Originally posted by attack11 .. but there is always a difference. every sensor will have different noise starting at approximately iso400 and subsequently a loss of detail as you get into high isos; usually the ones that offer a cleaner high iso also offer a cleaner low iso.
Not sure of your point here, so another very simple example:
John has a FF camera, shoots a 200/2.8, and gets a shutter speed of 1/60" at ISO 3200.
Mary has an APS-C camera using the same sensor technology, shoots a 135/2 (same diameter lens), and gets a shutter speed of 1/60" at ISO 1600.
The math says, noise (and everything else) will be the *same*. So are you disputing the math, or saying there is something artificial about the comparison? As far as I can tell, it's *exactly* the relevant comparison.
If you feel Mary should be using a 135/2.8 instead of a 135/2 - presumably so she'll be forced to use ISO 3200 as well - then indeed, noise will be worse for her. But my point will remain - the advantage of FF will have been made possible only because you let John use a lens that is *lot* larger than the lens you let Mary use. And John will paid for this in decreased DOF as well. Let Mary have the 135/2 - same diameter and same DOF as John's 200/2.8 - and the difference in noise goes away too.
On the other hand, if you let Mary use the 135/2 but force her to use ISO 3200 for some reason, then she'll again have more noise - but she'll also have twice as fast a shutter speed. John could also trade shutter speed for noise by turning up his ISO to 6400 - again giving him the same shutter speed as Mary, *and the same noise*.
So in my comparison, FF provides no advantage whatsoever, unless it is that John will probably have an easier time getting a 200/2.8 for his FF camera than Mary will have getting getting a 135/2 for her APS-C camera.
Quote: you also have to take sensor dynamic range into account for detail recovery depending on push.
Right, but if you read the referenced article, or the entire contents of this thread, you see that resolution and DR works out the same too once you make sure you are comparing apples to apples: same FOV, same shutter speed, same lens diameter (which works out also provide same DOF), etc.