I remember not too long ago I was photographing a mother bear in the Smoky Mountains. Storage – The next handy side effect you’ll notice when using a crop mode is that your camera can cram more files onto your memory cards. Again, not all cameras will give you that FPS bump (I’m looking at you, D850), but if yours does, that’s a huge bonus.Ģ. Frame Rate – In some bodies with certain crop modes engaged, you may see a boost in frame rate. For instance, with a D810 and D7200, switching to one of the crop modes will net you an extra frame for each second your finger is on the shutter release.Ī single frame per second may not sound like much, but if you’re an action shooter I don’t need to tell you that sometimes it all comes down to just a single image in a series, so this is a nice bonus. Of course, this begs the question – if there’s no difference in quality, is there any point to using the camera’s built-in crop modes?Ībsolutely! Top Four Reasons To Use Crop Modeġ. See the difference? Yup, neither does anyone else. Click to enlarge in a new tab (note, you may have to click again once you’re in the new tab for the full size image) I shot the test target using the D850 from the same position, same focus, same exposure – the only difference was I switched to DX crop mode for the shot on the right and cropped the shot on the left using the computer. So, if you switch your 46MP D850 into DX crop mode, you’re only capturing 19.4MP of information, not 46MP in a smaller area.įor those who would demand proof, here’s an example. McDonald’s didn’t make your camera, so there is no special sauce added to the equation.Īdditionally, keep in mind that when you crop-in camera (or at home), you are also sacrificing resolution. The camera is merely doing what you’re doing – slashing off extra pixels. There is absolutely no difference in quality. The camera’s crop mode will give you the exact same results as if you had sliced those pixels off from your desk chair. Basically, do you get superior quality using the camera’s crop mode(s) or will using the crop tool back home on the computer yield better results?Īs it turns out, it makes no difference at all. The #1 question I get about crop modes is regarding image quality. So, let’s examine some aspects of cropping in camera vs. We’ll look at some specific Nikon setup instructions at the end of this article. However, it’s certainly worth exploring your instruction manual to see if the option is there. Some cameras may give you even more than that, some don’t give you any choices at all. For example, my D850 allows me to use the entire frame, a 4:5 ratio, a 1.2X crop mode, a square crop, and a 1.5X crop mode (my favorites are the 1.2X and 1.5X modes). In fact, we’ll talk all about that topic in an upcoming article. Still, sometimes turning a photographic flop into a successful image depends on some well calculated cropping, but just how should you do it?Īt first glance the answer may appear obvious, “You crop using a computer, duh!”Īs it turns out, many cameras feature one or more built-in crop modes. So please don’t take the remainder of this article as some kind of an endorsement for reckless pixel pruning, it’s really not.ĭon’t get me wrong, I hack away at pixels like I’m the villain in a horror movie when necessary, but for the record, it’s always better if you don’t. First, let’s get one thing out in the open – I’m not a fan of cropping and I normally tend to avoid it as much as possible.
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