Hi From North Devon

[CharliePhoto]

Have always had an interest in photography from when I was at school when I brought my first 35mm camera and photographs were so expensive to get processed and it took days to get your photos back to see what you caught on film. In these digital days photography is even more of an adventure and enormous fun. I want to venture even further and considering buying a full frame SLR. I enjoy landscape photography and living in North Devon there are plenty of opportunities to capture that WOW image. Is a full frame SLR the right way to go. Your comments please.

[Pops]

Re: Hi From North Devon

Hello CharliePhoto and welcome to the forum.
I look forward to seeing some shots of glorious Devon.

[CharliePhoto]

Re: Hi From North Devon

Hi Pops, I will be receiving some money in next few months, what are your your thoughts re: full frame versus aps-c. Are they worth spending the extra cash?

[Pops]

Re: Hi From North Devon

There are those in here who are more qualified to answer this Charlie.
I know you will get a shallower dof and improved noise reduction at high iso setings and you will be able to use long lenses. It all comes down to how much you are prepared to spend on lenses.
Hopefully someone will come along after the Easter break to really lay this out for you in terms of performance and cost.

[CharliePhoto]

Re: Hi From North Devon

Thanks Pops, guess i should really re post my question in a more appropriate forum.

PS Sunset at Westward Ho! was stunning yesterday. Posted photos on my Facebook page. If you have a Facebook page I'd be happy to send you a friend request.

[Pops]

Re: Hi From North Devon

Thanks for the offer but I am one of the very rare breed who does not indulge in Facebook

[Ian]

Re: Hi From North Devon

Full frame or smaller sensor? (let's not forget that it doesn't have to be APS-C - there is (Micro) Four Thirds as well.

For at least ten years I have been advising people that full frame is not a guarantee of peerless quality; for a couple of reasons. Firstly there is the lure of using old lenses from the film era on full frame digital cameras. There is plenty of evidence that this can result in disappointment because lenses not designed for digital sensors can result in poor corner brightness and definition. Modern cameras can compensate for this but this doesn't bring back lost corner resolution and artificially brightening the corners can result in more noise. Even with up to date cameras like the latest Nikon FF DSLRs and modern lenses it's a technical compromise as the lens mount is far too narrow for ideal optical design in conjunction with a digital sensor. But it can be said that only technical perfectionists would be bothered by this. The other thing is that full frame cameras - even the latest smaller and lighter ones - are comparatively big and heavy and expensive too. You could buy three or four 24MP Nikon D3200s for the price of one Nikon D600.

On top of all that, the quality of smaller sensors is now superb. The latest crop of APS-C and Four Thirds sensors are as good as and even better than the top FF sensors from just 4-5 years ago.

Full frame has its place, but the future is in smaller sensors.

Ian

[Caz]

Re: Hi From North Devon

All thanks to Ian for a marvelous explanation - I've thought about full frame long and hard, but have enough trouble lugging around a 7D! I had a good look at the 6D at Focus on Imaging but, as Ian knows, went in the other direction to an EOS-M. Still absolutely delighted with it - great low light capabilities. OK, I won't be taking it to weddings, but great as a daily camera and has the advantages of accepting all my lenses via the adaptor I bought at the same time.

[Graham_of_Rainham]

Re: Hi From North Devon

Hello Charlie,

First off: Welcome...

I always advise people to start with the end in mind. What do you want to do with your images. If you only ever want to share them with people on an iPad then any camera with 2048 x 1536 (3.2Mp) will do. On HDTV you need 1920 x 1080 (2.1Mp).

If you decide to get images printed then it starts to get a bit more demanding of the camera. A typical 8"x10" print needs upto 7.2Mp for the very highest quality print and I have produced many high quality prints at A3+ (19"x13") with an 8Mp camera.

Essentially all modern cameras are very good, but need good old fashioned photographic skills to make them produce good pictures.

Find yourself (if you can) a proper camera shop and ask to try a few out. Places like PC World, Curries, Dixons often have them on display to handle and ergonomics really should be a considerable factor in your decision.

The new CSCs are brilliant, as they offer excellent performance in a small, light and highly flexible system.

Consider also if you want a camera that is "always with you". I have a little Olympus "Tough" that really can produce the goods and has done so in the face of some terrible conditions.

Whatever you do, let us know, and have fun with it.

[Barr1e]

Re: Hi From North Devon

Hi Charlie -

Welcome.

Regards. Barr1e