the digital SLR crop factor

Obin Olson · July 17th, 2004, 10:45 PM

Anyone get annoyed with the "crop" factor your DSLR gives you? I hate having a $600 Canon 28-135mm IS lens and I get about a 50mm wide shot - I have searched the net high and low with no results for an optical adaptor to squeeze the image to fit the chip in our cameras - NOTHING - why? Does this really me we have no options? Someone must have built an optical adaptor for this..if not the first person to do so will BANK big..EVERYONE needs this for DSLR....ideas group??

Jeff Donald · July 18th, 2004, 02:09 AM

Any adapter would reduce optical quality and there is no room to spare at this level of chip resolution. You can get away with relay lenses etc in video because the lenses usually far out perform the chips. A moderate softening is barely noticed, if noticed at all. In still photography many lenses are the the very limit because chip resolution is so high. Some lenses are only providing adequate resolution because of the crop factor.

Obin Olson · July 18th, 2004, 09:13 AM

6 megapixel is the lim of good glass?? i don't think so

Jeff Donald · July 18th, 2004, 10:39 AM

No, it's the line of mediocre glass. Good glass reaches it's limits at about 11Mp and only the finest glass exceeds that.

Obin Olson · July 18th, 2004, 10:59 AM

so does my new sigma DC 18-50mm zoom have a limit of 6mp? it shure looks sharp

Jeff Donald · July 18th, 2004, 11:08 AM

I suspect on the 1Ds (11mp) it won't look too sharp, especially at the wide end. Many Canon users are adopting Ziess glass for the wide end of the spectrum. The standard Canon glass, including L series, is not really up to the demands of 11MP when something below 24mm is required.

Obin Olson · July 21st, 2004, 08:42 PM

hmmm...so by saying that your telling me that 11mp has MORE data then 35mm film? lots of people would not like to hear that....could it be true?? better then 35??? this would prove it if the glass from canon is not good enough...hmmm food for thought....would that make the 10D about even with 35mm resolution?

Jeff Donald · July 21st, 2004, 08:52 PM

The 10D has more usable resolution. More usable because there is virtually no noise. Now matter how hard you look, there is no "grain free" film. It might be fine grain or even very fine grain. But ultimately the grain hurts the resolution and put s the 10D on par with 35mm film.

Here's a good comparison, with all the math, to back it up.

Robert Mann Z. · July 21st, 2004, 09:23 PM

one important by product of the crop factor is your using the sweetest part of the lens so you can get away with buying cheaper lenses that normaly go soft around the edges...

of course getting good wides will cost you

Alex Ratson · July 26th, 2004, 02:51 AM

I shoot with Nikon digital and film gear. My favorite lens is the 20mm f/2.8 Nikkor and when I first mounted it on my new DSLR and looked through the viewfinder it was not so cool looking any more at its week 30mm equivalent. The solution, DX lenses. These lenses have a smaller image circle to accommodate the 1.5X crop that is present in the Nikon DSLR’s. The other day I tried a 12-24 DX lens on my camera and immediately fell in love. At last I can see what I once saw with my 20mm saw when mounted on my F100 Film camera. I am not sure if canon have an equivalent to the Nikon DX lenses although I do know that Sigma have them.

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July 17th, 2004, 10:45 PM	#1
Obin Olson Trustee Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Wilmington NC Posts: 1,414	the digital SLR crop factor - how to kill it Anyone get annoyed with the "crop" factor your DSLR gives you? I hate having a $600 Canon 28-135mm IS lens and I get about a 50mm wide shot - I have searched the net high and low with no results for an optical adaptor to squeeze the image to fit the chip in our cameras - NOTHING - why? Does this really me we have no options? Someone must have built an optical adaptor for this..if not the first person to do so will BANK big..EVERYONE needs this for DSLR....ideas group??

July 18th, 2004, 02:09 AM	#2
Jeff Donald Warden Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 8,287	Any adapter would reduce optical quality and there is no room to spare at this level of chip resolution. You can get away with relay lenses etc in video because the lenses usually far out perform the chips. A moderate softening is barely noticed, if noticed at all. In still photography many lenses are the the very limit because chip resolution is so high. Some lenses are only providing adequate resolution because of the crop factor. __________________ Jeff Donald Carpe Diem Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Where to Buy? From the best in the business: DVinfo.net sponsors

July 18th, 2004, 10:39 AM	#4
Jeff Donald Warden Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 8,287	No, it's the line of mediocre glass. Good glass reaches it's limits at about 11Mp and only the finest glass exceeds that. __________________ Jeff Donald Carpe Diem Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Where to Buy? From the best in the business: DVinfo.net sponsors

July 18th, 2004, 11:08 AM	#6
Jeff Donald Warden Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 8,287	I suspect on the 1Ds (11mp) it won't look too sharp, especially at the wide end. Many Canon users are adopting Ziess glass for the wide end of the spectrum. The standard Canon glass, including L series, is not really up to the demands of 11MP when something below 24mm is required. __________________ Jeff Donald Carpe Diem Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Where to Buy? From the best in the business: DVinfo.net sponsors

July 21st, 2004, 08:52 PM	#8
Jeff Donald Warden Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 8,287	The 10D has more usable resolution. More usable because there is virtually no noise. Now matter how hard you look, there is no "grain free" film. It might be fine grain or even very fine grain. But ultimately the grain hurts the resolution and put s the 10D on par with 35mm film. Here's a good comparison, with all the math, to back it up. __________________ Jeff Donald Carpe Diem Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Where to Buy? From the best in the business: DVinfo.net sponsors

July 18th, 2004, 09:13 AM	#3
Obin Olson Trustee Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Wilmington NC Posts: 1,414	6 megapixel is the lim of good glass?? i don't think so

July 18th, 2004, 10:59 AM	#5
Obin Olson Trustee Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Wilmington NC Posts: 1,414	so does my new sigma DC 18-50mm zoom have a limit of 6mp? it shure looks sharp

July 21st, 2004, 08:42 PM	#7
Obin Olson Trustee Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Wilmington NC Posts: 1,414	hmmm...so by saying that your telling me that 11mp has MORE data then 35mm film? lots of people would not like to hear that....could it be true?? better then 35??? this would prove it if the glass from canon is not good enough...hmmm food for thought....would that make the 10D about even with 35mm resolution?

July 21st, 2004, 09:23 PM	#9
Robert Mann Z. Skyonic New York Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: NYC Posts: 614	one important by product of the crop factor is your using the sweetest part of the lens so you can get away with buying cheaper lenses that normaly go soft around the edges... of course getting good wides will cost you

July 26th, 2004, 02:51 AM	#10
Alex Ratson Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Squamish, British Columbia, Canada Posts: 149	I shoot with Nikon digital and film gear. My favorite lens is the 20mm f/2.8 Nikkor and when I first mounted it on my new DSLR and looked through the viewfinder it was not so cool looking any more at its week 30mm equivalent. The solution, DX lenses. These lenses have a smaller image circle to accommodate the 1.5X crop that is present in the Nikon DSLR’s. The other day I tried a 12-24 DX lens on my camera and immediately fell in love. At last I can see what I once saw with my 20mm saw when mounted on my F100 Film camera. I am not sure if canon have an equivalent to the Nikon DX lenses although I do know that Sigma have them. A