# Canon Rebel XSI crop factor,is that bad?



## jrizo1 (Oct 1, 2008)

Hi i just got a brad new canon xsi a month ago, and today i hear about crop factor and i just do not know What exactly that means 

did i make a bad choise?


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## reg (Oct 1, 2008)

Yes.

Terrible choice.

Take the camera back NOW.


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## maulrat (Oct 1, 2008)

Don't worry.  You did not make a bad choice.  In fact, for the Canon line of DSLR, the only option you have are cameras with a crop factor (i.e. Rebels and 40D) or spend thousands of dollars for a 5D mark II or a 1D mark III.

Same with Nikon, Sony etc.  You're gonna have to put down a ton of dough for a camera with a full frame sensor... unless you can get yourself a 5-finger discount


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## andrew99 (Oct 1, 2008)

jrizo1 said:


> Hi i just got a brad new canon xsi a month ago, and today i hear about crop factor and i just do not know What exactly that means
> 
> did i make a bad choise?



No, not a bad choice.  The crop factor means that the image sensor is smaller than a frame of traditional 35mm film.  Most consumer DSLR's are crop sensor.  What it means is that the field of view is narrower than with a 35mm camera, which is good for shooting things far away (sports, wildlife), but not so good for shooting wide angle.  Apparently it is difficult to manufacture wide angle lenses for crop sensors since the tolerances are so tight, so wide angle lenses are expensive.


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## jrizo1 (Oct 1, 2008)

thanks maulrat tha make me feel better, but whats up whith reg Take the camera back NOW.


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## reg (Oct 1, 2008)

whats up with you not knowing anything about a several hundred dollar purchase


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## jrizo1 (Oct 1, 2008)

if i was a profesional i will not be asking, i  am just new at this trying to get better at it, i did not went out and got a $2000 camera.
what's  your ploblem did you know everything before you buy your first camara?


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## maulrat (Oct 1, 2008)

reg said:


> whats up with you not knowing anything about a several hundred dollar purchase



LoL.  That ain't nothing.  This is how crazy some people are.  My coworker went out today and bought a Nikon D700 and a 24-70 f/2.8 lens.  He just called me up a couple of hours ago and asked me, "How many photos can I take using the internal memory"?  This guy didn't even buy a memory card.

Don't feel so bad jrizo1.  Just do a little more research on your expensive toys.


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## Sirashley (Oct 1, 2008)

reg said:


> whats up with you not knowing anything about a several hundred dollar purchase



Perhaps you didn't realize where this was posted, in the beginners forum... Half of the idiots that work at Ritz camera don't know what the crop factor is. Christ, You are the reason people are afraid to ask questions on this board. Grow up...


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## jrizo1 (Oct 1, 2008)

yeah thats right reg if you are so smart you should not even be looking at this board. go were the a....... like you are.


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## Honu (Oct 1, 2008)

jrizo1 said:


> if i was a profesional i will not be asking, i am just new at this trying to get better at it, i did not went out and got a $2000 camera.
> what's your ploblem did you know everything before you buy your first camara?


 
I just bought the XSI also and I did not know what crop factor was either.


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## Sw1tchFX (Oct 1, 2008)

reg said:


> whats up with you not knowing anything about a several hundred dollar purchase


No kidding, and I totally agree with where you're going in the other thread too.


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## beaminge36 (Oct 1, 2008)

Reg has a point though, how can you spend $700 on a body and not know anything about it. Granted it is the beginners forum, i know my money doesnt go on trees so when I embark on a $1000 purchase, i research the hell out of it. With that being said, the crop factor is not necessarily bad, it just means that the focal length equivalent on your camera is 1.6 times what your lens is (as compared to a film or full frame digital). A 50mm lens has an equivalent telephoto view of an 80mm lens. Not bad, good when trying to get in close to subjects, bad when trying to get that wide angle shot. (10mm lens shows up as a 16mm lens). Overall the XSi seems like a good camera minus the slow memory card.

Nick


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## joethedestroyer (Oct 2, 2008)

different strokes for different folks...  Some do more research, some rely on pricepoint to tell them what they want to know about a purchase.


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## Arch (Oct 2, 2008)

Reg may have had a point, but that point doesn't need to be brought up here... and not in such a condescending manner... if you can't help newbs politely, then DON'T help them... some one else will. This is not how we talk to newbs on this forum.

As you were.


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## Ptyler22 (Oct 2, 2008)

I wanted to know the same thing before I bought my 40d so I searched it. This article is about the 40d but the XSI will be exactly the same. I Copied this on Consumer reports. Hopefully I am not breaking and rules by copying and pasting this.

Sensor Size and Lens Magnification Factor

Although there are many new or improved features on this SLR, one element that remains consistent with its predecessor, the 30D, is that it still has the same size (APS-like) sensor.

That's important because that sensor is smaller than a 35mm film slide (which is the size of a full-frame sensor). In the camera body, that smaller sensor format effectively "crops" the image produced by the lens. To you, the effect is to magnify the image or increase the telephoto capability of your lens.

So, on the 40D, which has an APS-like sensor and a lens magnification factor of 1.6x, a 100mm lens becomes equivalent to a 160mm lens.

This is good news for nature enthusiasts who love to photograph animals or sporting events at a distance. The down side is that this magnification factor dramatically curtails the wide-angle end of the spectrum. A nice 24mm wide-angle lens, when used on the 40D, effectively becomes a not-so-wide 38.4mm lens.

So, in order to help clarify just what this magnification factor means, I shot the same scene in a conference room here in our headquarters in Yonkers, New York, one that has a big window in it, using the new 40D, which has a magnification factor of 1.6x and the Canon EOS 5D, which has a full-frame-sized sensor, with a magnification factor of 1x.

(http://blogs.consumerreports.org/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2007/12/19/wideangle40dfinal.jpg) In the Photo A (Click on the link at left), I used Canon's EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM zoom lens (which costs about $1000) on both cameras. In Photo B, I used a 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM lens (which lists for about $600) on both cameras.

In Photo A , I set the zoom lens at its widest, 24mm setting and snapped both photos. You can see how the 5D lets you view more of the interior setting than the 40D. Indeed, the sensor within the 40D is actually cropping the image produced by the lens and turning it into the equivalent of a 38.4mm lens. Notice how, in the 40D shot, the chair and the telephone are cropped by each edge of the picture frame. In the 5D shot in Photo A, there is lots of space to the left of the telephone and to the right of the chair.

In Photo B (Click on link right)http://blogs.consumerreports.org/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2007/12/19/telephoto40dfinal_2.jpg, notice again how the 40D appears to zoom farther in on the scene, cropping most of the cars out of the bottom of the scene as well as some of the tree trunk. In the 40D image in Photo B, the 1.6x magnification factor turns the 300mm end of the zoom into the equivalent of 480mm. On the 5D, it remains a 300mm focal length.

However, it's important to remember that although lenses may appear to change when used on a camera that has an APS-like sized sensor, the lenses retain their original characteristics. For example, a 24mm lens may appear to look like a 38.4mm lens, but it will still have the distortion and other characteristics common in wide-angle lenses. Say you&#8217;re standing too near someone's face for a portrait and are using a 24mm lens. The nose will still appear much larger than if you used the longer focal length. And that will be true when using a wide-angle lens on both the 5D and the 40D.

It's worth noting an SLR's magnification factor when you're deciding on a camera body, especially if you shoot wide-angle compositions. If you own a number of compatible wide-angle lenses and can afford its higher price, consider purchasing a full-frame sensor SLR. Or, if you go for a camera like the 40D, you may need to purchase lenses that are wider than the ones you own. Aside from the magnification factor, the 40D has a very strong set of features that make it a very capable, high performing camera for many types of photography.


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## DavidSR (Oct 2, 2008)

reg said:


> whats up with you not knowing anything about a several hundred dollar purchase


 
I purchased my XTi not knowing much about it..I did do some research and played with it at my local Best Buy...I did not know about the crop factor, but did however know it was in my price range.  Either way, the crop factor isn't always what makes ones decision to jump into DSLR's.


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## DavidSR (Oct 2, 2008)

beaminge36 said:


> Reg has a point though, how can you spend $700 on a body and not know anything about it. Granted it is the beginners forum, i know my money doesnt go on trees so when I embark on a $1000 purchase, i research the hell out of it.
> 
> Nick


 
This is true, however how many people do you know go out and research T.V's? Most people go out and simply by based on manufacturer and size..not many care about the screen resolution.  They just know that T.V. (a) appears to have better picture quality than T.V. (b).  Also, the OP stated he did not know about the crop factor, but who are we to say that he doesn't know anything about his camera.


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## beaminge36 (Oct 5, 2008)

That was the start to my response and I followed it with a simple description as to what the crop factor means in practical use to answer the OP's question. Sorry if I came off a little harsh. As far as TV's go, I spent a month researching TVs and what all the specs and features mean in real terms before buying mine. No disrespect meant toward the OP.

Nick


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## Village Idiot (Oct 6, 2008)

maulrat said:


> Don't worry. You did not make a bad choice. In fact, for the Canon line of DSLR, the only option you have are cameras with a crop factor (i.e. Rebels and 40D) or spend thousands of dollars for a 5D mark II or a 1D mark III.
> 
> Same with Nikon, Sony etc. You're gonna have to put down a ton of dough for a camera with a full frame sensor... unless you can get yourself a 5-finger discount


 
Actually, unless thousand*s* of dollars now means one thousand, then you're wrong. I saw some one selling a 5D for $1300. You can get them gently used for about $1500 average now.


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## ksmattfish (Oct 6, 2008)

Crop factor is a new fangled term for "format".  I assume that someone who was only casually into photography, and grew up in the age of 35mm dominance, coined the term "crop factor".  Maybe they did it because format means something different regarding computers.  Format in photography is the size of the piece of film or sensor used to make the photo.  

I think the confusion caused by the term "crop factor" indicates it should be dropped, and we should just go back to "format", which worked fine for 125+ years.  When I used a 90mm lens on a 4x5in format camera, a 6x6cm format camera, and a 35mm format camera I understood that the focal length remained 90mm, and the field of view changed (got smaller as the format got smaller).  Now with "crop factor" many photogs think if you put a 50mm lens on a DSLR it turns into a 75mm lens.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_format


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## Village Idiot (Oct 6, 2008)

Because DSLR's are using "standard" 35mm lenses and are based on a 35mm film size so they use the crop numbers to help distinguish what the FOV will be based on the focal length of the lens with it's intended format.


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## epp_b (Oct 6, 2008)

> LoL. That ain't nothing. This is how crazy some people are. My coworker went out today and bought a Nikon D700 and a 24-70 f/2.8 lens. He just called me up a couple of hours ago and asked me, "How many photos can I take using the internal memory"? This guy didn't even buy a memory card.


Wow, people like that are....yeah...


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## maulrat (Oct 6, 2008)

Village Idiot said:


> Actually, unless thousand*s* of dollars now means one thousand, then you're wrong. I saw some one selling a 5D for $1300. You can get them gently used for about $1500 average now.


 
OK, maybe I should have said, "...thousands of dollars if you buy a (NEW) 5D or 1D mark III from a reputable business like Amazon or B+H".

Is that better? hehe


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