Full Frame vs APS-C – Image Quality is Key!

Thanks for this vid. Totally agree with the trees looking like a painting but with all honesty i have to disagree with the comparison at 16.59 and 22.14, the crop camera comes out very slightly better and that was with my reading glasses on. Have things advanced i dont know, back in the late eighties i could go out with a 35mm contax and come back with a tranny, no noise anywhere, just a clean pin sharp image with good natural saturation that you could blow up on a wall. As for low light, film was (for the moment) undeniably better. Cheers.

I know a full-time wedding/portrait photographer who uses an APS-C Canon DSLR, can't remember the exact model. It's not even current generation. Their stuff looks fantastic.

Hello, I have a Canon EOS R7, I mainly do bird and wildlife photography in general. I tried the Canon EOS R8 in the same conditions with my R7, and I was very disappointed with the result even in low light, I thought I would gain in ISO, but it turned out that my R7 did just as well, so that everyone is selling the R8 as being the equal of the R6 Mark2 in terms of sensor and image quality. And what's more, I lose the 1.6 crop. For me the R7 is the best for what I do.

Full frame sensor all the way

How many people can afford high end full frame cameras that cost thousands of dollars along with the premium glass that is required to take advantage of the higher mega pixel sensor. How many people will use these other than professional photographers that earn their living from photography, I have multiple camera bodies that cover full frame, APSC and micro 4/3. I use them for various purposes and subjects. Most of the time I photographed landscapes and seascapes in low light I use a tripod so I don't need high ISO. when I photographed events of different kinds I used all three different sensor sizes depending upon the event and if it took place indoors or outside no one ever asked me what kind of camera I was using, all that matters is the end result.

Where is this beautiful place? 🏞

Is there any possibility of sharing the RAW or JPEG files of both?

This is July 2023 - I have very recently purchased the Fujifilm X-T5 and used the 16mm lens with stunning results. This morning I printed one of the images - Stunningly sharp (landscape). Ive been a NIKON user for some 30 years or more and currently still have my NIKON Z7 II (having sold my D850 with all f mount lenses …. trying to reduce carry weight as old age doesn’t help). Possibly will sell my Z7 II + lenses. My X-T5 at this point fulfils my need to reduce weight in my camera bag without losing image quality.
Nikon equipment sold🙊

I upgraded from a D200 to D750. Same manufacturer; same lenses (vintage 28mm f2.8 AiS used on my FM film camera; 70-200mm f4 bought for D200). The D750 is considerably better at high ISO for building interiors. It’s not a bit; it’s huge. However, it’s an older APS-C vs full frame the sensor technology is better in the D750. Weight wise .. the D750 is LIGHTER and smaller than the D200. Ergonomically it’s better with a deeper grip. I’ll say that again - no mistakes - full frame cameras do not need to be too heavy; they can be lighter than some APS-C cameras. In my case the lenses are the same. I have only 1 DX lens. When I use on the D750 (which is rare because it’s an extreme wise angle) I don’t get to use all the sensor but I still get more pixels in the image than with the (lower resolution) D200 APS-C sensor. In short I’ve never regretted upgrading from D200 (APS-C) to D750 (full frame).

I used dc cameras for twenty years, kodak, olympus, pentax ist ds, pentax k-01, sony dsc-r1, Samsung nx500 (very underrated!). Pictures always satisfied me. But, I have bought a sony a7 iii last month with adapters to use my old lenses, and the difference is Amazing ! The field of view, bokeh, dynamic, each are a little better than crop sensors, but together, it's night and day ! I'm not a professional, just an enthusiastic, but with my full frame camera, I have seriously improved number of good shots compared to crop sensors.

Agree the full frame is marginally clearer, but worth noting that some canon cameras have noise reduction bakes into the raw. It’s well done, but does make some of these technical tests hard to gauge.

There is no reason for me to change to full frame. For my interests in photography is aps-c not only enough, it´s sometimes the much better choice as in macrophotography for example. I like also the advantages in weight,costs and size very and can live with disadvantages in other areas of photography with any doubt. Its´ my hobby, Im´t not a professional and the results are more than enough for my personal demands. It´s more than enough quality to hang one of my pictures as a big print in my living room. More quality doesn´t have any advantage for me, but I have to pay much more, have to carry much more. I´m not a wedding photographer. As many professionals take really good portraits with her micro four third system I don´t need less shallow depth of field to have much more bokeh. The option of f 1.4 is enough for me on aps-c. But I really understand that a professional have to think about the handling, the lowest depth of field, the lowest noise and special features. But I also think that nobody needs this to get outstanding pictures. These themes are often a click bait, often a excuse for lower skills and the lack of will for improvements. "I have to geht a better camera, lens to get better picture." may you think. But you only get sharper pictures as you zoom in 400%, not better pictures in creativitiy. If your pictures don´t get interest in low resolution as on the mobil phone than the solution in most cases ist not the better carmera. But this are only my two cent to the battle about the newest gear. I don´t take part.

Need help.. If any full frame camera shoots 4k 60fps in apsc mode.
Does that mean using 50mm f4 vl work as f6? And low light performance will be same as apsc camera (only using subset of pixels as sensor is acting as super 35)?

Great video. No real surprises. This really tells me that other factors are more important than FF & DR. Hand held vs tripod, Lens selection, gear weight & transportation to & from your subject, IBIS or no IBIS, night vs daylight emphasis, absolute number of pixels etc etc. The vast majority of people don’t care about noise when viewing how the photo is intended to be seen. I doubt whether anyone is going to try to see the leaves on a particular tree a kilometre across a lake. Only the photographer is going to worry about FF & DR. Some of my most appreciated photos have been technically some of my worst (IMHO), and taken on technologically outdated equipment. We worry too much about these minor things.

I think more than sensor size, resolution and lenses are going to be key along with good technique. The only real advantages of FF vs APSC was (and is somewhat today although less so) is the high ISO noise abilities. FF has typically done better but with modern APSC sensors, I'd say that they rival that of 5 year old FF cameras, and so my answer would be "it depends". If you have a choice between a modern day APSC camera like an a6100 or a6400 or an R7 or Z50 over a 5-7 year old FF camera, I might be inclined to choose the modern APSC camera and take the extra money I would have saved and put it towards good lenses.

Great Video!!!!

So it all comes down to how you view your images then. If you blow them up massively you need a full frame but if you just go to A3 or A2 a APS-C will be fine and buy a better lens with the left over dosh!

I found an image of a mother and daughter woodland scene. He mother was helping her daughter put her cardigan back on after the pic-nic had come to an end. The image was taken in the 1930s. The camera was basic. The B/W film was definitely low tech and the lens was a converted beer-bottle! Would I put this image in a gallery? Absolutely! Why? The image was full of emotion and told a story. The sheer lack of image quality didn’t detract from the the story being told. In fact, the lack of image quality enhanced the story being told and the emotion being evoked. In fact, if the image had been hi-res, the story would have suffered. It demonstrated that the vision of the photographer was key. Not the camera. Not the film and not the lens.
From this image, I learned that an image with ‘wow’ factor, comes not from pixels, lens sharpness, or sensor size. It comes from the heart.

Nice video! In my opinion, Fuji is maybe not the best APSC to do this test... I mean, the fuji noise is just not as bad as other brands in APSC, I would say that fuji noise is even better (aesthetically) than many full frame bodies. It has less color noise, so is more pleasant.

I'm looking to purchase a full frame sensor camera to shoot large artwork for prints. I am not bias to any brand, just want best Image Quality. Any suggestions are welcome!

I am totally confused about which camera should i buy for videography. Should i buy a Full frame or a aps-c please help me

In the first picture it looks like the full frame used a polarizing filter and the second one didn't.

Great video. Subscribed! Thank you for your clear, dispassionate explanation. Bravo!

You should have used Capture One to convert the Fuji RAW files, the express version is free and can be used with Fuji RAW files. Adobe still having issues with Fuji RAW files.

I would say if you use the Capture One, the quality gap will be smaller.

I think when you compare the dynamic range, you could have compare the shadow on the floor tiles. How much of the floor tile detail can be recover from the each of the RAW file.

What lens size did you use for each in the first landscape example?

I wonder what would be the difference with similar megapixel size, for example if you compared against the Fuji xhs.

I think the word is ANIMATED for the APS-c sensor

Mark ruffalo?

"You're never, ever going to see the difference" In the vast majority of situations that is EXACTLY true. For insecure photographer who have no vision the problem is always the camera or lens. If your photographs aren't good enough it's not the camera; it's you. Stop obsessing about gear and start studying photographs.

newb question: the full frame provides beautiful detail in the rocks under water, but the same cannot be said of the T4. Can this clarity be achieved with the Fuji using a polarizing lens??

I sold my 5DMK2 and get mirrorless because lighter weight and I plan to spend more time traveling with my camera than leaving it inside dry box most of the time.

If only my skills ever get good enough that moving off of APS-C would matter. I much prefer the lighter weight, and more affordable lenses. This also took me down a rabbit hole where i started looking at zoom-ins of van gogh and other paintings. Gave me a newer appreciation of the blur wit the 200% + zoom. Different definitions for quality.

When looking at the night time photographs, I thought that the crop sensor photograph was better. This is because the brickwork behind the columns on the building behind the letter "h" looked clearer with the crop sensor camera and this was apparent before zooming right in.

awesome test. thanks

There are many things that contribute to image quality, including lenses, tripod or not. My Fuji images taken with a hood lens and tripod will beat my Sony images with an average lens handheld. Plus the FF image quality advantage only really starts to be barely noticeable at image sizes well above A3.

Very interesting i have heard fuji is a very good camera i think the difference would be greater if you had used a different brand for the crop camera,

Peace be with you. Does the difference in megapixel matter here. The Fujifilm X-H2 may have been a better comparison.

If you're going with APSC, you might as well just go with MTF instead.

I've owned my Nikon D7000 from new [ around 120k on the clock and still going strong ] - I've arrived at a bit of a crossroads thinking I need to upgrade but am unsure whether to upgrade the APS-C format [ D500 ] or turn FF [ D750 , D810 , D850 ] -
There's lots to consider - apart from Image Quality there's all the accessories which come with upgrading - Memory Cards for the D500 / D850 are much more expensive - I'd need to add a new remote cable and I'm not sure whether the D500 or D850 are compatible with my LR6 - it's not easy making these decisions !!

i can say from my experience full frame is much better: 1 bokeh, 2 low light, 3 dynamic range, plus companies make better quality lenses for full frame. All the rest are lies from camera companies to make you buy an inferior camera because you cannot afford the full frame. aps-c are only good for video.

Can you do a comparison with the same megapixels

Please do a video on some PRINT tests ( all sensor sizes) using the same quality lenses up to 20x30 or larger. Let people look at them. In almost all cases, you cant tell the difference. It’s just the full frame propaganda world we live in.

Wish I hadn’t watched this lol. I was convinced I was going to buy a full frame Nikon . I used Nikon for 30 years now use a Pen F , I wanted to pair this with Nikon for wildlife and some landscapes, I love the little Pen F but it has its place I feel . Dilemma!

Note sure what others are seeing, but the crop frame pics all seem superior with the exception of the leaves in first pic. Noise, to me, appears far worse on the full frame despite saying otherwise in the video.

I would prefer that you put an Alpa with a Alpagon Switar and Phase One IQ4 and then we zoom to 600% and see if anything exist on either side of the fence.

There's an old adage that the best camera is the one you have with you. I would amend that a bit and say the best camera is the one you'll use the most. I don't use my a7iii much any more, instead opting for my a6400. The reason? Weight. And bulk. I use a gimbal for video and the a7iii is just too heavy. Also the newest Sony lenses designed for apsc are terrific. And light. And relatively inexpensive. Thanks for the video.

I have a cropped sensor Fuji but I shoot raw and process the files using DXO Pure Raw. Then I use ACR /Photoshop. The files are very good looking when you put some effort into the post processing. The one reason I am considering full frame is for the depth of field. I like the bokeh on full frame better but other than that the cropped sensor IQ is more than enough.

am I the only one that thinks that in these examples the noice on the crop sensor is actually less than on the full frame ?