As I sit here in my 1950’s retro lounger listening to Madeleine Peyroux who is, BTW an amazing artist (I recommend her CD “Careless Love”) I am reading e-mails from all of you wonderful photo enthusiasts who visit this site.  I admit, I love sitting back, dimming the lights and firing up the ol’ vacuum tubes in my stereo while my mind gets lost in the music. I usually sit here going through my daily images while listening to some nice music, and other times I sit here answering e-mails.

Lately I have been getting some e-mails asking me what the difference is with all of these camera formats. Many people have no idea what full frame means. They think if they buy a NIkon D90 then the 18-105 kit lens will actually get them 18-105 mm. They have no idea that the sensor in that camera has what we call a 1.5 crop, meaning the sensor is not as big as a full frame of 35 mm film. It is an APS-C sized sensor. The zoom will really be giving them an effective 27-157 mm or so.

So what does this mean? Why do people go nuts for full frame digital cameras? I hope to clear all of this up for those of you who do not really know the difference between all of this technical jargon!

First of all, I have to say that great images can be made with just about ANY current camera. Gone are the days of horrible quality digital. Most of the cameras you see today feature the latest technology which in turn will give you, the user, the best image quality for your dollar. Just get motivated and go out and shoot!

Even some of the new Fuji small sensor cameras are pretty incredible in regards to high ISO but they lack in other areas. If you are someone who is 100% serious about photography, and want the most creative tool for your images then read on. Maybe one of these formats will be just what you are looking for!

4/3 format - This format was brought to us by Olympus and Kodak almost 10 years ago now. It is basically a smaller than half frame sensor in a 4/3 format. When Olympus released the first 4/3 camera it was their pro level E1. It was somewhat of a hit and that camera had MANY fans. It also had many who hated it, AND the format. Me, I was a HUGE fan of the E1 and it gave me some wonderful family memories as well as some GREAT pro portraits.

With the sensor in a 4/3 camera being so small (compared to full frame) you have some negatives and some positives. With 4/3 your lenses DOUBLE in focal length. If you have a 14mm lens it gives you the effect of a 28mm lens. This means if you were a fan of the 50mm focal length on an old film camera, then you want a 25mm on a 4/3 camera. To some, this was a negative and to others it was a blessing as the E1 became a capable wildlife camera. Buy a 300mm lens and it effectively becomes a 600mm! But if you want wide angle, you had to go to a 7-14mm lens and that lens, as great as it is comes in at nearly $1800! I must say though that that Olympus 7-14 Zuiko is an astonishing lens if you have the bucks.

Other issues! With the smaller sensors came other issues. High ISO noise was MUCH worse than that of competing APS-C and FULL FRAME cameras. When you try to pack millions of pixels on a small sensor you usually increase the noise and lose some dynamic range.

Dynamic range is important for digital and is just starting to creep around to the level of film. High DR cameras like the Fuji S5 Pro will give you more detail in the shadows where other cameras with low DR will show that part of the image as black. So early 4/3 cameras lacked DR and had higher noise in the images. One other niggle I have always had with 4/3 is shooting shallow depth of field images.

If you want to shoot an image where your subject is in sharp focus but the background all around the subject is creamy and out of focus, then the easiest way to do this is with a full frame sensor and a fast lens. A Canon 5DMKII and 85 1.2 lens is pretty much the king of shallow depth of field shooting in a DSLR. A Leica M8.2 and 50 Noctilux is amazing for an APS sized sensor. With a 4/3 camera, the best lenses to choose for this type of shooting would be an Olympus 50 F2 or their ultra pricey professional 150 F2. Panasonic/Leica also make a 25 1.4 which would be a nice “50mm” equivalent on a 4/3 camera but this will still not give you the BOKEH of a 50 as you are physically shooting a 25!

So what I found with the 4/3 format is it is great for those who like tons of DEPTH OF FIELD, shooting wildlife and those who prefer slightly smaller camera bodies. Today with the EP1, and E30 Olympus has improved their cameras with better HIGH ISO and Dynamic Range capabilities. I also like how they have set it to where you can shoot in 4/3, 3/2, 16X9 or even 6X6. They have some GREAT glass like the 7-14, 14-35 F2, 35-100 F2 and 150F2 on the high end. In the middle they have the 12-60 and 50 F2 along with the great 50-200 zoom.

APS-C Format. This one is the most popular and sold format of camera. Cameras like the NIkon D300, D5000, D90 use APS C and they have a crop of 1.5 or 1.6. Canon cameras usually come in with the 1.6 crop and Nikon 1.5. So a 50mm on a Nikon will act like a 75mm. On an Olympus 4/3 a 50 becomes a 100mm.

With APS-C we have even better high ISO performance, more dynamic range and while you lose some reach on the long end over 4/3 you gain the ability to get even more shallow DOF. When I shot a Nikon D300, my fave lens was a 25mm.

APS-H - Yes, even another format! Cameras like the Leica M8 and Canon 1D series are APS-H. These sensors are larger than the APS-C sensors and have a 1.3 crop factor. For example, a 28 mm on a Leica M8 will give you the FOV of a 35 mm lens on full frame. Again, we can get even greater dynamic range with the larger sensor. I am eagerly awaiting a full frame Leica M9 as this will give me the best of both worlds. Shooting my Leica glass in a way that they were made to be shot!

FULL FRAME format - This is it! What many digital shooters swear by. I have shot many Full Frame digitals like the Nikon D3, D700 and Canon 1Ds and 5D series. I can say that there is something special about shooting a full frame camera. The files from these FF machines are usually more robust with greater color, fabulous high ISO performance up to 12,800 and you also get the best out of your lenses.

The Nikon D700 is a WONDERFUL camera as is the 5DMKII. Both will let you shoot in near darkness and will reward you with great images. Slap an 85 1.4 on a NIkon D3x and shoot some portraits. YOU WILL BE AMAZED at the richness in the files. But at $7-8k, that camera is not cheap!

I love full frame, but I actually prefer my Leica M8 and its beautiful sensor to the D700 and the 5DII. If I were to enter the FF SLR game again I would probably spring for a Sony Alpha 900 and some wonderful Zeiss glass like the 135F2. The Sony A900 looks like a sweet camera and I have been tempted by it lately.

In any case, I hope some of you have found this useful. This info is everywhere on the net but I figured some of you who read my site and have e-mailed me about this may find it useful.

Coming up in the next few weeks...

Olympus E-P1 Review updated with RAW conversion results!

Some cool surprise previews

Some cool surprise reviews

New Canon review

New lens reviews

New processing lesson

Some recent photos...