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EOS
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On EOS film cameras, compatible lenses
behave the same, no mat ter which body they
are used with. This is because the film frame
size is always 36 x 24mm (known as full-
frame). It is di fferent with EOS digital cameras,
because there are three dif ferent sensor sizes.
Take a 50mm lens, for example (or a zoom
lens set to 50mm). On a full frame camera
(film or digital) this is called a ‘standard ’ focal
length, based on it s horizont al field-of-view
of about 4 0° (supposedly similar to that of the
human eye).
With the smaller sensor of an APS-C
camera, however, the horizont al field-of-view
of a 50mm lens is only about 25°, taking it into
telephoto lens territory.
The lens which gives a horizontal field-of-
view of around 40mm with an APS -C camera
is one with a focal length of 28mm. So with an
APS- C camera, the standard lens is 28mm.
You will often see a ‘crop factor’ of 1.6x
mentioned in connec tion with APS-C format
cameras. This tells you that if you multiply
the focal length of a lens used on an APS-C
camera by 1.6, you will find the equivalent
focal length of lens on a full-frame camera
which gives a similar horizontal field-of-view.
Or you can simply remember that, on an
APS- C format camera, any lens below 28mm
is wide-angle, any lens above is telephoto.
The EOS range of cameras
There is a lot of confusion about megapixels and sensor size, and
the impact each has on image quality. Andrew Gibson clarifies the
advantages of full-frame and cropped sensors.
Sensor size
The release of the EOS 7D has sparked a
debate about the merits of megapixels. How
many megapixels are enough? How many are
too much? Should I buy a full-frame camera?
To discuss the implications of these
questions we need to look at the advantages
and disadvantages of full-frame and cropped
sensors. Cameras with APS-C size sensors
perform dif ferently from cameras with full-
frame sensors. Whether these dif ferences
are advantageous or not depends on your
viewpoint, the type of images you shoot and
the demands you put on your equipment.
Every time Canon introduces a new
camera, it designs a sensor to meet the needs
of the body. The sensor is one of the most
important components in the camera. It’s
effectively the camera’s eye – the qualit y
Your camera’s sensor
Above Thi s portrait
was shot on an EOS 5D
Mk II camera, which has
a full-frame sensor (red
framin g). The green and
yellow framing shows
how it woul d look if it
were taken from the
same position and with
the same lens on an
APS- H camera (green)
or APS -C camera
(yellow). The depth-of-
field st ays the same;
the ef fect of using
smalle r sensor s simply
crops th e image.
of the images the camera is capable of
producing depends on the sensor and the
circuitry that processes the data read from it.
It’s important not to be too worried
about whether your particular EOS model is
advanced enough to produce good images.
Digital cameras are still a rapidly evolving
technology, and while it ’s easy to feel left
out as cameras evolve the upside is that we
can look forward to more advances in sensor
technology in years to come.
If you’re a professional or semi-pro
photographer your livelihood is dependent on
you producing images of the highes t qualit y,
and so keeping up with the latest technology
is paramount. But for most of us, our skills
and artistic vision are just as important as the
electronics inside our cameras.
APS-C
Measuring
approximately
22x15mm, the
APS- C sensor is the
smallest in the EOS
range. The smaller
the sensor, the less expensive it is to produce,
which is why APS-C size sensors are used in
Canon’s entr y level and mid-range models.
APS-H
The APS -H sensor
is used in the
professional EOS
1D series cameras
and sits between
the other two sizes
at approximately 29x19mm. The information
from these sensor s can be handled more
quickly by the camera’s processors than the
information from full-frame sensors – hence
the cameras are more responsive and have
the rapid frame rates required by sports, news
and nature photographers.
Full-frame
At approximately
36x24mm a full-
frame sensor is more
or less the same size
as the frame on a
35mm film camera.
If all other factors are equal, larger sensors
produce better quality images, which is why
these sensors are used in the professional
EOS 1Ds series and high-end consumer
models like the EOS 5D and 5D Mark II. They
are also much more expensive to produce,
which is one of the reasons why these
cameras cost more.
Above Thi s diagram shows the relative sizes of th e
three sensors t hat can be found in EOS cameras.
The APS -C sen sor is shown in yellow, the APS- H
sensor in green and the full -frame sensor in red.
CAMER A
Eff ective
megap ixels
Image s ize
(pixel s)
Pixel Pi tch
(micron s)*
Senso r Size
(millim etres)
Senso r
EOS D30 3.11 2160 x1440 10. 2 22 .7x15.1 APS -C
EOS D60 6 .3 3 072x20 48 7.4 22.7x15.1 A PS- C
EOS 300 D 6 .3 3 072x20 48 7.4 22.7x15.1 A PS- C
EOS 350 D 8 .2 3 456x2 304 6.4 22 .2x14. 8 APS-C
EOS 400 D 10.1 3888 x2592 5.7 22 .2x14.8 A PS-C
EOS 450 D 12.2 4272x 2848 5 .2 2 2.2x14. 8 APS- C
EOS 500 D 15.1 4752 x3168 6 .4 2 2.3x14. 9 APS- C
EOS 1000 D 10.1 3888 x2592 5.7 22 .2x14.8 A PS-C
EOS 10D 6 .3 3 072x20 48 7.4 22.7x15.1 A PS- C
EOS 20D, 20 Da 8 .2 3 504x2 336 6. 4 2 2.5x15.0 AP S-C
EOS 30D 8 .2 3 504x2 336 6.4 2 2.5x15.0 A PS-C
EOS 40D 10 .1 38 88x 2592 5.7 22 .4x14.8 AP S-C
EOS 50D 15 .1 4752x3168 4.7 22. 3x14.9 APS -C
EOS 5D 12.8 43 68x2 912 8.2 3 5.8x2 3.9 Full-f rame
EOS 5D Mar k II 21.1 5616x374 4 6.4 36. 0x24. 0 Full-fr ame
EOS 7D 18.0 5184x3 456 4.3 2 2.3x14.9 A PS- C
EOS 1D 4.15 246 4x1648 10. 8** 28 .7x19.1 APS- H
EOS 1D Mark II 8 .2 3 504x2 336 8. 2 28.7x19.1 AP S-H
EOS 1D Mark II N 8.2 350 4x233 6 8.2 2 8.7x19.1 APS- H
EOS 1D Mark II I 10.1 3 888x 2592 7.2 28.1x18.7 AP S-H
EOS 1D Mark I V 16.1 4896 x3264 5.7 27.9x18.6 A PS-H
EOS 1Ds 11.1 4 064x 2704 8. 8 35.8 x23. 8 Full-fra me
EOS 1Ds Mar k II 16.7 49 92x33 28 7.2 36.0 x24.0 Full -fram e
EOS 1Ds Mar k III 21.1 5616x 3744 6 .4 3 6.0x24 .0 Full-f rame
* 1 micron = 1/10 00 mill imetre * *The EOS 1D is th e only EOS c amera wi th a CCD se nsor.
Medium a nd large
format cameras
Photographers who
use medium and large
format c ameras will
be familiar with this
difference in the foca l
length of the standard
lens. A s tandard lens
on a 6 x 6cm medium
format h as a focal
length of 80mm, and
200mm on a 5 x 7 inch
view cam era.
Above The fi eld-of-
view of a 50mm lens
varies d epending on the
camera. On a full-frame
camera it has a fiel d-
of-view o f 39° (red), 32°
on an APS -H camera
(green) and 25° on an
APS- C camer a (yellow).
ANDREW GIBSON
Crop factor
This article was published in the January-March 2010 issue of
www.eos-magazine.com www.eos-magazine.com
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