Are exposure settings the same on Micro Four Thirds and full frame at the same shutter speed, aperture, and ISO?
Asked 1/27/2011
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If I photograph the same scene with a Micro Four Thirds camera and a full-frame camera, both set to 1/60s, f/2.8, and the same ISO, will the exposure be the same even though the sensor sizes are different?
I'm asking because depth of field differs between the formats. To get similar depth of field on full frame, I often need to stop down more than on Micro Four Thirds, which then makes me raise ISO. Does sensor size itself change exposure, or is that only affecting depth of field and noise?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
15y ago
2 Answers
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Let's say I have a micro-4/3rd camera and a full frame camera, both set to 1/60 at f/2.8, taking a picture of the same scene in the same lighting. Will the exposure be the same across both cameras despite the different sensor sizes?
Yes - if it's the same lens or both lenses have the same transmission, and assuming that by saying "same exposure" you're using the same ISO rating (to even out differences in sensor efficiency).
Caveats:
Same ISO doesn't mean same noise level.
Different sensors operating at the same ISO level will capture different amounts of light but turn them into the same exposure. However, even though the exposure is the same, the ability to resolve detail amongst the noise will be different. The ISO rating system is designed to factor out differences in sensor efficiency so you can set any sensor regardless of size or efficiency to ISO200 and get the same exposure. To achieve this, a full frame sensor working at ISO200 is gathering a lot more light than a 4/3 sensor at ISO200 for the same scene, and it is just internally applying a different amount of gain in order to translate the scene into the same brightness values.
All will look equivalent in the end result in terms of exposure, except that the full frame will have lower noise levels since it started with more light information. Note that there can be differences in efficiency between sensors of the same size, too; hence it's not related solely to sensor size, though that is the major factor. In short, ISO 800 in FF is the same exposure as ISO 800 in 4/3, but you'll get different noise and dynamic range on them since it's not the same sensor efficiency.
Same f-stop doesn't necessarily mean same lens transmission.
The common method of determining how much light comes through the lens is an f-stop. However, this measure is based on the diameter of the aperture, but does not take into account the transmissive properties of the lens elements (that is, how much light is absorbed by the glass in the lens). All lens glass absorbs some light. Modern lenses with multiple coatings absorb a good deal less, and it's not uncommon for a simple modern lens to transmit more than 99% of light.
Without filters, the effect of transmission loss in a modern multi-coated lens is so small that in almost all cases it can be ignored, making this little more than an academic exercise with little practical value. Those cases in which it can't be ignored may include shooting for the cinema, where multiple consecutive shots should have the same exposure even though they may use a very different lens. That's why t-stops were invented; they're like f-stops by they take into account transmission properties of all your glass.
Originally by user3422. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user3422
15y ago
0
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Yes. If both cameras use the same shutter speed, f-number, and ISO, they will give essentially the same exposure for the scene regardless of sensor size.
Exposure is about the amount of light per unit area hitting the sensor, not the total light gathered by the entire sensor. A larger sensor collects more total light overall because it has more area, but each corresponding part of the image is exposed the same.
Practical caveats:
- Small differences can come from lens transmission, actual ISO calibration, shutter accuracy, or aperture accuracy.
- Same exposure does not mean the same noise or image quality. Larger sensors usually gather more total light, which can improve noise performance.
- Sensor size does affect depth of field for equivalent framing, so matching the same look may require a different aperture and therefore a different ISO or shutter speed.
So: same settings = same exposure, but not necessarily the same depth of field or noise.
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