Do you feel less creative with a non-full frame?

M

MarkoKovacevic

Well-known
Local time
12:55 PM
Joined
Jul 30, 2008
Messages
512
View My Gallery
Maybe it's cause I come from using film SLRs, but I feel really constrained when I'm using a crop sensor camera, especially with a 50mm. feels like I can't easily make a good image. anyone else get that, and any tips to overcome that?
 
Only way I've found is to keep buying wider and wider lenses.

I started with a 50mm on my R-D1 (1.5 crop), then 35mm then 28mm and am now at 21mm and will soon be looking for a 15mm. The wider I go, the happier I get.
 
A fifty is indeed a bit narrow on a cropped sensor camera. I would consider it a short tele/portrait lens instead. A 35mm lens may be more to your taste as a 'normal' lens.

When I'm not using zoom lenses, I take a 20 and 50 along with my (cropped sensor) D90. They form a 30-ish / 75-ish combo. The 20 is ideal for environmental, the 50 wide open is great for portraits..
 
i've never had this problem. just buy the equivalent FOV for your sensor and i don't see why there would be an issue. try not to get hung up on numbers.
 
tbh, i find it very annoying. many of us have favorite lenses we've come to know and love and understand at certain FLs. to all of a sudden no longer have a great 24, but rather a middling 35, or a perfect 80 thats now a much less useful 120, just really pisses me off!

i have 3 favorite FLs: 40, 80 and 24. i bought an ep2 which turns my favorite 40 into an also favorite 80. i can still use my 40 the way it was intended on film.

i determined to use my before-favorite 75-85s as my primary telephotos. for 'normal' 35-50 i got an x100, which is outstanding in that range.

and for 24, i shoot film, and double that lens as a 'changeup' 50 on digital.

it was primarily this issue that caused me to reformulate my all my gear to being very small. this allows me to carry one digi setup and one film setup together all the time in less space and weight than i could carry my old 5d and one extra lens.
 
recently I tested an old 58mm Takumar on my Nex, and had to step back from my subjects a bit more than usually....
LOL !
use a 35mm instead of a 50mm !
 
bowieknife said:
recently I tested an old 58mm Takumar on my Nex, and had to step back from my subjects a bit more than usually....
LOL !
use a 35mm instead of a 50mm !
Click to expand...

Same for me with the Super Takumar 55 recently. Meanwhile I am probably more creative with my X100 and 23mm lens (35mm 135 equivalent) than with my M6 and 35mm lens. In that I recently had Ektar and it was pretty magical, but my 90mm shots were best, and the X100 shots were a little Ektarish and better than what I got wth the Summicron 35 - cant remember what film simulation it was set to.
 
To answer the original question, I find that the larger the format, the better my photos are. Pretty much always repeatable. No idea why really, but it's true.
 
For systems where you are tring to use full frame lenses on crop sensors, I find it annoying. For cameras which have native lenses made for its sensor size, I don't mind at all... it's a non-issue.
 
tbarker13 said:
I can tell no difference.
For me, the crop factor thing is a non-issue.
Click to expand...

I was waiting for a professional to show up to comment with some real insight on this inquiry. Tim Barker is one of the professionals here I admire and I am sure he employs more different perspectives while shooting than someone like myself. BTW, for the characteristics like limited DOF, bokeh, etc., the FF format is known for, even the new Panasonic Summilux 25 DG on an m43 body delivers stunning results.. (bokeh too!)

Here's some comments from a Magnum photographer:

http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/multi_page.asp?cid=7-6468-7844
 
I can tell a difference for sure, but I have shot successfully with full-frame, APS-C and 4/3. It's only with the last that I ran into some constraints with throwing backgrounds out of focus, and this was with the 25mm Summilux D. But honestly, as long as my fields of view are covered (in a reasonably fast way), I don't find much difference. I've got a frame, I've got life happening around me, the challenge is to pick some piece of it in time/space and record it.

I'm not a pro, but I've had work from all three formats published. Notably the same subject (restaurants). Though I can see differences, I doubt most other people really can.
 
Maybe it's not less creative but perhaps a lack of imagination what a lens looks like on a crop camera. Had the 50mm and 85mm already when I bought my first Canon crop dslr. Always tried to calculate the FF-Crop Factor in. Solved it with a good crop-zoom-lens, there was no thinking about focal length necessary. Now with FF dslr the fixed lenses feel right again.
 
bowieknife said:
recently I tested an old 58mm Takumar on my Nex, and had to step back from my subjects a bit more than usually....
LOL !
use a 35mm instead of a 50mm !
Click to expand...

it's just the whole 'what you've come to expect' aspect. don't want to use a 35(or in my case, a 28mm nikkor, with a different 'look' ) to replace the classic 50mm look
 
focal lenght is irrelevant. Field of view is what counts.
if the 50 is too narrow, mount something wider. Easy.

I feel just as creative (or not) with my GDR-2 than with my D700.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

A
Cameras of Permanence - does anyone else feel this way?
2 3 4
Replies
60
Views
4K
Out to Lunch
O
J
  • Article Article
Scale-focusing full frame 35s: A cherished bygone breed. Part 1Simple, ubiquitous, and charming, they flourished for over a century!
2
Replies
24
Views
1K
ChrisPlatt
ChrisPlatt
B
50mm f1.4 & f1.5 Max Aperture tests - Summarit, Summilux v2, Nikkor f1.4, Summilux ASPH
Replies
13
Views
1K
brusby
B
lxforrest
A DIY retro digital camera project - Blog #2 Rethinking of retro digital camera
Replies
0
Views
174
lxforrest
lxforrest
A
A day out with the SL2-S
Replies
7
Views
652
Archiver
A
Back
Top Bottom