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| Girl in Yellow; Chinatown, New York City. (click to enlarge) |
A photographer friend of mine recently messaged me and asked me this question.
“Hi Dennis. What’s your current feeling about your full frame experience? If you were starting from scratch today would you buy into full frame?”
After thinking about if for a couple of minutes, here is what I messaged back to him:
"I’m of two minds about this. On one hand, I’m very happy with my 40mp X-T5 as it provides all the features, resolution and image quality I could want in a relatively small and affordable package.
On the other hand, there is that little devil on my shoulder that keeps telling me full frame is the way to go especially since the cameras are about the same size and weight as my Fujifilm and Olympus cameras. Also, it is nice to have that safety net of lower noise, more dynamic range and the little better image quality, if needed in extreme conditions. Additionally, the industry is almost entirely going full frame in the future. So there's that. Finally, as good as my Fujifilm cameras are, their AF still lags behind the big three.
So…with the advent of AI based plug-ins to reduce noise, sharpen and enlarge files and generally not needing the latest and greatest AF and all other things considered, I think I would again buy into the Fuji system as I don’t think the more expensive and heavier gear will serve my needs any better than what I have.
Let me add this for this blog post…
I still like micro4/3 and think it is a terrific format. But, to me, it is hampered with only 20mp sensors. I am now sold on the additional pixels available in my X-T5 and Z7II. I’ve come to realize it does make a difference in my photography. My ‘sweet spot’ for megapixels used to be 24mp but now it is in the 40-45mp range. I guess I’m evolving. Lol
Finally, as I discovered last year at this time on my month-long road trip across the U.S. and back, my travel camera and lens would still be my Nikon Z7II with the really nice Nikkor 24-200mm f/4-6.3 VR Z lens attached. Not because of its 'full frame' sensor, but because of the lens. Also, the Z7II combination is no larger or heavier than an Olympus E-M1 camera with the 12-100mm f/4 lens, which in and of itself, is an excellent travel combination. If I currently owned that combination, I would most likely travel with only that as I had several times in the past.
With all those thoughts expressed, in the end, I still love using my X-T5 more than any other digital camera I’ve owned. As I have stated in the past, it is not about sensor size or image quality, but for me, about the user experience. My experience in using a camera has become one of my top satisfiers when it comes to photography. Now, if Fujifilm would just manufacture a high quality 16-140mm f/4 lens (better than the 16-80 and the 18-135), that would be my general photography and travel combination for sure!
How about you? If starting fresh today in photography and considering first, the kinds of photography you practice, but also cost, size, weight, image quality, camera features and lens selection, what format (not necessarily brand) would you choose? I'd like to hear from you.
Join me over at my website, https://www.dennismook.com.
Thanks for looking. Enjoy!
Dennis A. Mook
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The problem with full frame is not the size and weight of the bodies, but rather the size and weight of the lenses. The more lenses you carry, the greater the weight. When I was just a kid, in my 50s and 60s, size and weight didn't bother me. But now they do. (Or maybe I'm just getting lazy!) Anyway, I keep my outfit as light as possible.
ReplyDeleteDave Jenkins
Thanks for your comment Dave. I agree with your assessment of gear sizes. The micro4/3 Olympus E-M1 Mark III is about the same size and weight of the full frame Nikon Z7 but the lenses for the Nikon are so much larger, heavier and expensive. I say, go light, go small.
Deleteso for your photography, why is the larger sensor in the fuji better for you? do you crop more than before or do you feel that the sensor is just plain better regardless of it’s resolution?
ReplyDeleteThank you for your question. Sensor size no longer matters to me. I find the image quality from a micro4/3 or APS-C sensor is just fine, excellent in fact so I don’t ‘need’ full frame. However, sensor resolution does make a difference for me and it is a personal thing. I try to carefully compose so I don’t have to severely crop, but sometimes circumstances prevent that. The 40-45mp sensor resolution allows me, when necessary to do that. The more personal aspect of having a sensor with 40-45mp is that I derive pleasure from punching in to 100% and seeing minute details that were in the scene when I was standing before it. I enjoy seeing the sharp, tiny details. But that is just me. What I don’t like, for example, is looking at an image of, say, fall foliage, and when magnifying it to 100% only seeing vague outlines of the individual leaves instead of clearly seeing the individual leaves in sharp focus. For whatever reason, that spoils the image for me as it no longer reflects reality, only a failed rendition of what I saw. Again, it is a personal thing. The sensors with a greater pixel count allows me to look deeply into my photographs and relive the reality of what I saw and felt when making the image. I hope that answered your question.
DeleteUnderstood. Thanks.
DeleteI think it comes down to likely subject matter and tolerance for inconvenience.
ReplyDeleteI have been using an outfit made of a Z7 with 2470 and a wider lens, and an Olympus/OM for a couple of years. The Z images (and video) have a special quality. I can make severe crops in post without penalty. The Olympus/OM is a fun and easy camera to use for garden and telephoto images. The Z seems rather clunky compared to the OM for such subjects.
If my subjects were only landscapes and buildings, I would probably only have the Z7. As a generalist, I'm pretty comfortable with the current outfit.
So, to answer the question, I would choose a combination of full frame and m43 as the best tool kit for my work. That said, if I can get back to CO this year, only the Z7 2470 or 24200 will be in my pack.
Thank you for chiming in. I appreciate your comment and thoughts.
DeleteI’ve never done full frame, unless you count a Mamiya-Sekor DTL1000 with Kodachrome 64, but I’ve been extremely happy with both Nikon APS-C and Panasonic m4/3. I’ve made gorgeous poster size prints from both. I now value weight and convenience most highly and have settled on the Nikon Z50 as my forever camera.
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting and sharing your thoughts. You and I are of somewhat like minds. APS-C and micro4/3 are both excellent choices for sensor sizes. As has been noted, with full frame you can get cameras of the same size and weight, but the lenses are the difference. It’s nice to carry a smaller, lighter kit. Much more pleasurable for me. I’ve made 24” X 30” prints from m4/3 and no one could tell the difference between them and identical prints made with full frame. Not even me. I had to look on the back to determine which was which. As an aside, when in high school, I badly wanted a 35mm camera and spent hours with the Sears and Penny’s catalogues and wanted a Mamiya 1000DTL so much it hurt! But I had no money. Oh well.
DeleteDennis, you hit the nail in the head; I am tormented about this all the time! I have been shooting for a decade or more with Fuji (all the way to XT1), and ~5 years ago added a FF system (Sony but the brand doesn't matter). I am happy shooting most of the time with the X-T5, but when I have some serious landscape shoots then I agonize about what to take and often I take both systems if I don't have to hike. The lenses I have for the FF system are just phenomenal, and when I compare the landscape shots side by side, the FF ones are just amazing (don't get me wrong, I know how to squeeze every inch of sharpness out the RAF files with all the right tools). If I were shooting only with Fuji (like I was for several years), then I'll be contempt. Like you, I like to zoom in, print big, etc.
ReplyDeleteBottom line is that I can't part with any of the systems for now. One issue is weight and size for the longer reach lenses in a FF system; everything else is comparable for FF and APS-C these days.
Thank you for commenting. My suggestion is to keep both and embrace each for their differences and what each brings, not to your photography, but to your photographic pleasure. After all, it is about creativity, enjoyment and satisfaction and if both give that to you but in different ways or circumstances, then why not? Be happy you have the choice. Don’t worry about which to being. Enjoy!
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