DX, FX Modes and more.

Most FX bodies are the abilities to switch to different Image Area Sizes (crop modes) and I am worndering what your experiences with usI got one of these different crop modes?

There are times when I would like some extra reach and don't have time to run to my truck and get a teleconverter?

Also, TCs cut light and add glass - is it better to go to a crop mode instead?

Is this a "digital zoom"?

Thoughts?

It's "instacrop". The 36MP's of your D810 become ~16MP's in DX mode. The only advantage is the smaller file sizes in the buffer. I originally opted for the D800 over the D7100 because I anticipated using DX mode a lot for wildlife. I didn't. You get the center 44% of your viewfinder to keep the critter in, which is a lot tougher than it sounds. I found you're better off just shooting full frame and just cropping in post.

FYI, I eventually bought a reconditioned D7100 and converted the D800 to IR.

I haven't analyzed what I do in post, but I would guess that I crop for composition in 100% of what I do... so, having said that, (and I use both DX and FX) I don't differentiate between the two modes... or different cameras as much as I do the lenses... Get the shot, and don't worry too much about what you think you're not getting...

"getting the shot" in a recent DX body means 24 megapixels. More cropping is probably easy.

But in a DX crop on a FX body, it might be 10 to 16 megapixels (depending on body). Probably sufficient, but some cases involving subsequent cropping, possibly not.

As mentioned in another post, you might want to check out this video:

https://youtu.be/o6rZ4p1d56A

I find using crop modes on my D750 to be a pain in the ass. They... *scratches head* They just are.

I mean, I suppose I could get used to using crop-mode on an FX body, just like I suppose I could get used to hopping around on my left leg because the right one had been blown off in some sort of horrible industrial accident; but I'd prefer to grab my DX camera instead, just like I'd prefer keeping both legs to get around on.

Hope I'm not getting to technical with all this.
.....

Crop mode in FX.....is kinda a solution looking for a problem. It's honestly not very useful in 99% of my shooting situations. I will have better results stepping down from the D610 to my D90.

So now things like camera shake are now even more pronounced. The image in the viewfinder is still tiny, and you crippled the sensor.....all that and you could have just cropped in Lightroom. Yep. Problem solved.


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Deezey said:

Crop mode in FX.....is kinda a solution looking for a problem. It's honestly not very useful in 99% of my shooting situations. I will have better results stepping down from the D610 to my D90.

So now things like camera shake are now even more pronounced. The image in the viewfinder is still tiny, and you crippled the sensor.....all that and you could have just cropped in Lightroom. Yep. Problem solved.


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Click to expand...

Just like my feelings on sticking a DX lens on a FX camera. Just because you can do not mean you should. You are just crippling the camera

Thanks for all the responses - and I did do a little test and of course the you guys are correct - when shooting in the DX mode - the file dimensions are that of a photo cropped the same.
I will be keeping my Teleconverters with me!

In a side note: While testing I did try this in Video mode and it actually works as a Zoom. Videos shot in FX mode @ 1080p and then switched to DX mode does keep the video at 1080p and gives the zoomed in affect- now that's cool!

csgaraglino said:

Thanks for all the responses - and I did do a little test and of course the you guys are correct - when shooting in the DX mode - the file dimensions are that of a photo cropped the same.
I will be keeping my Teleconverters with me!

In a side note: While testing I did try this in Video mode and it actually works as a Zoom. Videos shot in FX mode @ 1080p and then switched to DX mode does keep the video at 1080p and gives the zoomed in affect- now that's cool!

Click to expand...

Thanks, that seems like possibly useful info. The video mode will always be resampled to 1920x1080 or 1280x720, so no pixel dimension penalty for cropping then, but that does make cropping first be like zooming in.

I must admit. I have never even tried video on any still camera I have bought.


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Don Kuykendall said:

Just like my feelings on sticking a DX lens on a FX camera. Just because you can do not mean you should. You are just crippling the camera

Click to expand...

And here I disagree wholeheartedly. "Crippling the camera" is a huge overstatement given the generalization. I don't do it out of habit, but when I do I find that it does just the opposite - it opens up creativity. I know what you're trying to say, "Using a DX lens in place of an FX lens will cause you to neglect 55% of your sensor, resulting in an undersized image that you could have gotten with a camera costing far less, and in more cases than not at a reduced image quality compared to a similar full frame lens." But that's not "crippling the camera" if, a) it's your only choice at the moment, and/or b) you're purposefully taking advantage of the "funk" available on the edges of a DX lens used in FX mode. I use a DX fish a lot on my D750 to get certain effects. The rectilinear look of the Sigma 8-16mm is hard to find on a full frame lens, so if I need it I use it. Tools for jobs.