Why shoot an FX body and lens in DX mode?

Hooded mergansers in Maple Ridge, BC today (Mar 20, 2024)

For the uninitiated, FX refers to cameras that use a full-frame sensor (36 mm x 24 mm - the same size as a 35 mm negative).  DX refers to cameras that use the smaller sensor usually referred to as APS-C sized (about 25 mm x 17 mm) and has a 1.5 crop factor (1.6 for Canon).  APS, by the way, stands for Advanced Photo System and was a new film size first produced in 1996.  The film itself is discontinued but the size remains the same.

 Today we use the terms FX and DX to denote if a camera is full-frame or cropped sensor.  A DX camera has a smaller image sensor that can only be used in DX mode.  An FX camera has a full-frame sensor but it may be able to operate in either FX or DX mode.  If you put a DX lens on an FX body, the camera will automatically crop the sensor and produce a smaller image.  An FX lens will normally allow you to shoot in FX mode.  But you can choose to use an FX lens on an FX body but shoot it in DX mode.  The question is, why would you?

I did this very thing today as I took my FX Z7ii Nikon camera out with a 500 mm FX lens equipped with a 1.4 teleconverter.  Instead of shooting in FX mode, I intentionally selected DX mode to see what happened.  I must say, I was relatively pleased.

Since the Z7ii is a mirrorless camera, it allowed me to see the cropped version of the image through the viewfinder rather than the heavily vignetted version that would have resulted from the cropping.  I got the same degree of magnification as if I was using the lens on my D500, which is a DX body.  Furthermore, the 50 mp sensor resulted in a 20 mp image which was also desirable since the resulting file was significantly smaller.  At 20 mp, there was still plenty of information there to crop and play with.  The fact that I could see the resulting subject in my viewfinder enlarged was a definite bonus.

This will not work in all situations.  A FX camera with a 24 mp sensor will be reduced to around 10 mp in DX mode.  The image may be enlarged within the viewfinder or it may experience heave vignetting.  If this is something you want to do, take the time to explore the end result before committing yourself in the field.

My previous blog was about my preference of my D series camera over the Z series camera for shooting wildlife.  One of the issues was the enormity of the files the 50 mp sensor created.  This is one less caveat for that situation.  The large viewfinder produced a thoroughly enjoyable image that I took great pleasure in.  It is not something I will do often, but I am glad that I took time today to try.

Thanks for reading.

Eric Svendsen     www.ericspix.com

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