Samsung EX2F - size does matter!

shademaster wrote:

norman shearer wrote:

shademaster wrote:

norman shearer wrote:

Nice shots.

What I miss is the sheer simplicity of shooting with a sensor that has such a vast DOF.

What I miss is reasonable control over DOF. I have an LX100 and an EX2F. I haven't touched the EX2F once since I got the LX100. There is no downside to the extra DOF control. Step down if you want. Pleasant bokeh for portraits. Also, you can click-away in continuous RAW with several shots per second and the buffer never fills.

I should have been clearer. What I mean is that vast DOF available with the lens wide open. There is indeed a downside to bigger sensors in this respect. Try shooting street at ISO 80 with a FF sensor to see it. There's a saying 'F8 and be there' which comes from zone focusing with FF cameras. You need F8 in order to get a zone big enough to get a reasonable amount of keepers.

Again: "Step down if you want." There is no intrinsic disadvantage to going to a bigger sensor (with the same normalized SNR). I'm not a big-sensor zealot, but the main advantage of a smaller sensor is NOT wider DOF, since you can ALWAYS stop down the bigger sensor/lens without sacrificing any image quality. The main advantage of a smaller sensor SHOULD BE a smaller and cheaper lens/camera system. If you ALWAYS stop down your FF camera to shoot street, then you might as well get a smaller-sensor/lens/camera. But I certainly don't ALWAYS stop down and LIKE narrower DOF when called for. Since LX100 is about the same size, the only disadvantage is price (and other ergonomics). There is no image quality penalty in stopping down, and only extra opportunity for when you want narrower DOF!

I know what you are saying and for general photography you are correct in most respects. Stepping down either entails raising ISO or dropping in shutter speed. The street work I do is mostly around 1/400s or faster. So with FF you are upping ISO and losing ground on that superior dynamic range and noise.

I guess they more or less cancel each other out. With the EX2F I can be at ISO 80 and shoot street. With bigger sensors I need to raise the ISO but they have a bigger dynamic range to begin with so I can afford to lose some and can crop more etc.

So all things being equal you have no advantage. Providing you have a good handle on DOF and can calculate what you get or need. With small sensor you don't even have to think about it. So you could say that a smaller sensor removes some of the complexity and frees your mind to focus on events to shoot. The bigger the sensor means you have to be a little more mindful of the camera settings - if you want a similar keeper rate.

Same is true if you shoot street with wide angle lenses. The wider they are the less you have to think about when it comes to DOF and the easier it is to shoot blindly from the chest. I've tried doing it with a 50mm lens opened up using an APS-C sensor and it requires much more precision and you have to really know your focus zone.

That's partly why many people make such a fuss about autoISO implementation. It's all about removing the need for user input so you can focus on the shooting and the timing of the shot.

Here's a shot of my wife's father and a friend of his.

Nice shot. The hair is a tad oof. With the EX2F it would not be an issue.