Re: DSLR question: Full-frame or cropped body?

"Just JT" <JohnnyThor@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
"jimkramer" <Newsreader1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

The next question is what do you like to shoot?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ninety percent of my shoots will be portraiture type engagements.

A full frame format would be significantly better *if* these are
not simply a studio environment (with lights and backdrop all
pre-arranged). The larger format sensor gives you less depth
of field for any given lense.

Do you like very wide landscapes?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'd venture into this, too. I'd like to shoot nice landscapes and use them
as my PC background and photo gallery screensaver.

There is some advantage, for wide angle lenses, to using full
frame format.

Do you like fast action sports photography?
~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'd probably shoot indoor sports more than outdoor sports.

There is a distinct advantage to the newer Nikon cameras, and
most particularly to the D3. Higher ISO's and faster continuous
mode frame rates are significant advantages. (I'm not sure what
Canon has, but that gives an indication of which features you want
to look at.)

Do you like to go birding?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shooting animals in their native habitat would be interesting, too.

A cropped format will give a significant advantage for long
lenses. When you buy an 800mm telephoto and use a 2x
telextender, the only real way to get more reach is to put it on
cropped format camera as opposed to a full frame.

Are you just going to display on the TV or do you like
to do prints, if so how big?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If I'd do prints, the largest would probably be the size of wall paintings.

How big is a wall painting? If you mean 8x10, you don't need
20+ megapixels. If you mean 48x60, you do.

If I ask if you like to do narrow depth of field shots
do you know what I'm asking? Answer if you do.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A narrow depth of field would be when the background and foreground are all
in focus. This is accomplished by setting the aperture to a high number, say
F16 and up. Correct?

That would be a wider depth of field. Narrow would be where you
can't get both ends of a long bridge in focus when shooting with
a 400mm lense late in the evening on a cloudy day (forcing you
to use f/4 to get the exposure right). The smaller the f/stop
number, the wider the aperture (the bigger the hole in the
middle of the diaphragm) and the narrower the depth of field.

DOF is a great artistic tool and knowing precisely how to
manipulate it is absolutely necessary. Note that more or less
DOF is not necessarily good or bad, and it depends on what you
want to do. In one situation it might be a very narrow depth of
field that you want, and another might call for very wide.

Now for the really tough question, What's wrong with
the 20D you've got now?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A number of criticisms:

- The LCD viewer could be larger.

Insignificant... :-)

- Would be nice to use the LCD viewer as a "live viewer."

In practice I doubt you'll find it to be of much use, though it
is possible.

- Higher resolution than 8.2MP would be nice for the purpose of cropping.
The Canon EOS 5D Mark II has max resolution of 21MP; that should be plenty
for cropping.

There are tradeoffs to get that sort of resolution though. It
cost more. It probably, for any given design, results in either
more noise or lower maximum ISO than would otherwise have been
available. It uses a lot of disk space for huge files.
Obviously those may not be as important as having the extra
pixels, but generally for someone who isn't sure they'll ever
print anything larger than 8x10 there is no point in 20+ MP,
while for anyone typically thinking of printing at dimensions
larger than 20" those pixels are essential.

Roughly, you want to print a 300 pixels per inch, and will never
want to go below about half that. If you have a 3000x4000 (a 12
MP) camera, that is 10x13. If you have a 4000x5000 (20 MP)
camera, that is 13x17, ideally.

Hence, on lucky images that print well at lower resolutions,
20x26 is the best one can expect from a 12MP camera and 26x34 is
the best from a 20MP camera.

- Auto white balance is never right, this is why I went into the M mode.

Shoot RAW.

- Would be nice to have video recording with the still camera.

Buy a videocam.

- The Canon has no all-purpose SUPERZOOM lens (17-200mm) so I believe having
two bodies would be better; one for closeups and one for magnifying distant
objects.

That is a very valid point. Note that nobody, Canon or
otherwise, has a "good" superzoom with a 10x zoom ratio. They
are all less than stellar.

Some of the advantage of having two cameras is the ability to
match the best format to a given subject (hence one full frame
and one cropped frame camera)... and also being able to have a
quality lense rapidly available for either end of the spectrum.
Put the longest lense on the cropped format camera and the
shorter one on the full frame camera, and reach for the one that
matches the moment.

--
Floyd L. Davidson <http://www.apaflo.com/floyd_davidson>
Ukpeagvik (Barrow, Alaska) floyd@xxxxxxxxxx
.

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