crop sensor
A sensor smaller than a 35mm frame, most commonly APS-C at around 24 by 16 millimetres.
Also written
APS-CAPSC
Crop-sensor bodies are cheaper, lighter and give more apparent reach for the same lens, at the cost of some high-ISO performance and a little dynamic range. For daylight aviation work at long range the trade is often favourable, which is why crop bodies are so common among spotters.
Nearby in Photography
- clipping — Loss of detail where tones exceed what the sensor or file can record, leaving pure white or pure black.
- crop factor — The ratio between a sensor's diagonal and that of a 35mm frame, used to compare fields of view across formats.
- depth of field — The range of distances that appear acceptably sharp in an image.
- dynamic range — The span between the darkest and brightest tones a sensor can record in one exposure.