Originally posted by bdery "some people do it" is not a valid argument
The FF vs APS-C debate has been beaten to death a long time ago. For wildlife, this debate boils down to choosing between enlargement vs dynamic range, essentially. In low light, having larger pixels will help, but if light levels are good, there is no advantage to using a tele lens on a bigger sensor.
As far as I'm concerned, the simple fact that the majority of pro wildlife photographers are using full frame cameras for wildlife it's enough as a reason for me to desagree with your comment about crop cameras being more suited for wildlife due to the crop factor.
When pro photographers will use crop cameras most of the time for wildlife instead of top of the line full frame cameras, then I will agree with your statement.
Wildlife is not about who has the longer focal range, at least not acording to pro photographers I follow. It's about
:
- fast and reliable af and full frame deliver this better than crop cameras
- fps which full frame is better at
- ISO capabilities, again, a full frame is better
- technique (getting closer to the subject by adding a 1.4x/2x TC or making a good camouflage)
For those on a budget a crop camera with a good lens is good enough, but for pro wildlife photographers a crop camera is a back-up, at most. Even in good lighting condition you need high ISO capabilities at f8 (a 400mm or a 600mm f4 + 2x TC) and a shutter speed faster than 1/1000s (and I don't even mentioned birds in flight, where the shutter speed is usually faster than 1/1600s).
Take a look at this guy's images (see the link below). He uses a 1Dx Mark II and he said on a few occasions that even if the light seems good in his images, the ISO sometimes is over 3200. I haven't seen evidences that proves that a crop camera is better than a full frame camera for wildlife. All I saw on the internet is people saying the same thing "crop cameras are better for wildlife due to the crop factor". But as I said, this statement is contradicted by pro photographers who are using top of the line full frame cameras.
Avian - Ari1982