Full frame worth it?
Discussion
I'm a point and click compact user so please keep to words of 1 syllable or less so I can follow, but this seems a good place for advice 
The Mrs has currently got Sony A300 and gets some pretty good results with it on a range of subjects (aircraft, birds, landcape, architecture, etc) and doesn't seem to have one particular type of photography she's focused on.
She's been thinking of upgrading for a while, and her brother has just gone and bought a full frame Nikon (can't remember which model) so naturally she thinks getting the same one is the way forward. For a hobbyist is it worth going full frame or sticking with a smaller crop on the grounds you presumably get a much higher spec crop for the price of a basic full frame? My understanding is the full frame gives better low light performance, so presumably that means it's going to cope with movement at longish zooms (eg birds and aircaft) a lot better?
Considering clubbing together with her parents for a Christmas present in which case I guess we'd be looking at a couple of lenses in the 25-50 and 20-300 ish range, but again presumably full frame or crop effects what lens lengths you want?
Anyone got any suggestions of an (I'm guessing entry level) full frame and a (presumably mid range) crop by the same manufacturer (she seems to prefer Nikon at the moment) so we can hunt down some reviews and compare to see if she can work out what she really wants/needs? No real idea on budget at the moment but entry level full frame seems to put us in the £1000 range for the body.
The Mrs has currently got Sony A300 and gets some pretty good results with it on a range of subjects (aircraft, birds, landcape, architecture, etc) and doesn't seem to have one particular type of photography she's focused on.
She's been thinking of upgrading for a while, and her brother has just gone and bought a full frame Nikon (can't remember which model) so naturally she thinks getting the same one is the way forward. For a hobbyist is it worth going full frame or sticking with a smaller crop on the grounds you presumably get a much higher spec crop for the price of a basic full frame? My understanding is the full frame gives better low light performance, so presumably that means it's going to cope with movement at longish zooms (eg birds and aircaft) a lot better?
Considering clubbing together with her parents for a Christmas present in which case I guess we'd be looking at a couple of lenses in the 25-50 and 20-300 ish range, but again presumably full frame or crop effects what lens lengths you want?
Anyone got any suggestions of an (I'm guessing entry level) full frame and a (presumably mid range) crop by the same manufacturer (she seems to prefer Nikon at the moment) so we can hunt down some reviews and compare to see if she can work out what she really wants/needs? No real idea on budget at the moment but entry level full frame seems to put us in the £1000 range for the body.
Hadn't really thought about sticking with Sony to reuse the lenses. Might be a sensible plan to go for a Sony body now and then upgrade lenses later.
How do the Sony's generally compare with the Canon and Nikons that seem to be used by 90% of people? Are there as good a range of lenses available for them as for the more popular brands?
How do the Sony's generally compare with the Canon and Nikons that seem to be used by 90% of people? Are there as good a range of lenses available for them as for the more popular brands?
Even the unpaid ones don't seem that objective, usually when people start discussing Canon vs Nikon the eventual decision is one is better than the other because the other smells of wee
I think the available range of second hand kit might turn out to be a major point in the favor of Canon/Nikon over Sony.
I think the available range of second hand kit might turn out to be a major point in the favor of Canon/Nikon over Sony.
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ETA - Final point made by Andy-XR is a good one. Regardless of the kit, the most important factor is the skill of whoever's driving it, and that is one thing that can be continually improved.... which is what makes this photography thing so much fun.
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Yeah, she's getting reasonably good and tends to experiment a bit, but it's a good point that there's always more to learn. I think sitting in a hide struggling to get a decent shot of a kingfisher with too short a lens the other day while the bloke next to her with a huge lens rattled of several shots a second might have given her new camera ambitions a little extra kick
ETA - Final point made by Andy-XR is a good one. Regardless of the kit, the most important factor is the skill of whoever's driving it, and that is one thing that can be continually improved.... which is what makes this photography thing so much fun.
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Yeah, she's getting reasonably good and tends to experiment a bit, but it's a good point that there's always more to learn. I think sitting in a hide struggling to get a decent shot of a kingfisher with too short a lens the other day while the bloke next to her with a huge lens rattled of several shots a second might have given her new camera ambitions a little extra kick
I think she's finally decided a full frame might be a quite a lot of extra cash
I see the crop sensored Canon 760D and Nikon D5500 have pretty much the same number of pixels as the full frame Nikon D750 she was initially interested in. That negates any digital zooming advantage of the FF but does the increased pixel density mean they're inherently noisier?
The 760D and D5500 are both around £750-£800ish with a 18-140ish stabilised lens, what else should we be considering in that kind of price range?
I see the crop sensored Canon 760D and Nikon D5500 have pretty much the same number of pixels as the full frame Nikon D750 she was initially interested in. That negates any digital zooming advantage of the FF but does the increased pixel density mean they're inherently noisier?
The 760D and D5500 are both around £750-£800ish with a 18-140ish stabilised lens, what else should we be considering in that kind of price range?
Well she went for the D750 in the end, considered a D7200 for less weight and half the price but I think the deciding factor was her brother has a D750 so she couldn't possibly have something of a lower spec. I'm now winding her up by pointing out if her pictures aren't as good as his now is purely down to the photographers skills
Lovely bit of kit though, next lens purchase might be expensive.
Lovely bit of kit though, next lens purchase might be expensive.
She was on to some good man-maths to justify the extra cost. She's had her old A300 for 5 years, and is upgrading to something a lot more capable so will probably be a lot longer before she outgrows this one, so spread over the years she'll have it its not that much extra.
In which case of you've got the money you may as well spend it now rather than find you want to upgrade again later.
In which case of you've got the money you may as well spend it now rather than find you want to upgrade again later.
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