Full-frame digital SLR
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A full-frame digital SLR is a digital single-lens reflex camera (DSLR) fitted with an image sensor that is the same size as a 35 mm (36x24 mm) film frame.[1][2] This is in contrast to cameras with smaller sensors, typically of a size equivalent to APS-C-size film, much smaller than a full 35 mm frame. As of 2007[update], the majority of digital cameras, both compact and SLR models, use a smaller-than-35 mm frame, as it is easier and cheaper to manufacture imaging sensors at a smaller size. Historically, the earliest digital SLR models, such as the Kodak DCS 100, also used a smaller sensor.
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[edit] Use of 35 mm film-camera lenses
Assuming compatible lens mounts, many lenses, including manual focus models, designed for 35 mm cameras can be mounted on the latest DSLR cameras. When a lens designed for a full-frame camera, whether film or digital, is mounted on a DSLR with a smaller sensor size, only the center of the lens’s image circle is captured. The edges are cropped off, which has the effect of zooming in on the center section of the imaging area. The ratio of the size of the captured image to the size of the full-frame 35 mm format is known as the “crop factor” or “focal-length multiplier″, and is typically in the range 1.3–2.0 for non-full-frame digital SLRs.
[edit] Advantages and disadvantages of full-frame digital SLRs
Full-frame DSLR cameras offer a number of advantages over their smaller sensor counterparts. One advantage relates to the use of wide-angle lenses. Given the crop factor of small sensor DSLRs, wide angle lenses lose their characteristic wide angle of view and take on the optical quality of lenses with longer focal lengths. For example, a 24mm lens on a small sensor camera with a crop factor of 1.5 takes on the optical characteristics of a 36mm lens. Used on a full-frame DSLR, the lens will continue to have the optical characteristics of a 24mm lens, and will offer the same angle of view as it would on a 35mm film camera.
In addition to wide-angle photography, another major advantage of full-frame cameras concerns pixel size. The larger sensor allows for larger pixels or photosites that provide wider dynamic range and lower noise at high ISO levels.[3] As a consequence, full-frame DSLRs may produce better quality images in certain high contrast or low light situations.
The full-frame sensor can also be useful with perspective control or tilt/shift lenses; in particular, the wider angle of view is often more suitable for architectural photography.
While full-frame DSLRs offer advantages for wide-angle photography, smaller sensor DSLRs offer advantages for telephoto photography because the crop factor of small-sensor DSLRs enhances the telephoto effect of the lenses. For example, a 200mm lens on a small sensor camera with a crop factor of 1.5 has the same angle of view as a 300mm lens on a full-frame camera. The extra "reach," for a given number of pixels, can be helpful in specific areas of photography such as wildlife or sports.[4]
Disadvantage of full-frame digital SLRs include the facts that:
- They cost substantially more than DSLRs with smaller sensors
- They are usually larger than comparable cameras with smaller sensors.
- They are usualler heavier.
- The crop factor which results in needing longer focal lengths for the same angle of view adds considerably to the price, as telephoto lens of long focal lengths are much more expensive than wide angle lenses with short focal lenghts. The most expensive lenses from any of the major camera manufacturers are always the very long focal length lenses.
However, it should be noted that since full-frame digital SLRs are mainly intended for professional use, they contain more features than typical SLR comsumer-grade SLRs, so some of the extra size and weight can be attributed to that.
[edit] Other uses of full-frame
[edit] CCD image sensor architectures
The term full-frame is also used to refer to a type of charge-coupled device sensor techology in which the sensor elements occupy the entire sensor surface rather than sharing space with associated pixel storage sites.[5][6]
The use of full-frame CCDs is typically restricted to digital SLRs since they require the use of a mechanical shutter and do not output a continuous image. The two uses of the term full-frame are not otherwise related.
[edit] 135 film cameras
In 35 mm (135 film) cameras, the terms full-frame and half-frame were used to distinguish the 24 × 36 mm and 18 × 24 mm film formats;[7] the half-frame 35 mm film format is also known as single-frame in movie film, and as a result, full-frame film cameras were sometimes known as double-frame.[8]
[edit] Past & present full-frame digital SLRs
- Contax N Digital (2002)
- Canon EOS-1Ds (2002)
- Kodak DCS Pro 14n (2003)
- Kodak DCS Pro SLR/n (2004)
- Kodak DCS Pro SLR/c (2004)
- Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II (2004)
- Canon EOS 5D (2005)
- Nikon D3 (2007)
- Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III (2007)
- Nikon D700 (2008)
- Sony α 900 (2008)
- Canon EOS 5D Mark II (2008)
- Nikon D3X [9] (2008)
- Leica S2 (2008 — sensor 56% larger than full frame)[10]
The Nikon E2/E2n and E3/E3s digital SLRs, which were Nikon's first entry into the field of professional digital photography, used a reduction optical system to compress a full 35mm visual field onto a smaller digital sensor. They were not therefore full-frame digital SLRs, although in common with full-frame digital SLRs they had no crop factor.[11]
Nikon has designated its full frame cameras with the FX and its smaller sensor cameras as the DX format. Similarly, Canon EF is their full-frame line, while the EF-S lenses only work on camera bodies released after 2003 with a APS-C-sized sensor.
[edit] Prototype full-frame digital SLRs
- Pentax MZ-D (presented in 2000, based on Pentax MZ-S, with the same sensor as Contax N, it never went into production)
[edit] References
- ^ Nigel Atherton, Steve Crabb, Tim Shelbourne (2006). An Illustrated A to Z of Digital Photography: People And Portraits. Sterling Publishing Co. Inc. ISBN 288479087X.
- ^ Ross Hoddinott (2006). Digital Macro Photography. Sterling Publishing Co. Inc. ISBN 1861084528.
- ^ Photocrati: Full-frame sensors
- ^ Barbara Gerlach (2007). Digital Nature Photography: The Art and the Science. Focal Press. p. 67. ISBN 9780240808567. http://books.google.com/books?id=iNrWzL_NpWkC&pg=PA67&dq=%22reach%22+crop-factor&lr=&as_brr=0&ei=6Yc2So6ZDpDSkwSy9JmdBQ&hl=en&e=v1.
- ^ Albert J. P. Theuwissen (1995). Solid-State Imaging with Charge-Coupled Devices. Springer. ISBN 0792334566.
- ^ Patrick Martínez and Alain Klotz (1998). A Practical Guide to CCD Astronomy. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521590639.
- ^ Frances E. Schultz and Roger Hicks (2003). Rangefinder: Equipment, History, Techniques. Sterling Publishing Co. Inc. ISBN 1861083300.
- ^ Leslie D. Stroebel and Richard D. Zakia, editors (1996). Focal Encyclopedia of Photography. Focal Press. ISBN 0240514173.
- ^ Nikon D3x
- ^ "Leica S2 with 56% larger sensor than full frame" Retrieved September 23, 2008
- ^ Jarle Aasland, Nikon E2N, NikonWeb.com.
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