Digital SLR cameras have caught up to their film progenitors.
Most of the people in the world tote a camera around to note interesting events, preserve cherished memories and share daily activities with friends through social media. To the minority, though, photography is an art and a business. The world changed dramatically with the advent of digital cameras, and at first, that change was not for the better. Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) cameras have finally caught up to the capability of the tried and tested 35mm film cameras, and full frame capability is what pushed it over the top.
Resolution
Larger sensors pack more pixels into an image. While the additional pixels are hardly noticeable for snapshots printed at standard sizes, the difference for large format prints or wide angles is dramatic.
Sharpness
More pixels on a larger sensor allow it to capture more light, which results in higher contrast values and better color representation. What the eye perceives as sharpness is really just the contrast between one pixel or field of pixels and the one next to it. Higher contrast values create that division resulting in an image with more depth and greater detail.
Field
A full-frame sensor captures a wider field of view than smaller sensors. Attaching a wide-angle lens, such as a 14mm, to a camera with a sensor that is not full frame results in a pixel view that is smaller by an order of magnitude equal to the difference in size. This yields a crop factor amounting to an image that is 1.5 to 2 times more narrow than the full capability of the lens.
Noise
Because of the increase in pixel size and number, and the resultant boost in light absorbed, full-frame cameras depict less noise at higher ISO sensitivity than their small-sensor cousins. ISO ratings are a measure of the sensor's sensitivity to light. Higher settings (up to 3,200 or more on expensive cameras) increase the output of the sensor, which means it requires less light to produce an image but the amplified output also increases "noise." Full-frame cameras capture more light, so pictures taken at higher ISO ratings suffer from fewer digital artifacts (what would be "grain" in a film camera image) and aberrations.
Tags: cameras have, capture more, capture more light, contrast values, full frame, more light