I took this photo in South Africa with a Sony RX100 III
I am posting it and a couple more shots from that camera so I can see how they look online.
The camera has a one-inch sensor (see more about that below), and what prompted me to look at the photos again was the perennial search for a camera that suits me – difficult when the ‘me’ of me keeps changing.
I like my Ricoh GR III very much, and now it is the only digital camera I own.
Well that is apart from a Nikon D70 that I bought about a year ago to use as a pinhole camera. I have a 35mm lens on it and I could use it, but I don’t.
Both the D70 and the GR III have the same size APS-C sensor but the D70 is an interchangeable lens camera whereas the GR III is a fixed lens.
But the GR III is tiny and weighs a fraction of the D70.
The D70 is heavy – 679 g. OK, that is not heavy, but it is when I compare it to a full frame Nikon Z 6 II that weighs 705 g, So more or less the same weight but for a camera with a much bigger sensor..
I tried a Fuji X-T3, which has an APS-C sensor and in the end it is neither fish nor fowl. It is too heavy to be light – and for the weight I may as well go the whole hog with that Nikon Z6 II.
So, looking at some photos from South Africa I see that the little one inch sensor on the Sony RX100 holds its own pretty well. And it’s a tiny camera – 290 g – so more or less the same weight as the Ricoh – and it has a zoom lens from 24-70 mm with a maximum aperture that goes from F1.8 at the short end to F2.8 at the long end.
In the photo of clouds over Table Mountain I can see the number plate on the nearest white car – CA 854-232. Pretty good for a tiny sensor. I can see it on this web version of the photo but I can with the original when I look on my computer.
In fact, although it is a bit blurry I can see the number plate on the silver car – CV 70269 and on the second white car – CV 35850.
All of which goes to show that modern cameras are amazing, even cameras with small one-inch sensors.
So Why Get A Bigger Camera
It’s a good question and if better means very heavy, then it is an even better question.
Let’s start with the rendering capability of a sensor, which is not a function of area but instead is a function of the linear length of the sensor.
Here are the numbers to compare the sensor sizes, and a diagram to show the same thing:
A full frame sensor is 36 mm on the long side.
APS-C is 24 mm on the long side.
Micro Four Thirds is 17.3 mm on the long side.
The Sony’s sensor is 13.2 mm on the long side.
P&S cameras sensors are from 5.7 to 8.6 mm on the long side.
The iPhone 15 Por’s sensor is 4.5 mm on the long side.
So all other things being equal, a full frame camera like the Nikon Z6 II will render detail significantly better than a small sensor.
However, if you really want to see where that difference really stands out most, it’s when shooting at high ISO.
But for shooting in good daylight the difference is not so obvious. And even in subdued light like in the living room of this cottage in the next photo here, it is pretty good.
And the colours are pretty good as well, as you can see in the shot of the protea flowers.
The Sensors At Higher ISO
I would love to shoot the same scene with a small sensor camera and a full frame camera, but in the absence of that, here are screenshots from DP Review comparing the Nikon Z6 II and the Sony RX100 III at ISO 100 and then at ISO 6400.
As you can see, the difference is apparent at ISO 100, and blindingly obvious at high ISO.
But just looking at the shots from the Sony is good-ish light, they look pretty good.
So what is the conclusion?
If a person wants to shoot at high ISO, then a little one inch sensor isn’t going to cut it. And being able to shoot at high ISO means one can use a faster shutter speed and stop the action. And you might be surprised how much movement is going on even with a person who is standing still
Nikon Full Frame Camera At ISO 6400
So how does the Nikon Z6 II full frame camera behave at ISO 6400? It behave brilliantly – see this photo and a crop of less than 10% of the full frame.
the only question is back to whether I see myself as a serious photographer, in which case I should put up with the weight for the benefit of terrific image quality at high ISO.
Of course, I would not take a big camera like that on holiday, at least I don’t think so.
That is also the question.
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