Over the last three days, I have released three articles covering the usage and target audience for Full frame, APS-C and micro four-thirds cameras. As someone who has used all these formats for decades in one form or other, for both fun and for serious use (earning money or professional shoots for various areas in photography) I have found the feedback quite interesting from those who responded on the websites and especially on social media.
You choose your camera because of your needs, and as the articles all pointed out, each camera has it’s advantages and disadvantages. Along with this, each camera sensor usually attracts certain people for certain reasons. Of course, there will always be some people who use certain cameras out of the normal circumstances, that is the fun of photography. It might not be considered the norm, but photography is anything but normal.
You’ll find that full frame cameras are indeed the Gold Standard for most professional photographers who want stunning results in most conditions and genres of photography (but not always all, as sometimes smaller or bigger sensors are needed for their advantages, a sensor size alone does not make it a “professional” camera), APS-C are the perfect camera for amateurs and even a select section of professionals wanting a perfect middle ground between performance and size, and you have micro four-thirds that has it’s own following of fans (and rightly so as it’s a capable system for video, wildlife and sport). While sensor size doesn’t really relate to if it should be used by an amateur or professional photographer, there are patterns and reasons (as described throughout the articles) on why, as the sensor gets bigger, it is used more and more by more experienced photographers and professionals.
The most vehement feedback came from crop sensor users (APS-C and M43) who just didn’t understand (or didn’t agree on) why full frame was the Golden Standard, it was almost a knee-jerk reaction, and until they got through all the articles, most of them realised why this now actually makes sense. It is understandable though, as every single one of those who commented do not use their cameras for paid work or work that needs what full frame offers (compared to other sensors), and are happily invested in their camera systems. Many of them, on their own admission, had never even used a full frame camera, and I find that interesting. It’s not a competition, and honestly, if you’re getting the images you want, then it really doesn’t matter what others call different camera systems.
When it came to feedback on the crop sensor articles, because more people had (and have) used them, and almost every full frame user has come from a crop sensor, the feedback was less of a knee-jerk reaction, as of course, they realised that every sensor has it uses and each camera you decide to buy, you buy for a reason (and you’ll see people swapping in all directions, APS-C>Full frame, APS-C>M43 and even Full frame>M43 and everything in-between). In hindsight, with regards to the articles, I should have started with the micro four-thirds camera and worked up!
The simple truth is, camera sensor size matters when you know what you want from it (be it a smaller sensor for reach, or a larger sensor for its numerous benefits). A few people mentioned Medium Format, and they also correctly pointed out that if the price was right, and the cameras had better autofocus, could shoot 30FPS and be fast, efficient and small, then that system would be the norm and no doubt the Platinum standard. But the reality is, they are not in common and everyday use, and for most of us, they are cameras we just don’t see out in Weddings, events, portrait shoots, wildlife shoots or street photography. I’m sure that day will come though!
For my journey, ignoring my decades of years shooting film on various formats including 35mm cameras, 110 cameras and Polaroids, I started digital photography with (this simplified journey) Nikon APS-C DSLR> Nikon full frame DSLR > Nikon APS-C DSLR > Fujifilm APS-C > Nikon full frame. In this timeline I also shot Olympus M43 and of course many 1″ and CCD sensor cameras from all sorts of manufacturers.
The times you see me using full frame cameras in that timeline are the times I have actively been photographing paid work, although there have been some cross-over (which you’ll often see with photographers slowly upgrading or fine-tuning their kits).
I think the most fun smaller sensor camera I’ve enjoyed is the Olympus EPL-8. In hindsight (again), and looking at the images, it had beautiful output, and I should have kept it just for fun. I can see the appeal of M43 cameras (quite a few of my friends swear by them).
When, you work closely within photography circles, be it photographing weddings, events and portraits, or spending the day in a bird or wildlife hide, or on a street walk with a group of photographers, or taking a photography workshop, the funny thing is… No one really cares what camera you are using when you are all sharing wonderful photographs on the back of your screen, or later online, or even later in print. They are interested yes, but they understand we are all different and have different needs.
It is as if all reality goes out of the window when posting online, as the partisan photographers like to push their wonderful Sony cameras, or their latest Canon autofocus update making it the best thing since sliced bread, or they know a guy (usually seen on YouTube) who shoots with a Hasselblad Medium Format camera and how “everyone” is now doing it. When you’re only seeing a tiny bit of what is actually going on, or only searching for what you want to see, or relying on YouTube, you get a very distorted reality (and I fully understand this, as I share jpeg “recipes” and if I was not so involved with photographers in real-life, I would think it’s a normal thing to do, but absolutely no one I have met does it other than me!), and hopefully the three previous articles have opened your eyes.
If you’ve just started photography, or you’re a occasional amateur, a serious amateur, a part-time professional or full time professional, you know the camera (the tool!) that works for you and your chosen path in photography.
I hope that this series has been useful to you all. Most importantly, you’ve learned about why we have different sensors in our cameras and the general case scenarios and use cases for them.
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