From the Photographer's Blog we want to make your life (photographically speaking) easier. That is the goal of each of the articles we write. That is why I am going to dedicate today's post to tell you what is that about the clipping factor or conversion factor that you have surely heard about or if you just landed you will not need much to hear it, just like terms like Full Frame, APS -C, crop factor ... All these names so rare and so ugly have explanation and my purpose this time is to understand them in the simplest way possible.
A LITTLE HISTORY
To situate ourselves and understand what we are talking about, I have to go back to the analog era (which seems to be talking about prehistory and it is not so far in time, or so I want to think that if I do not realize how much I do ). When there were only analog cameras, different films were used, but the most used was the one known as 35 mm, and in fact it is still sold (36x24mm). When launching the first digital cameras they respected this size when manufacturing the sensor, which is what is known as the Full Frame sensor, however, the goal of any company is to sell, so they managed to sell more cameras. How to achieve it? Easy, making them cheaper and affordable to reach a much wider audience. To reduce costs, they reduced the size of the sensor and this is where the known clipping factor comes in. Well, what they did was exactly that, trim the sensor. In this Nikon image you can see how the image is projected with a larger and a smaller sensor. The area on the left would be the part of the scene that is captured with each sensor. See how the figure above representing the Full Frame sensor (FX for Nikon) covers a larger area. Next you will see what area each sensor would cover. The same image taken with a full frame sensor and a cropped sensor (for Nikon FX and DX respectively). In reality, the difference is basically that the scene appears "clipped", because the sensor records less part of the scene to be captured. Most cameras have a conversion factor of 1.5 or 1.6x, which is the ratio with respect to the 35 mm sensor. From here comes the conversions with the focal lengths, since a 50 mm lens, for example, in a camera that is not full frame and has a crop factor of 1.5 x translates into an apparent focal length of 75 mm (result of the following multiplying: 50 × 1.5 = 75). Then I leave a table of equivalences to calculate the apparent focal length that a lens can have depending on the cropping factor of your camera, I insist, the apparent focal length huh? :AND WHAT IS BETTER?
Now comes the million dollar question, which is better? Do I buy a full frame camera or one with an APS-C sensor (the one that most SLRs that are not full frame) carry? Well, the key is not in the answer, but in the question. Let's rephrase it: do you really need a full frame reflex camera? Many times we think that the most expensive is the best, or that the more options or properties a gadget has, the better it will be, regardless of what really fits our needs. If I am sincere, I have been with a camera with a cropped sensor for many years, in fact lately the photos that I do that my people like most are made with the iPhone. By this I mean that if you do not dedicate yourself professionally to photography, you may not need to spend a pasture to cover most of the scene. It may be better to use your financial resources to expand your range of objectives, or even practice a lotto improve your results and start enjoying photography even more. Don't get obsessed with numbers, terms or teams if you really don't need it. Enjoy photography, learn to thrill , to tell stories , to compose correctly, to highlight the center of interest; to focus , develop your photographic eye and forget about conversions. Watch, feel and shoot. That is photography.DO NOT ENTERTAIN DOUBTS
I hope that my explanation has been clear enough to you and that you have understood this about the conversion factor, which in the end is nothing more than a multiplication to see what is the apparent focal length of a lens in a camera that does not have a full frame sensor. I have left you a table, if you do not find the value you are looking for, you only have to multiply the focal length of your lens with the cropping factor you have in your camera (1.5x, 1.6x ...). If not, please do not stay with the doubt and leave your question in the comments. We are here to help you Thank you and see you soon! As always, if you liked this article, give it a vote / recommendation / Like on your social network.