Steve Spencer wrote:
You do realize that when you use a 3X crop that turns your 36 X 24 mm sensor into a 12 X 8 mm sensor. You go from an area with 864mm squared to 96mm squared. An iPhone sensor is 9.6 X 7.2 mm with 69mm squared. If you crop to 3X you have almost turned your FF sensor into an iPhone sensor. If you are ok with that keep in mind that modern cell phones typically have 3 lenses and add zero size and weight to what people typically carry. That might be enough for you.
Exactly. I vomit a little every time someone says that they can use their camera as three focal lengths via cropping. That is utter nonsense and marketing blah…the opposite marketing (but that happens to be true) that advocated for going full frame over aps-c and that over m4/3.
Yuck. Better to get even a mid quality zoom lens than crop the snot out of a good prime and have used only a fraction of your precious pixels.
It’s probably less about carrying three compact P&S cameras at once, and more about having a truly small but capable one tailored to each occasion. Sigma approached this with their DP Foveon series, and perhaps Leica has a similar vision with the Q3. Personally, I can’t imagine carrying both Q3 versions. But in a family/group setting, each member could pick a different focal length and cover one another on a trip. Otherwise, a zoom makes far more sense, cropping just feels like a compromise dressed up as “getting the shot.”
Grenache wrote:
Exactly. I vomit a little every time someone says that they can use their camera as three focal lengths via cropping. That is utter nonsense and marketing blah…the opposite marketing (but that happens to be true) that advocated for going full frame over aps-c and that over m4/3.
Yuck. Better to get even a mid quality zoom lens than crop the snot out of a good prime and have used only a fraction of your precious pixels.
You seem to have little to no experience with cropping. Even a 3x crop from the RX1 sensor provides an image that is perfectly fine in most use cases.
Steve Spencer wrote:
The google Pixel 9 Pro is a little smaller at 7.7mm X 6.0mm. To put things in perspective the crop from a 3X cropped FF sensor to an iPhone sensor is a 1.2X crop, and the crop from an iPhone sensor to the Google Pixel 9 Pro sensor is also a 1.2X crop. The iPhone sensor is right in the middle. The crop from a 3X cropped FF sensor to the Google Pixel 9 Pro sensor is about 1.5X or about the same amount as FF to APS-C. I would expect that you could see that if you look carefully but a 1.2X crop is a lot harder to see. For example cropping from a 3 X 2 aspect ratio to 4 X 3 is about a 1.1X crop and I typically don't notice that at all. Of course all of this assumes using the same lens or similar lenses. When we compare the RX1r to a cell phone the lenses are very different, so that no doubt plays a role as well. Still, although I appreciate the ability to crop and do it often especially for travel photography, for me personally a 3X crop of a FF sensor sacrifices too much, but of course YMMV....Show more →
3x crop sacrifices a lot - so it is only a last resort - but still useful.
Nielk Mike wrote:
You seem to have little to no experience with cropping. Even a 3x crop from the RX1 sensor provides an image that is perfectly fine in most use cases.
Correct. I spend the effort to frame the shot so that the desired composition fills the frame, and I print large.
Grenache wrote:
Correct. I spend the effort to frame the shot so that the desired composition fills the frame, and I print large.
Power to you. How large? BTW, I also frame my shot with the crop ration in mind. So no difference there when it comes to composition. I am not hunting for crops after the fact.
hiepphotog wrote:
It’s probably less about carrying three compact P&S cameras at once,...
Actually, that's exactly what it's about. Didn't you read the thread?
chez wrote:
Looking at your uploaded images, seems like you take portraits which is a hell of a lot easier to fill the frame than shooting dynamic street photos.
However, I had previously failed to realize that you need 90mm and more for dynamic street photography.
chez wrote:
And why would you not use a 90mm lens for street / documentary photography. I use my 85mm all the time. Wonder why you would even think such a thing?
You should read my post carefully again. I didn't say that you can't take photos on the street with a 90mm lens. But I am claiming that you don't need a telephoto lens for good street photography. In fact, I find it a disadvantage. But there's no accounting for taste, which is why everyone is free to decide what he thinks of telephoto street photography. One thing is certain, however: almost all iconic street photos that are burned into the collective memory were taken with slight wide-angle or normal focal lengths, and for good reason. But I don't want to have that discussion, because it would definitely get out of hand and lead to arguments but no results. My sole point was that no one who can handle 35mm needs a 90mm lens for street. Quite the opposite.
Nifty Fifty wrote:
You should read my post carefully again. I didn't say that you can't take photos on the street with a 90mm lens. But I am claiming that you don't need a telephoto lens for good street photography. In fact, I find it a disadvantage. But there's no accounting for taste, which is why everyone is free to decide what he thinks of telephoto street photography. One thing is certain, however: almost all iconic street photos that are burned into the collective memory were taken with slight wide-angle or normal focal lengths, and for good reason. But I don't want to have that discussion, because it would definitely get out of hand and lead to arguments but no results. My sole point was that no one who can handle 35mm needs a 90mm lens for street. Quite the opposite....Show more →
Pictures say more than words. All taken with 85mm.
chez wrote:
Pictures say more than words. All taken with 85mm.
Above all, they demonstrate that there are completely different interpretations of street photography. Portraits (in my personal opinion) don't necessarily become street just because they were shot on the street. Other people may have a different opinion.
Nifty Fifty wrote:
Above all, they demonstrate that there are completely different interpretations of street photography. Portraits (in my personal opinion) don't necessarily become street just because they were shot on the street. Other people may have a different opinion.
I don’ live in boxed definitions. The images were taken while wandering the street…street photography.
Aug 24, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Steve Spencer Offline • • • • • • • Upload & Sell: On
chez wrote:
Pictures say more than words. All taken with 85mm.
I don't know if I have ever said it, but I love the work chez. They are fantastic. I would only call the first and third portraits, but I think portraits can definitely also be street photography. Vivian Mairer's work which I was able to see in person I would definitely call street photography and at the exhibit I saw about half were portraits. Here on FM Allan (airfrogusmc) regularly posts street work that is in my estimation exceptional and often are also portraits. My definition of street definitely includes portraits of people on the street.
Grenache wrote:
Exactly. I vomit a little every time someone says that they can use their camera as three focal lengths via cropping. That is utter nonsense and marketing blah…the opposite marketing (but that happens to be true) that advocated for going full frame over aps-c and that over m4/3.
Yuck. Better to get even a mid quality zoom lens than crop the snot out of a good prime and have used only a fraction of your precious pixels.
I have a completely different view. Using crop mode on my A7R5 is one of my favorite things.
If I have a 28mm lens on the camera and see a quickly changing scene that needs a 40mm, I hit a button and bam! I have a 26mp 43mm image. And it’s almost exactly the same quality I would have if I had been shooting a 24mp full frame camera. What’s not to like about that? Crop mode is very handy for framing, especially for portraits since you see exactly what you’ll get instead of shooting the full frame and guessing where you’ll want to crop later. And using crops DOES give you more flexibility with a prime if used judiciously.
I print big too - 40”x 60”. A 26mp image can easily get me there depending on the subject. I like to use all the tools available to me with a high megapixel sensor and judicious cropping is a very valuable tool.
Steve Spencer wrote:
Vivian Mairer's work which I was able to see in person I would definitely call street photography and at the exhibit I saw about half were portraits.
You don't really want to compare Vivian Maier's work with the images shown here? I think I'd better step out at this point.
Aug 24, 2025 at 12:53 PM
Steve Spencer Offline • • • • • • • Upload & Sell: On
You don't really want to compare Vivian Maier's work with the images shown here? I think I'd better step out at this point.
Well there are lots of way to compare. I am not saying the work here is as good as hers, but her work does have many portraits and I think it is street work and generally viewed as such.
Let me also note that Allan (airfrogusmc) has had a number of gallery shows of his street work. I wouldn't want to say he is as good as Vivian Maier, but that doesn't mean his work isn't exceptional. Allan clearly has his own style and is humble (you won't see him gloating about his work or his shows), but in my view his work is fantastic and I don't think I am the only one who has recognized that.
Nifty Fifty wrote:
When? I'm guessing April 1, 2026.
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Nielk Mike wrote:
(1) Yes, I hate changing lenses. It is very unpractical in the streets, subways, and in bad weather. And it takes time. So opportunities missed.
(2) Yes, nobody has yet made a 90mm fixed lens camera. But there is always a first time :-)
(3) I was using the a7cR with the Voigtländer 21, the Sony 50f2.5 and the Sigma 90f2.8. Or the Fuji X-Pro3 with the 23/35/50 f2 Fujinons. All good, but slowing me down.
(4) Because of speed I am currently carrying the RX1R MkIII and the a7cR with the Sigma 90f2.8. It works, but the a7cR is bigger than the RX1R.
