Equivalence - Angle of View, Depth of Field, Aperture vs. sensor size

roombarobot

I thought this was a very good article discussing the equivalence of lens values when used on different sized sensors:
http://www.dpreview.com/articles/2666934640/what-is-equivalence-and-why-should-i-care

We've had a lot of discussion on this topic so this could be another good source of information to add to the heap. Enjoy!

Ironheart

Here's a good one too:
http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/digital-camera-sensor-size.htm
As well close to home:
http://forum.nikonrumors.com/discussion/2684/is-dx-superior-to-fx/

EiTaro

Tony Northrup's take on the issue:

manhattanboy

I thought this was a very good article discussing the equivalence of lens values when used on different sized sensors:
http://www.dpreview.com/articles/2666934640/what-is-equivalence-and-why-should-i-care

We've had a lot of discussion on this topic so this could be another good source of information to add to the heap. Enjoy!

I read that article and found it very good. It basically says that you can't have your cake and it too.
I shot yesterday and was disappointed with the 7100 results when I saw them in post; I thought maybe I accidentally botched something. Then I read this article. I have been shooting a bunch with 2.8 teles on FF lately and am beginning to wonder how much of an image penalty there is when shooting crop...

FlowtographyBerlin

Wow that Tom Northrup Video has very bad sound, apart from his rather specific intonation. Sounds like he's using a noise gate in post but doesn't really know how. Wrong tool in the first place. (It's like taking a picture in bad lighting conditions and it's all shaky and noisy and then trying to fixi it in photoshop.)

Msmoto

The way I take a photo…. decide where I will be in relationship to the subject depending on what I want as a perspective. Then decide on the area I want to cover. Finally, the format i am shooting, and what lens will be required to obtain my desired result.

All of the tech talk is interesting, but the best way IMO to learn your equipment is to use it. Find out in the practical world what it does, and in some cases the tech data may be useful to initially determine these issues but in practice is always where it counts.

Nuke

All of the tech talk is interesting, but the best way IMO to learn your equipment is to use it. Find out in the practical world what it does, and in some cases the tech data may be useful to initially determine these issues but in practice is always where it counts.

+1

They love to argue about this stuff on DPR and I can't see the point. Usually between the DSLR and u4/3 guys. I figure use whatever sensor format camera and play into it's strengths by learning how to use it. It's becomes pretty clear what it does best after a bit of playing.

donaldejose

Tony Northrup's video is very good. I cannot handle too much data in my head so I use only FX and DX sensor sizes and a general rule of thumb that DX will be about equal to FX if you give DX one stop more light. For example, FX f5.6 Image Quality and DOF and Bokeh is about equal to DX f4 and FX 400 ISO Image Quality is about equal to DX 200 ISO. This means FX f2.8 would require DX 1.4 and there are no DX f1.4 lenses so you cannot duplicate the look of f2.8 on a DX sensor. Also, no matter what advances are made in DX sensor technology FX will always give you about one stop cleaner higher ISO images because that FX sensor is working with twice the amount of light to produce the same image. However, we don't always need the range FX offers. We do need more DX lenses like the Sigma 18-35 f1.8 Art lens. Once we have those "pro" quality DX lenses and once DX sensors can produce a clean image at ISO 3200 (we may be there with the next generation of DX sensors) DX will be "good enough" for almost everything we do other than massive enlargements or shooting in very low light. While FX will still provide about a one stop advantage the real need for that advantage will be rare. Maybe Nikon will have a new DX sensor in the next high end DX body they release and maybe Sigma will produce a 50-150mm f1.8 DX Art lens. Then we will have a "D4 lite" system (good up to ISO 3200) for less than half the cost of a current D4s, 24-70 f2.8 and 70-200 f2.8.