ....

And another put down from someone who knows nothing about me. Some of us can do more than one thing at a time...

 

[Original katomi]

I exit stage left

 

[480sparky]

Perhaps if you concentrated on taking photos instead of sweating bullets over such minutiæ....

And another put down from someone who knows nothing about me. Some of us can do more than one thing at a time...

Perhaps your next gear purchase will be based on increasing dermatological thickness.........

 

[DanOstergren]

I have enough trouble getting all that I want in the frame

Then I would have to say that this thread is not for you.

I exit stage left

Ok this is screwed up.

 

[greybeard]

It really depends on the cameras. Using say a 300mm lens on an ff nikon and a crop frame, both 24mp. The 300mm on the crop frame will have the same magnification as a 450mm on the full frame. So, many people like a crop frame for birding etc. because of the added reach. The D850 with its' 45 mp full frame sensor can shoot in crop mode and still have around 19mp of resolution. Roughly the same as a D500.

 

[Space Face]

I much prefer a high res full frame camera for wildlife (mainly birds). I find the cropping options, iq and detail better. I've gone from 1.6x crop sensor bodies to ff, tho I still use a 1.3x crop as this body has a higher fps shoud I need it (not very often tho).

 

[freixas]

It really depends on the cameras.

It always depends on the cameras because the sensor's pixel pitch is an attribute of the camera. For two cameras with the same number of pixels, the magnification ratio matches the crop factor because the ratio of the pixel pitch is the same as the ratio of the crop factor.

For two cameras with the same pixel pitch, the magnification is equal--the size of the sensor doesn't matter. In fact, if the sensor tech is identical and the same lens is used, one camera may capture more of the scene, but the portion captured by both will be identical in IQ, detail and whatever else you want to measure.

I much prefer a high res full frame camera for wildlife (mainly birds). I find the cropping options, iq and detail better.

Full-frame cameras generally get the best tech, so they are likely to have better IQ. How would a crop sensor with a smaller pixel pitch but equal tech compare? Hard to say--you're trading spatial resolution for light gathering. In good light, the smaller pixels might do just as well and provide greater magnification.

Generally, people aren't comparing apples to apples. Even related cameras from the same manufacturer may have differences beyond pixel pitch and sensor size that make real comparisons impossible. And I find that the people who have FF cameras for birding also seem to have expensive lenses to go with them.

As I like to maximize magnification, my ideal camera would have a pixel pitch as small as I could get away with given my lens's ability to resolve detail. Whether this ideal camera would be FF or not would depend on whether I could afford a FF version and had the space for the larger files.

One place FF is a clear winner for bird photos is birds in flight. For any given lens, a FF has the biggest FOV, which makes it easier to keep a flying bird in view.

It's a good thing we have choices!

 

[freixas]

perhaps it doesnt matter in the end. you still have to find the bird to photograph. If you cant do that, it doesnt matter what the hell you use to take photos.

In the 8 pages before your comment, many others derailed the discussion in the same way. What you're saying may be correct, but it's irrelevant. Assume the bird has been found. The discussion begins there. Finding the bird is a topic for another thread.

 

[Soocom1]

Meh...