Is a full-frame camera less forgiving of camera shake than APS-C?
Asked 4/17/2014
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I'm considering upgrading from APS-C to full frame and have heard that full-frame cameras are less forgiving of camera shake. If two cameras had the same resolution, one full frame and one APS-C, and both used the same 50mm lens, would the full-frame image be more affected by slight hand shake? I'm trying to separate sensor size from megapixels and understand whether image stabilization becomes more important on full frame.
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
12y ago
2 Answers
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Rather the contrary.
Pixel density
Of course, as you say, sometimes there is an issue with the sensor - but not directly related with 'more megapixels', but related with the actual pixel density (ie. number of pixels/sensor area). I don't know exactly any more which is the situation right now but it seems that 24 MP APS-C sensors have the biggest pixel density on the market. By tradition, the crop sensors had/have more density than FF ones.
However, the 'pixel density thing' matters when you need 100% (or closer to this) crops. If you want to print at the same size from different sensors then you'll get the same amount of blur, taking in consideration that the 'pixel density' is the only difference between the two systems.
Depth of Field
There are enough places which explain why Depth of Field in the same situation for a FF camera is shallower, and hence you must be more careful to focus (rather than to camera shake) to avoid blur - but take in account that, while this sustain your assertion, this factor can be easily surpassed by the next one.
Shutter speed
The "rule of thumb" for Full Frame is to have the "shutter speed should be at least equal to focal length". That is the minimum shutter speed for a sharp handheld image. So if you have a 400mm lens on the camera then you should shoot no slower than 1/400 sec to get a sharp image.
This rule is normalized to FF 35mm. So if you use a 1.6x crop camera (Canon EF-S), you should multiply 1/f times 1.6. In the above example, it would be 1/400 * 1.6, equaling 1/640th sec. * 1.5 for Nikon DX. * 2 for four/thirds. etc.
This is an old school rule, back when "sharp" meant an 4x6" print that wasn't too blurred. This is way sloppier than modern day view-at-100% pixel peeping standards. (So use an even faster shutter speed if you want the image to be sharp at 100%.) And scale up (faster) if your camera has lots of megapixels.
But contrariwise, the 1/f rule dates from before image stabilization. So you can cut yourself some slack if your camera/lens has image stabilization. (Each "stop" of IS improvement allows for a doubling of shutter speed.)
Hence, this rule of thumb is kind of slip-slidey. But it does give you a place to start from and in practice (I have a little experience with this) FF is more forgiving than a crop one.
Originally by user952. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user952
12y ago
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Not inherently. Sensor size alone does not make full frame more sensitive to camera shake.
If two cameras have the same megapixel count and use the same 50mm lens, the main shake difference you notice is usually not from full frame itself, but from how you view and use the image:
- Pixel density matters more than sensor size. APS-C cameras often have smaller, denser pixels than full frame at the same MP count, which can reveal blur more readily when viewed at 100%.
- 100% crop viewing can mislead. Higher-resolution cameras make small shake easier to see because you are magnifying the image more, not necessarily because the photo is worse at normal print or screen sizes.
- Output size matters. If both images are printed or displayed at the same size, shake blur should be similar, assuming comparable technique.
- What can feel less forgiving on full frame is depth of field. For the same framing and aperture, full frame gives shallower depth of field, so small forward/back movement or focus-recompose errors can be more noticeable.
- Lens corners may also look worse on full frame because the larger sensor uses more of the lens image circle.
So: full frame is not automatically less forgiving of hand shake; resolution, pixel density, viewing method, and depth of field are the bigger factors.
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