APS-C vs Full Frame? What’s the difference?
Any photographer who begins their journey using digital cameras come to the first road block, should I get an APS-C or full frame camera? The differences is that APS-C has a smaller sensor size which makes the lens focal range and aperature 1.5x higher than that of a full frame sensor. For example, a 50 mm f 1.8 in terms of APS-C will become a 75 mm f 2.7, approximately.
With a larger focal range and aperture, this means that one is shooting at a farther range and have less stops of light. This is beneficial if one does nature photography for example. When it comes to photographing animals, having a larger range is better and having a faster aperture such as f 1.8 isn’t necessary since having more detail at apertures like f 4+ is more important.
On the other hand, having these increases to range and aperature stops is more disadvantageous when shooting portraits or subjects with less available light. There are cases where you will want to have a larger depth of field for your subject to make it stand out to the background. In my example to the left, I took it from the Guggenheim and I was able to blur out the background and really highlight the figure in focus with a low aperture of f 1.8. Also with the large aperture I was able to grab a high quality picture with low noise even with the dimly lit room.
The main take away of this is that your focus will define what settings are more important for you [ISO/Shutter Speed/Aperture]. However, other important factors are cost and functionality.
Photography is expensive both as a hobby and a profession. Disclaimer, as a Nikon user, I will focus on their models.
Beginner and hobbyist level cameras use mainly APS-C (there are professionals who use APS-C bodies like the Nikon D7500/D500). With a smaller sensor size, it makes creating of these cameras much more affordable for companies. This directly translates into cheaper prices. I began on the lowest tier, a Nikon D3300 and it’s bundled price with the kit lens was around $600. The flagship model in comparison is the Nikon D5, valued at $6500, that’s more than 10x the price. However, this price is justifiable. With a larger professional audience using full frame, the costs of these cameras also include build quality, client support, maintenance with functionality, such as higher buffer rates, frames per second, megapixel count and much more. These benefits do exist for APS-C bodies like the D7500/D500 but are more expensive than the beginner bodies like my D3300.
The idea for sensor size directly translates to lenses as well, leaving us with DX and FX formats. DX is for APS-C and FX is for full frame. Their prices, like the bodies vary greatly. A 35 mm f 1.8 DX is ~$200 whereas its FX counterpart is ~$530. It’s understandable because FX lenses require a larger size, equipment cost with R&D (research and development). Nevertheless, the quality that come from these lens are amazing. It mostly comes from either a personal or business standpoint whether or not you want to invest in these lenses.
The one tip I hear and recommend to anyone is to invest is good quality glass. I invested in FX format lenses for my 50 mm and 70–200 mm which have proved themselves to have amazing quality both from my D3300 and current D600. There are high quality lenses for APS-C crop sensor bodies, such as Sigma’s art lens lineup but their prices are also an investment starting around $800. So it’s up to you to find good deals for these high quality lenses because bodies periodically upgrade but a good lens can last for a lifetime. My current manual focus Nikkor 50 mm was made ~30 years ago but works like a charm.
In the end I have made an upgrade from my Nikon D3300 to a Nikon D600. I am very happy with the switch. However, I have always been trying to learn more and experiment with photography even with my APS-C body so having this upgrade doesn’t mean I magically become better. It all comes down to finding what’s most affordable for you, what your subject is (sports/nature/portraiture/landscape/street) and investing in good quality glass.
