Full Frame vs. Crop Sensor Cameras

Rarely does an APS-C Crop Sensor camera make waves across the photography and videography industry, but in the last year there have been multiple crop sensor cameras released that were able to generate a lot of attention. (e.g. the Sony a6700)I mention this because most professionals are looking for the full-frame variants with extremely expensive and heavy lenses. The crop sensor cameras are limited to the “amateur” or “content creator” who simply hasn’t been able to save up enough money from shooting freelance or wedding gigs to afford the full-frame older brother.

And while that may be true, that doesn’t mean that crop sensor cameras aren’t just as good, just as capable, and even better at some things than their bigger, bulkier, counterparts.

For instance – are you someone looking to travel? Vlog? Take multiple lenses with you?

Then you probably don’t want to be lugging around 10 pounds of camera gear when a 5 pound kit could do just as well. Ever tried vlogging with a full frame camera? Holding that thing up in front of your face for more than 30 seconds is a workout worth talking about. Not to mention trying to keep it steady.

Many camera enthusiasts will point to the fact that the focal length listed on crop sensor lenses are actually not true-to-scale and have a crop factor of about 1.5x. This means that the 18mm on your crop sensor is equivalent to roughly 27mm on a full frame.

But so what? If you want a true 18mm, then just get a 12mm lens and then you’re back to 18mm.

The real benefits of the full frame sensor come into play when doing low-light shoots where you want to capture as much light as humanly possible, and having a full frame sensor will allow you to keep a lower ISO and still capture more than light. But if you aren’t doing astrophotography or night shooting – then you’ll be just fine with crop sensor cameras. As mentioned at the top of this post, my #1 pick is the Sony a6700.