IQ of FF vs APS-C


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android17

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Sep 27, 2009
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Went out to take photos with a friend, and i played around with his Sony A850 (full frame DSLR). Love the handling and build of the camera, and kana poisoned by it. Best of all, the Sony A850 cost only $2.6k (first hand!), really really cheap for a FF DSLR.

I remember reading an article (forgot by whom though) which says that full frame sensors will take sharper and better IQ pictures compared to an APS-C sensor. Just wondering how true this is?

I dont take landscape photography, my primary interests are Portraiture and Macro photography. I also dont print out photos frequently, and even when printing, i only print small sizes. Will a FF DSLR be wasted for my purpose?

I already owned a number of full frame lenses, due to the fact that I preferred buying Minolta lenses over Sony lenses. The only non FF lens I often use is the Carl Zeiss 16-80, which im sure I can easily sell it away due to its popularity among Sony APS-C users. So lenses side i hv no worries at all.

Thus it got me considering if I should make a move to FF, since at the cost of $2.6k its pretty affordable (maybe even get a 2nd hand one for cheaper price).

Anyone has both a FF and APS-C sensor DSLR? How does the IQ and sharpness compare?

Thanks.
 

The whole "full frame vs. APS-C" debate has been chewed over and discussed endlessly already on here. Please search, there's no point repeating everything over and over again.

My 2c: In the end it's not the sensor size, but pixel density. BUT, if you take the shots with the A850 and then reduce the size to match your APS-C, you'll notice a lot more detail and sharpness.
 

The whole "full frame vs. APS-C" debate has been chewed over and discussed endlessly already on here. Please search, there's no point repeating everything over and over again.

My 2c: In the end it's not the sensor size, but pixel density. BUT, if you take the shots with the A850 and then reduce the size to match your APS-C, you'll notice a lot more detail and sharpness.

just one final question.

Lets say I took a picture using 60mm with a 12mp APS-C, and resized it to a 6mp resolution

then i take the same picture with a 90mm on a 24mp FF (so that FOV will be the same) and resized it a 6mp resolution.

Will I still get more detail and sharpness with the FF or will it be similar in this case?
 

just one final question.

Lets say I took a picture using 60mm with a 12mp APS-C, and resized it to a 6mp resolution

then i take the same picture with a 90mm on a 24mp FF (so that FOV will be the same) and resized it a 6mp resolution.

Will I still get more detail and sharpness with the FF or will it be similar in this case?

If the quality of both lenses are equal, yes you will get more detail and sharpness
 

just one final question.

Lets say I took a picture using 60mm with a 12mp APS-C, and resized it to a 6mp resolution

then i take the same picture with a 90mm on a 24mp FF (so that FOV will be the same) and resized it a 6mp resolution.

Will I still get more detail and sharpness with the FF or will it be similar in this case?

Marginally, but if you resize both to 6MP size it'll be hard to distinguish.
 

ask you, how sharp or detailed do you want your pictures to be?

for ff versus aps-c debate there will be medium format versus ff debate.

for medium format, still got one step up if you want.

it never ends. you own a big shopping building and you want to blow up the thing so big that you can make a banner displaying your work? :bsmilie:

i am a hobbyist. i do this for fun, sometimes maybe can win this prize, get people to buy photos now and then, but that's not important to me, especially since first one has nothing to do with detail or sharpness, they normally want 1200 pixels largest size or 8r print size...... second one not often enough to justify upgrading.. what's important is that i enjoy what i do, within my means. and i don't believe that this enjoyment involves getting "more detailed and sharp" photos. as far as i can see, 14 megapixels aps-c is more than sufficient for anything i will print in my lifetime, can even blow up to reasonable size if i want.
 

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the reason for upgrading is firstly the A850 is pretty cheap at $2.6k, which is just a few hundred more than a brand new A700.

The other reason is because most of my lenses are full frame lenses (minolta lenses), so making the switch to FF would not need a change of lenses at all.

Thus since its so cheap, if the A850 offers more details and IQ at just a slight increase in price, im considering to get it instead.
 

Your main image quality gain (by image quality I am discounting any DoF differences) is going to be down to the increase from 12 -> 24mp and not from going APS-C -> FF.
 

the reason for upgrading is firstly the A850 is pretty cheap at $2.6k, which is just a few hundred more than a brand new A700.

The other reason is because most of my lenses are full frame lenses (minolta lenses), so making the switch to FF would not need a change of lenses at all.

Thus since its so cheap, if the A850 offers more details and IQ at just a slight increase in price, im considering to get it instead.

Its a nice dilemma to have :)
lol, Looks like its a no brainer for you then. All pros and no cons
 

the reason for upgrading is firstly the A850 is pretty cheap at $2.6k, which is just a few hundred more than a brand new A700.

The other reason is because most of my lenses are full frame lenses (minolta lenses), so making the switch to FF would not need a change of lenses at all.

Thus since its so cheap, if the A850 offers more details and IQ at just a slight increase in price, im considering to get it instead.

you just have to buy it and see for yourself. :devil:
 

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