PanoTools:
Full frame or 1.6 crop sensor, which is better?
Mark S Karpo 2006-Feb-25 20:27:26
I want the best Image Quality (IQ) for spherical panos and mosaics.
Which is better, a full frame or 1.6 crop sensor and what are the
tradeoffs?
Currently, I use a Canon 300D (1.6 crop sensor) on Nodal Ninja with
various lenses (15mm fish to 200mm), PTGui, Photoshop, etc. I have a
Canon 5D (full frame sensor) on order and will compare to my 300D
soon, but what should I expect?
I expect BETTER IQ from the 300D than the 5D, for the following
reasons. The resolution of a digital pano or mosaic is determined
solely by lens focal length and sensor pixel density, and not sensor
size, right? The 5D & 300D have similar sensor density, so at any
given lens focal length they should have the same resolution, with
the 300D taking a crop of the 5D image. However, I expect overall
pano IQ to be BETTER on the 300D than the 5D because the 300D uses
the sweet center of the lens (even pro quality lenses are better in
the center, right?), thus each individual 300D image will have
sharper corners, less distortion, better stitching, and ultimately
better pano IQ, than its 5D counterpart images. The expected
tradeoff is the 300D will require 1.6 times as many shots as the 5D
to cover the same angular area. However, the extra time to take 1.6
times extra shots is worth it if it results in better IQ and saves
me $3,000 for the 5D. Your thoughts?
One other qestion I have is which lens is better for pano/mosaic IQ,
a 15mm fish or a wide rectangular zoom like the Sigma 10-22 or 12-
24? Any thoughts on this?
Mark K.
P.S. I've tested my 300D against other 1.6 crop sensors by taking
test pictures and pixel peeping. I returned them all. The Nikon D200
is faster and more ergonomic, but a little noisier so IQ is not
quite as good as the 300D. The Canon 20D is faster and has less
noise and thus has a bit better IQ over my 300D, not enough to
upgrade though. The Canon 350XT is noisier and it's too small. Which
raises one more question, what new sensor/camera, if any, will be
coming in the future that will significantly increase pano IQ over
my existing 300D? Many thanks.
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