Cropped Frame With More Pixels vs Full Frame Question

[smkphoto]

Hi,

As a long time hobbyist photographer I’m soliciting an opinion on upgrading my camera.  I’m struggling with two ideas about what approach to take and how much weight to put on each side of the equation.  Maybe this topic has been written about this but I couldn’t easily find anything satisfying.

I want to take photos that are more “crisp.”  Maybe it’s me, but I think a better camera may help.  I currently have a Nikon D5100 (with the usual kit lenses) and it takes “OK to good” photos, but when I compare most of my photos with those of others, I find that I come up short; especially if I enlarge them to greater than 11×14.  (You can view some of my photos on my Flickr account https://www.flickr.com/photos/100469022@N03/ to get an idea of what I shoot.)  My first thought is to move up to a D7500, simply because it has more pixels and I think that may help.  But I also think a full frame sensor may also be the answer, such as a used D800 – even though financially it might be a stretch.

As an enthusiast, I don’t need to come at this from a serious professional angle.  I take mostly outdoor, nature, landscape shots and I sometimes like to give large framed photos as gifts; hence the question.

Is there a relatively objective, easy way to weigh the pro’s and con’s?

Thanks,

Maurice

[Kent DuFault]

There are others here on the forum that are more tech oriented about gear than I am. However, here is my 2-cents…

From my research… pixel size is more important to image clarity than the pixel count.

A digital back on a Hasselblad has larger pixels, therefore an image from that camera with a 50mb digital back is capable of producing a finer image than a 50mb DSLR camera, which has smaller size pixels.

I say a finer image, because there is a difference between image clarity and image sharpness.

What pixel count provides is the ability to crop and still have a large image file. So… you can crop a 50mb file in half and still have 25mb to work with, which is plenty large for most any application.

For the average shooter out there- I think there are two key aspects to sharp imaging and neither of them have to do with pixels. I say this because most of us do not enlarge our images to huge proportions. To give you an example. I worked at a portrait studio that went digital in 2003. We were using the Canon 10D camera. This was a 6.3 megapixel camera. We routinely sold up to 30×40 inch portrait prints from this camera that our clients found fully acceptable.

The first aspect to a sharp image is the quality of the lens. The lens plays a HUGE role in image sharpness. You stated that you are using the usual kit lenses. I’m guessing that is likely your issue right there.

Secondly, is the technique of the photographer. You can have the best camera and the best lens – and if your technique is poor, you will still end up with soft images.

The D5100 is a DX sensor camera that was introduced in 2011. In photography today, that is ancient. It’s probably time to move up.

The D800 was also released in 2011.

My advice would be to buy a nice mid-level current model DSLR camera, and then put most of your money into a super quality lens or two. Outside of OEM lenses the Sigma Art Lenses seem to be getting many rave reviews.

So… to sum up. Sensor size plays a role in image clarity, especially when the image is reproduced in very large sizes (think billboard). However, you won’t realize that difference in most of your applications. Pixel resolution (number of pixels) allows cropping while maintaining a decent file size for reproduction. It also plays a minor role in image clarity when enlarging the image. The lens plays an as important, in my opinion more important, role in image sharpness. Shooting technique can soften images- no matter how good your gear is.

[Dahlia Ambrose]

@smkphoto Hi Maurice, welcome to the forums. Good to have you here 🙂

Kent has given some great advice. We have a lot of other photographers here in the community who would be able to give you advise on this. I am tagging a few members here so they get to see the post.

cc: @reyers @tobiepsg @erik-fransman @robertapple @nikon-nut @dchester1001 @chrispook – hope you don’t mind me tagging you here 🙂

[smkphoto]

Hi Ken,

A bit behind on my correspondence.  Thanks for the info.  I ended up getting a reasonable deal on a “used” D810.  It made a significant difference, but new lenses will be in the future – budget issues 🙂

[Rob Eyers]

Hi Maurice. Kent’s advice is spot on. I’ve gone through the same quandary so my growth path may shed some light.

My first decent DSLR was a Canon 7D which is a crop sensor. I was advised at the time to buy the best glass as it would work on both a crop sensor and a full frame. I took that advice and used only L series glass on that 7D for a few years. I tried some kit lenses of friends in that time and was glad I had the best glass.  When it was time to upgrade I bought the 6D which was Canon’s budget full frame. All of my glass worked perfectly and I saw a sizable improvement with the larger sensor even though there weren’t many more pixels. I have since purchased the 5D Mk iv which has better processing etc. The original glass I had from the 7D only now is being replaced with the newer versions and the new body is making it easier to evaluate the improvements in the glass which is incremental compared to the crop to full body change.

My suggestion would be to get your hands on a top quality lens and try it out on your existing body. Even if you decide to upgrade your body later that glass will serve you well.

After looking at your Flickr I see that you’re a bit like me in that you like to shoot a wide variety of subjects. Be aware that when you go to the full frame your lenses will not have the same reach so you’ll need a longer lens for some of your nature shots, which will also put new demands on your technique.

In the mean time I would suggest that you see how sharp an image you can get from your existing gear. Put it on a tripod, manually zoom in and get as tight a focus as you can, set the ISO to as low as it can go, use an f stop of 5.6 to 8, lock the mirror up and then release the shutter with a cable release or timer to see how good your setup can be. If the results are not as sharp as you would like then the upgrade path is your only path. If you are happy with the results then technique might require some work.

Another subject all together is how you’re post processing your images. I won’t go into sharpening here but would be happy to give you some processing suggestions visa vi sharpening if that would be of any interest. I’ve gone back and reprocessed some older 7D images with techniques I currently use and have been surprised at how much better they have come out.

In a nut shell…follow Kent’s advice!

Hope something here is of some help for you. Cheers.

 

[Robert Apple]

I think Kent pretty much nailed it.

[Federico Alegria]

If you want to continue with a DSLR setup, then the second-handed D800 is your best choice. As Kent said, it is about the sensor and not the count. I also think you are at a very good moment in your career as a photographer since you haven’t invested that much in gear, ergo, you should consider mirrorless options from Fujifilm, Nikon or Sony.

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