by Guest Contributor Elizabeth Halford
If you’re currently coveting a full frame camera, you may have been had by possibly one of the most clever and conniving marketing campaigns the photography world has ever known.
“Full frame” sensor digital cameras were invented in the early turn of the 21st century. Contax brought out their “N Digital” and removed it within the year. After that in 2002 was Canon’s 1Ds and it was a whopping 5 years before Nikon brought out their first ‘full frame’ in 2007 {the D3}.
It’s debatable who first coined the term ‘full frame’, but I’ve always felt safe in assuming that it was Canon since they basically invented the first full frame DSLR. But why call it “full frame”. Well, that’s the secret…there’s nothing ‘full’ about it.
It might be surprising to many to realize that it’s only been 10 years since these cameras were first available since many of us have only been in this long enough to only have ever known digital. But even the 5D everyone drools over was only first released in 2005. Before that, we had digital cameras whose sensors weren’t big enough to capture the equivalent of 35mm film.
And so Canon set out to invent a sensor that was capable of acting like 35mm film, but they couldn’t come up with anything that was priced low enough for anyone to be able to afford. Until 2002 of course. But then, what they had was a camera which cost exponentially more than any other DSLRs. So how were they going to get the world to believe that they needed this 35mm equivalent DSLR?
Canon’s ultra large scale CMOS sensor {left} vs. Canon’s 35mm equivalent “full frame” sensor
“NOW which sensor is full, eh?”
{the answer}
Instead of calling it what it really was: “35mm equivalent”, they called it “full frame”. And -voila!- suddenly, every other camera became…well…not full. And if something’s not full, it’s…that’s right…EMPTY! Bravo, Canon! Now we feel like crap.
So let’s break this down. Full means ‘maximum’, right? Like as in: ‘reached a pinnacle’ or ‘can’t get any bigger’. In fact, this is a ridiculous word to attribute to this size of sensor because there are sensors that are WAY bigger than the 35mm equivalent sensor you find in, say, Canon’s 5D cameras. They might not be readily available in the consumer markets, but they exist. And Canon even makes them. And what about medium format DSLRs like those available from Kodak and Pentax? You might need to sell a kidney, but they’re definitely available and as you can see, their sensors are way bigger than what we’ve come to known as “full frame”.
In terms of imaging sensors, bigger will always be better. I have a Canon 5DmkII and honestly, it was like seeing for the first time. But each piece of photography equipment available has a purpose. My backup camera is a cropped sensor 7D and I love it, too. I just wanted to talk about this today to squash the delusion that Canon have built up to tell photographers that if they don’t have a ‘full frame’ camera, then they have an empty one. If you feel all tangled up inside because you’re being made to believe that your camera is inferior, DON’T! Even the “full frame” is a pea-brain compared to other sensors available.
About the Author: Elizabeth Halford is a professional photographer and blogger. She gives real photography advice in real.plain.english. Visit her on Facebook and join a community of photographers just like you!
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