With not as much video as I would hope to be doing, my full frame kit is getting pressed into service as a stills problem solver.
The problem?
Not sure really.
Probably finding a use for the gear is the main one ;).
There is a problem though, one I was always aware of, but it is amazing how limiting it is.
It is frikkin’ big.
The little guys are my favourite primes, the 17 and 45mm f1.8’s. The monsters behind are their full frame equivalents.
It is not the cameras that are the problem, these are all big enough regardless of format, my largest a M43 model.
The lenses though are about three times the size.
Some context here.
Full frame has some small lenses, slim little pancake’s even, but they are few and far between and slow in aperture so the full frame advantage is effectively irrelevant (f1.8 in M43 = f3.4 in full frame for DOF, which is over two ISO settings advantage to get the same shot and most ff pancake lenses are f2.8). I simply do not see the benefit in trying to buy full frame kit-small. Too many pointless compromises for little benefit.
Weight is not always the issue either. The larger lenses above are all plastic bodies, so no real bother and I have plenty of heavier M43 lenses. My 75mm Olympus M43 lens is heavier than the full frame 85mm above.
The difference is in their effective focal length. You can carry a heavy M43 kit, but it will be effectively twice as long in reach as the full frame kit.
The issue is, and it cannot be fixed, the size of the sensor forces the lens barrels to be wider and longer.
It seems I now have to use a bigger bag.
Is it worth it?
I was starting to use a slim Crumpler Muli, or even smaller Crumpler or Kata shoulder bags and even some non-camera bags, but the minute I need to take the full frame, I need two of my usual spots per lens. A bag that once took a camera with mounted lens in a decent sized space, now just takes a lens.
The Domke F7 has become the one again, but even it’s lens spaces are pushed.
It can take two M43 bodies with mounted lenses, a third body on top with lens mounted, facing down into the lens slot, another two more lenses in other spots and that is just in the main compartment. All these are ready to go. Only height is an issue, my 40-150 f2.8 cannot go in mounted on a camera and the 300 f4 basically does not comfortably fit, but otherwise, anything goes.
My full frame Lumix kit also fits, but that is only two bodies, three primes and a kit zoom. No reach, not as much width and no room to spare. the lens width also limits fast change overs as I cannot simply drop a lens in, it needs to be wriggled.
The benefit is cleaner extreme ISO shooting (ISO 4000+), but how often is this really the case?
Some cool flare and almost ridiculously interesting results from a high ISO, high flare, underexposed and generally crappy situation, taken on an old G9, 9mm Leica straight into a light just off frame left and so close I could feel the heat. I could not see, but the camera and lens could with a little help from software. Do I need full frame? No.