APS-C vs. Full Frame Sensor
Derek Smith • 4 August 2022
APS-C vs Full-Frame: What’s the difference?
Full-frame sensors measure the same as 35mm film, which is 36 x 24mm. Meanwhile, smaller APS-C sized sensors measure in at either 23.6 x 15.7mm (Nikon, Pentax, Sony, Fujifilm) or 22.2 x 14.8mm (Canon). That makes full-frame about 2.6x larger in terms of total surface area size.
As already mentioned, there is also Micro Four Thirds (17.3 x 13mm, MFT), and Medium Format (43.8 x 32.9mm).
Full-frame sensors can be found in the best full-frame mirrorless cameras, as well as many of the best DSLRs. You’ll even occasionally find a full-frame sensor in a high-end compact camera. Full-frame sensors are used by Canon, Nikon, Sony, Panasonic, Pentax, Sigma and Leica.
You’ll find an APS-C sensor in many of the best mirrorless cameras too, and they’re also commonly used in DSLRs. APS-C sensors are used by Canon, Nikon, Sony, Fujifilm and Pentax. Again, occasionally there are APS-C sensors found in high-end compacts.
The physical size differences lead to both advantages and disadvantages, which we’ll discuss in more detail below.
What is a crop sensor?
You might hear the term crop sensor from time to time, which simply means something which is smaller than full-frame. It’s a term which is most commonly applied to APS-C, but it can also be used to describe even smaller sensors, such as Micro Four Thirds, or even the smaller sensors that you find in compact cameras and smartphone – though it’s rare to hear those described as such.
What is a crop factor?
Crop sensors have a crop factor that you need to take into account when using lenses with your camera. When using a full-frame camera, whatever focal length is printed on the lens (for example 100mm) is what you’ll get when you shoot with it. However, when you use a smaller sensor, you’ll need to apply a “crop factor” to get the equivalent focal length.
Nikon, Fujifilm, Sony and Pentax APS-C sensors have a 1.5x crop factor, while Canon APS-C sensors have a 1.6x crop factor. Therefore, the 100mm lens mentioned above gives you an equivalent of either 150mm or 160mm – simply times the focal length by the appropriate crop factor.
Other sensor sizes have different crop factors. A Four Thirds sensor has a 2x crop factor (100mm becomes 200mm), while a one-inch sensor has a 2.7x crop factor (100mm becomes 270mm). It also works with bigger than full-frame sensors too – medium format has a 0.79x crop factor, which would make a 100mm lens equivalent to 79mm.
List of sensor crop factors:
Medium format = 0.79x
Full frame = 1x
APS-C (general) = 1.5x
APS-C (Canon) = 1.6x
Four Thirds: 2x
One inch = 2.7x
What are the benefits of APS-C?
When it comes to image quality, it’s a general rule of thumb that a bigger sensor equals better performance – but there’s plenty of advantages to APS-C, usually depending on what exactly it is you want from your camera.
One of the big advantages is that APS-C systems are normally smaller and lighter than full-frame equivalents. With smaller bodies and smaller optics, it’s a good choice if you don’t want to carry heavy gear, such as while travelling or for hiking long distances. If you want to shoot handheld, it can be easier to keep smaller and lighter bodies stabilised, too.
On that note, the crop factor also means that your longer lenses don’t need to be as long, heavy, or expensive as full-frame equivalents to get you closer to the action. That’s why cameras such as the recently announced APS-C cameras Fujifilm X-H2S and the Canon EOS R7 have been pitched strongly as wildlife and action cameras.
Speed is also something that is generally easier to achieve with APS-C, especially at affordable prices. Cameras like the Canon EOS R7 offer up to 30fps shooting, in a camera which costs a fraction of the price of similarly speedy models, such as the Nikon Z9 or the Canon EOS R3. That gives ordinary amateur photographers without the big budgets of professionals the chance to capture fast-moving action in a much more affordable fashion.
Does sensor size matter?
Having a smaller sensor can give other benefits as well, and here’s an example which illustrates the cost and weight advantage of using APS-C, particularly when looking at the whole system, which includes the camera and lenses.
APS-C system: Fujifilm X-H2S, plus 16-55mm f/2.8 and 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 costs £5200 and weighs about 2700g.
Full-frame system: Nikon Z9, plus 24-70mm f/2.8 and 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 costs £8800, and weighs about 3500g.
To sum up, the main advantages of APS-C cameras are:
Cheaper
Faster
Smaller
Lighter
APS-C cameras are best for:
Wildlife photography
Sports photography
Travel photography
Street photography
Photographers on a budget
What are the benefits of Full Frame?
Full-frame is often seen as the “gold-standard” for many photographers, with APS-C often thought of being the preserve of enthusiasts and those with a lower budget. While that’s not strictly fair or accurate these days, there are lots of advantages of using a camera with a larger sensor.
If the best image quality is your main concern, then generally speaking, full-frame will help you achieve that in a wider variety of settings. Low light performance is generally better, as is dynamic range for the most part.
If you crave super high resolution cameras, you’ll only find them with full-frame (and larger sensors) too. APS-C tends to max out at around 26-32 megapixels, whereas full-frame offers up to and beyond 50 or 60 megapixels (you can go even further with medium format, where you can now get 100 megapixel sensors). This generally makes full-frame better suited to high-detail type shots, as well as giving you more flexibility when it comes to cropping in post-production while still maintaining a high pixel count.
It’s easier to achieve a shallow depth of field when using a full-frame sensor. Although you can achieve the same look when using crop sensors, you might need to get too close to the subject for the same kind of background blur. It’s generally why portrait photographers, for example, prefer to use full-frame.
When it comes to using your lenses, knowing exactly what you’re getting (i.e. 100mm = 100mm) when shooting full-frame is more straightforward. That also means if you’re using older / vintage lenses from DSLR or even film days, you know exactly what you’re getting when using them on mirrorless full-frame models.
To sum up, the main advantages of full-frame cameras are:
Better image quality
Higher resolution
Easier shallow depth of field effects
Straightforward to understand lens focal lengths
Full-frame cameras are best for:
Landscape photography
Portrait photography
Low light photography
Studio photography
Which should I buy – APS-C Vs Full-Frame?
There’s not necessarily a right or wrong answer when it comes to full-frame vs APS-C and deciding which you should buy. You should think about the types of subjects you like to shoot, the budget you have available, and how much bulk and weight you are prepared to carry around.
If you’re a landscape photographer, for example, looking for a high-resolution camera which can deliver exceptional dynamic range, and you also want to shoot in low light, then full-frame is the obvious choice. Similarly, if you’re a portrait photographer who wants the best resolution and easy-to-achieve shallow depth of field effects, full-frame is the way to go.
On the other hand, if you’re a wildlife or sports photographer and don’t want to splash out on a super-expensive full-frame camera, but you do want to get close to the action, use fast-frame rates and carry something small and lightweight, then APS-C is probably the more sensible option. Travel photographers who don’t want to unnecessarily weigh themselves down might also choose to opt for APS-C, or Micro Four Thirds for an even smaller system.
To conclude, the simple truth is that no, not every photographer needs full-frame. While the larger sensor will provide higher image quality in lots of different scenarios, you’ll also have to pay the price for it both in terms of cost and size and weight. For that reason, many will be served just as well, if not better, by choosing a crop camera.
Louth Photographic Society
At our meeting last night one of our members, Harry Kerman gave a talk on one of his favourite genres, flower photography. Harry's talk was accompanied by a slick, professional standard power point presentation, he also had his camera a Canon R6 II, a Sigma 105mm macro lens, a Lens Baby 56mm manual focus lens, and the standard 24-70mm zoom. Harry demonstrated his use of the equipment, which included backgrounds, a plamp to hold flowers in place, and a light box. After the break Harry presented some of his images, projected onto the screen, not all the images were "perfect" he wanted to show some of his mistakes so that we could learn from them, he also welcomed feedback from members, all of the flower images he showed were stunning, and you can see some of them on this post. It was an inspiring evening, providing many techniques, and creative ideas for members to emulate. Harry's passion for flower photography shone through during the whole talk, his clear narration, power point presentation, demonstrations, and images completed a very successful night. Thank you Harry for a fascinating evening, and to Richard Hildred for the refreshments during the break.
Good morning, All Last week at the club we held a retro night, with four members showing pre year 2000 transparencies. It turned out to be a really interesting evening, I didn't know Richard Hildred had started out at an early age photographing trains, it turned out himself and member Chris Birchmore were travelling on the Flying Scotsman in 1967 at the same time. There is a full report on the evening on our blog. This week, Wednesday 29th October, Harry Kerman, one of our members will be showing some of his projected images, and talking about his interest in flower photography. Don't forget Harry is now taking entries for our PDIOTY (Projected Digital Image Of The Year) competition. (closing date 12th November) Regards Graham
Last night was a nostalgic trip down memory lane, with four of our members presenting a slide show taken before year 2000. Now we all remember sitting in a darkened living room showing your latest holiday slides to friends, and neighbours, that click and whir as the slides changed, the stuck slide, the one that was upside down, or back to front, and uncle Jim dozing on the settee! It wasn't quite like that for last night's presentation, Richard Hildred began the evening with some amazing images of railways from British Rail days, we might ride one of the preserved heritage lines, and see the gleaming clean steam engines pulling a line of carriages, Richard's images returned us to the reality of steam powered passenger and freight operations, with the dirt, the grit, and grime of daily steam running, this image captures the essence of steam hauled mixed goods traffic, Richard's slide was in colour, but renders better here in monochrome. Next up was Tony Gaskins, many of his slides featured his first trip to the Maasai Mara game reserve, and the Ngorongoro Crater, Tony also showed slides from his trip to Canada, his slides and narration made for a great presentation. This image of a mother elephant, and calf was taken in the Ngorongoro Crater. After the break, Chris Birchmore presented many images from the Lincolnshire area, some of the disused, and crumbling buildings in the images made interesting subjects for photography, I have used this image of Bolingbroke castle, and from this viewpoint the church is clearly visible in this image, compared with today where only the church tower is visible. Graham Harrison was our last presenter, last but not least, the variety of images shown was remarkable, several from Wales, and quite a few that had been entered into club competitions previously, and were of high quality, as this image of a Flamingo shows. It was a fascinating, and interesting evening, thanks to each of our presenters, and to Dave Mann for the refreshments.
Good Afternoon, All, Last week at the club we held our monthly print competition, with the categories of "Mono" and "Open", judged by Diane Seddon. It was a very good evening with Diane critiquing our prints with helpful comments on how we could improve our images as well as praise. The results are on our website but well done to David Whitehouse for best print in the mono and Dave Turner for best print in the open. This week, Wednesday 22nd October, we go back in time to before the millennium with transparency slides to be shown by Tony Gaskins, Chris Birchmore, Richard Hildred and myself. You can start sending Harry your entries for the PDI of the year, all the rules etc are on our website, but the important thing is you can enter any PDI's as long as they have never been in a PDI of the year before. There are six subjects and an overall max of six PDI's, no more than three per subject. Regards Graham
A print competition was held last night with the categories of; "Monochrome" and "Open". Diane Seddon from Cleethorpes Camera Club was the judge for the evening, Diane is very skilled, and thorough in her judging, providing useful insight, and critique of the prints. Many of her comments centered around the best cropping of an image to optimise the subject within the frame, and giving the subject "room to breathe" in the framing. Congratulations to David Whitehouse placed first in the "Monochrome" category, with his superb rendering of a face sculpture, and Dave Turner placed first in the "Open" category with his stunning print of the sunrise over Whitby Harbour. Thanks to Diane Seddon for a great evening, and as she remarked at the end of the competition all the prints were of an extremely high standard. The Competition Page has been updated with the highest placed images, but currently the score sheets for the competition are unavailable.
Good Morning All Last week Dave Bennett came to the club again, it has been a while since we have seen his photography but well worth the wait. Dave's photographs were excellent and his story telling along with AV's made it a very good night. This week, Wednesday 15th October, we are holding a print competition, with the categories of "Mono" and "Open", our judge for the evening will be Diane Seddon AFIAP CPAGB BPE3* she is well qualified to judge our prints. The following week we are going to try a retro night again, with Transparencies taken prior to the year 2000, please let me know if you want to take part and have a time slot allotted, time will depend on the numbers wanting to take part. Regards Graham
Last night Dave Bennett came to the club to show us AV's and narrate other sets of photographs on a theme. Dave started with photos along the Humber and then carried on the evening with AV's on nature, flowers and transport as well as talks and photographs showing us Grimsby docks including detailed photographs of fish smoking and engineering. Dave's photography is of a very high standard with strong colours, lot's of use of depth of field and they tell a story. A great night, thank you Dave.
Good Morning All Last week at the club we held a local PDI competition with a category of "5 Minutes From Your Home", we had some very good entries in each category with myself, and Dave Turner judging on the night. All the results are on our website, but well done to Derek for his mobile phone picture of a remembrance seat in Horncastle and Harry for his hellebores in the "Open" category. This week, Wednesday 8th October, Dave Bennett is coming to the club to show us what he has been taking lately, Dave does quite a bit of AV so as usual it will be a very good night. A reminder, send your print titles for the next print competition to Dave Turner by midnight Wednesday and bring your prints in this Wednesday night as well please. If you have any more N&EMPF Exhibition PDI entries send them to me by midnight tomorrow (Monday) please. Regards Graham
Our PDI "Local" competition was held last night, with the categories of "5 Minutes From Your Home", and "Open". Dave Turner, one of our members began the evening with judging the "Open" category, always a difficult category in my opinion because of the variety of subjects entered into the competition. Dave had previewed the images on his home computer, and had notes on each of the images, he provided excellent feedback on each image. After the break, Graham Harrison began judging the "5 Minutes From Your Home" category, this was a very unusual subject category which stretched the creative ingenuity of members, and it was particularly interesting to see what members had submitted. Graham judged the entries very fairly, and provided very good critique of the images. The standard of images submitted was high, which makes judging a competition such as this difficult, and as always is subjective, but a big thank you to both judges, it was an interesting evening. The first placed images, from each category are shown on this post, "At the Going Down of the Sun" by Derek Smith, "5 minutes from your home", and "Hellebores" by Harry Kerman in the "Open" category. The website Competition Page has been updated with the top three placed images, and the scoresheets.
Good Morning All Last week at the club member Tony Gaskins gave us an excellent presentation of his recent trip to Kenya on safari. Tony showed us the animals and birds he had encountered on his trip. It was an evening of excellent wildlife photography as well as a very informative talk, thank you Tony. There is also a report on our website blog. This week, Wednesday 1st October, we are holding a local PDI competition, with the subject categories of "5 Minutes From Your Home" and "Open", Dave Turner has kindly offered to judge the Open with myself the subject, and you have until midnight tonight to enter. Dave Turner is also asking members to send him the titles of their prints for the next print competition, the categories for this are "Mono" and "Open". Regards Graham
