Remember a while back we have discussed about different size of sensor format. Very often if you go out to hire a photographer, whether it is for a birthday party, a wedding or a family shot, he or she will most likely show up with a Canon/Nikon DSLR (and likely to be a Full Frame).
Then we had another article about a quick camera choosing guide, but people still tend to ask the same question: if they ever need to get a Full Frame camera?
(Disclamier: I have never owned a Full Frame and apart from the fact that they are quite expensive, they are heavy as! I have been a Nikon shooter for years, owning D3100 and later on D7100 till now. At times a FF system may look attractive but when I calm myself down and ask myself, often my answer is: no, I don't need it. So I will try my best to address this question using my existing knowledge.)
Deciding which system to go for can be a painful process, but ultimately this really comes down to your photography style. A full frame camera such as Nikon D810, D750, or Canon 5D series, often has the following advantages (or characteristics):
- High ISO Performance (i.e. low noise)
- Better AF tracking
- Higher image resolution (this is not an absolute statement thou)
- Shallow Depth of field
- and more
However, it comes with the following trade-off:
- Heavy body
- Heavy lens (if you want to get the most out of your camera)
- Expensive
- Shallow Depth of field (Yes, this is not always an "advantage")
- Size of body and lens
Wedding/Event photographers love using Full Frame, mainly due to the fact that FF camera has great ISO performance. For example, when they are shooting in a dark church, or at an evening indoor reception with limited lighting, they need more light but they cannot make the shutter speed too slow otherwise will be unable to freeze motions, and simply shooting wide open aperture may not be enough for lighting too. Therefore high ISO becomes handy enabling them to capture very low noise pictures with high ISO and high shutter speed.
At a professional grade (say the D4S or D5), you can probably take a ISO 5000 shot and will look like a ISO 400 on a D3200. (I haven't actually compared since I don't have a D4S around, but you get the idea :) )
However, to get the most out of your Full Frame camera, you will need a good full frame lens to go with it.
Let say the 70-200mm f2.8 - it is *only* (/sacarsm mode engaged) around $2200 AUD and about 1.5kg in weight. Popping that onto a D5 - which is a 1.2kg body with price tag of only $7000AUD, here we are talking about a $10K AUD kit with almost 3kg on your shoulder.
So now you may say: well, D5 is a bit too extreme, let's go for a cheaper consumer grade FF such as D610 - which is a $2000AUD body with around 1kg; so we are still talking about $4000-5000AUD gear with 2.5kg on your shoulder.
I am not trying to say that we should not go for Full Frame, by all means, go for it if you have the money and body strength; but for me, I probably don't want to carry 3kg on my body and lifting it up and down with my arms whole day to do a shoot - and I know for sure that I will just end up leaving the camera at home.
Also, the shallow depth of field can be a problem too. While it will look amazing with the seperation of background, it requires good skill to get the subject in focus since your focal plane becomes so thin now. At the end, you will always end up stepping it down a bit from f2.8, say, to f4 or even f5.6; which means less light in and hence higher ISO and....Oh and this is why FF needs to have good ISO performance too!
So, in conclusion, as much as I admire the strength and power of a full frame system (I absolutely don't mind to own a D810 to be honest! LOL), I don't think they best suit my needs as a lazy-and-weak-body-strength landscape photographer. But like I said if you have the money and body, and you absolutely need top notch quality pictures, and you need amazing low light performance with super shallow depth of field - Full Frame (or even Medium Format) will be the best choice for you!
We will discuss about APS-C and M43 in the near future.
What gear do you or did you have? And what is your favourite system? Let us know! :)