Does Sensor Size Make That Big a Difference in Your Work?

There is a lot of debate back and forth about just how important sensor size is in photography. And with professional-level camera and lens lines available in Micro Four Thirds, APS-C, full frame, and medium format, you might wonder which is right for your work. This great video compares APS-C to medium format for landscape photography, and you might be surprised by just how well the smaller sensor holds up. 

Coming to you from Mark Denney, this fantastic video comparison pits the Fujifilm X-T4 APS-C mirrorless camera against the GFX 100S medium format mirrorless camera. No doubt, the larger medium format sensor is superior to the APS-C sensor, but the interesting thing here is just how well the smaller sensor holds up and what that means for the landscape photographer's needs. More resolution and dynamic range are always welcomed, of course, but the balance of portability and cost must be considered as well, and unless you are creating ultra-large prints or simply want the absolute best available image quality, the X Series' abilities look to be more than enough for the vast majority of landscape photographers, and you can take the money you saved to invest in lenses, a second body, or on travel to a location you have been wanting to shoot! Check out the video above for Denney's full thoughts.

Alex Cooke's picture

Alex Cooke is a Cleveland-based portrait, events, and landscape photographer. He holds an M.S. in Applied Mathematics and a doctorate in Music Composition. He is also an avid equestrian.

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7 Comments

You can technically create the “medium format look” with a smaller sensor by doing the brenizer method, of course if the subject/scene allows it. But it’s just more work on the computer so you can pay more to do less work. I am personally a massive fan of bigger sensors and the look you get from them, but it can be replicated with smaller sensors

so by simulating a bigger sensor you can use a smaller sensor? :)
So sensorsize DOES matter :)

nah its not their video like always they just found it on youtube so that you and me post here and not on youtube :)

Without watching the video and looking only at the intro photo, the larger sensor is clearly the winner and must be preferred over the 26mp sensor. Look at the painted lines on the road and the foliage alongside the road. The smaller sensor is fuzzy; the larger sensor has greater detail and rendition. A larger format always wins, whether film or digital. To believe otherwise is wishful, perhaps magical, thinking.

One thing I noticed about medium format are are how fields of delicate shadow or reflections that may be spread across the frame, just pop. A clearer separation from the ground. This does not happen with FF sensors.

You can use fast lenses and high megapixels with all sensorsizes, but it's the transition to the oof areas where bigger sensors shine.