APSC Crop sensor roundup March 2023

 

Sail GP Sydney February 2023  Canon EOS R10 with RF-S 18-150mm lens

Since the introduction of mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras (MILC) early in the 21^st Century  the APSC sensor size (Sony diagonal 28mm, crop factor 1.5,   Canon diagonal 27mm, crop factor 1.6) has been the most popular. All brands other than Canon use the Sony APSC size and probably use sensors made by Sony also. Canon makes its own MILC sensors.

Cameras with this sensor size have easily outsold those with the larger full frame (diagonal 43mm, crop factor 1 ) sensor and the smaller Micro Four Thirds ( 21.6mm diagonal crop factor 2) sensor. It appears that for most consumers APSC strikes an attractive balance between size, mass, cost, performance, quality and capability.

I suspect that most camera makers except Fujifilm which does not offer any full frame (43mm diagonal)  MILCs might prefer that APSC would die out for lack of consumer interest but that has not happened.  

Consumers have spoken with their wallets and they like APSC.

I suspect this is because for most camera users even those seeking a high level of performance and image quality the current crop of APSC models can do the job well enough.

The task for Canon, Nikon and Sony has been to migrate all their MILC catalogue onto one lens mount to streamline and rationalise their product offerings.

Sony managed this first by discovering that they could effectively fit full frame sensors behind the small E mount introduced with the early NEX series APSC cameras in 2010.

Nikon managed to transition all new MILC models to the Z mount in 2018.

Canon having burdened itself with the orphan EF-M mount system in  2012 had to extricate itself from EF, EF-S and EF-M systems to concentrate fully on the RF mount. This finally happened with the release of the APSC R7 and R10 in 2022 and was effectively confirmed by the announcement of the R50 in 2023 although no actual statement about the end of the EF-M line has been made.

Fujifilm introduced the all new X mount for APSC sensors in 2012 and continues to use this.  As Fujifilm has no full frame MILC their product strategy is to offer APSC models from entry level up to bodies and lenses with professional aspirations at a size and price which pitches them into competition with mid range full frame models from Canon, Nikon and Sony.

Barangaroo.   Canon R10 with RF-S 18-150mm

Sony   Bodies

Sony’s first mirrorless APSC bodies were the diminutive NEX models which were replaced by the slightly larger a6000 in 2014.  This had numerous ergonomic and handling limitations which have been widely reported. But  instead of evolving the a6xxx line into something with more desirable handling and ergonomics Sony just kept iterating the same basic body size, shape and  controls over successive models. These cameras have a short handle which cannot accommodate 5 fingers, no front dial, a very small viewfinder with no substantive eyecup, a monitor with limited movements and touchscreen capability, no joystick and crowded controls.  I bought an a 6500 a few years back and found that handling and operating this camera was quite disappointing.

I can’t understand why Sony persists with such a compromised design. I wonder whether the product development people at Sony understand it either. They released three very similar models in 2019, the a6100, a6400 and a6600 and nothing in that line since. From my limited perspective as a mere consumer it looks as though Sony is not too sure where it is going with APSC.

The latest models have no viewfinder and a fully articulated monitor screen. These are promoted as being for vloggers or “content creators” as they like to be called. So maybe that is where Sony believes APSC might go.

Sony Lenses

Over the years the Sony E (APSC) lens catalogue has grown to the extent there are now many E mount lenses to be had. But as I look through the catalogue the items on offer look more like a jumble sale than the outcome of a coherent product development strategy.

Because Sony, Nikon and Canon offer full frame bodies and lenses  in their consumer upgrade path they don’t really need to offer many crop sensor lenses, just a chosen few which will meet the requirements of most APSC users.

Specifically they need an ultrawide zoom, a short standard zoom, a long standard zoom, a tele zoom and one or two fast mid range primes. That’s it really. Just six lenses will cover the requirements of the great majority of crop sensor users in the great majority of use cases.

The Sony E mount (APSC) lens catalogue is all over the place. There is an ultrawide zoom, four standard short zooms, two standard long zooms, two tele zooms and a clutter of primes with focal length and aperture specs having no organising principle which I can detect.

How is the baffled buyer to choose between the 16-50 PZ, 18-105 PZ, 16-70 and 16-55 ?

My impression is that Sony has yet to decide what to do with the APSC E mount system with no clear direction evident to me as a consumer.

Fujifilm Bodies

Fujifilm implemented a major change to their camera catalogue in 2012. Out went the compacts and bridge cams of previous years, in came a range of APSC  MILC bodies and lenses. For reasons known only to themselves Fujifilm product development people decided to go all-in with APSC and to have no presence in the Full frame MILC space at all.

In addition  there has long been a culture at Fujifilm dating back to the early film days of wanting to offer Fuji users something different from the mainstream models from Canon, Sony and Nikon.

The result is a collection of idiosyncratic products loved by fujifans but avoided by the majority of camera buyers. These range from entry level models like the X-E series and X-Txx series through the mid range X-S10 and X-Tx models up to high end X-H models and the rangefinder-esq X-Pro models.

Some are flat-front-shutter-button-on-top style, others have a full handle and look more like a mainstream MILC.  But in practice they are not quite the real deal. For instance the X-S10 has a joystick but it is located about 30mm below where the right thumb wants to find it and the haptic realisation is poor, the stick being just a little nubbin of a thing instead of the much better designed large module with sharpish raised circumference seen on Canon, Sony and Nikon models. To make matters worse the X-S10 designers forgot to include the 4-way controller thereby removing 5 control buttons from the body.

Fujifilm lenses

As expected there are lots of these but as with Sony the collection offered resembles a jumble sale more than a planned rollout.  Some lenses have an aperture ring, others do not. Some are decently compact but others are as large and expensive as equivalent full frame models.

The are two ultrawide zooms, two short standard zooms, three long standard zooms, four tele zooms and a miscellaneous collection of primes.

I guess the idea is to offer something for everyone but it seems to me that in the process the catalogue has been cluttered with more models than required, several with less than clear reasons to exist.

It seems to me that Fujifilm is throwing darts at the market board hoping some of them find a target.

Nikon Bodies

Since the early days of digital photography it has seemed to me that Nikon regards full frame cameras as their mainstream and APSC as the B-for-beginners-budget alternative. This approach seems quite sensible to me  although some Nikon commentators complain about the limited catalogue of APSC products.

At the time of writing Nikon has only one Z-DX APSC body which appears in three versions. The original is called Z50.  The same inner workings appear in the Z-fc, a retro-chintzy-style  body which looks like a Fujifilm product and comes in "12 eyecatching colours" !!!  A third iteration of this camera called the Z30 is a Z50 without a viewfinder and with a fully articulating screen aimed at the vlogging fraternity.

I owned a Z50 for a while and found it to be quite a nice little camera, let down somewhat by ergonomic and performance limitations.

Nikon Lenses

There is no ultrawide zoom yet but the other lens groups are catered for with some typically good  Nikon glass. The 16-50 short standard zoom is a very nice, compact, sharp lens. The 18-140mm long standard zoom has received very good reviews. The 50-250 tele zoom is very sharp, setting a new standard for budget kit lenses. The 26 and 28mm primes are light, compact and very suitable for the Z50 body.

So we can see that with just three zooms and a couple of compact primes Nikon has created an ideal selection of lenses to complement their APSC bodies.

All they need is an ultrawide zoom to complete the set.

Canon Bodies

Although late to the market with RF mount APSC models Canon has already released three bodies, each with a well considered market position.  In fact with just those three models Canon has in my view achieved a more coherent APSC body offering than any of the other camera brands.

The R7 is the high resolution, high performance model with specification, performance and capability aimed at demanding users.

The R10 is the entry level model for enthusiast and experienced users with capabilities not previously seen at this level. Although moderately priced the R10 is a pleasure to use and delivers high quality results. It has a full handle, shutter button, Fn button and front and rear dials in standard Canon locations just as you find on much more expensive models. It has a well placed joystick with good haptics.

I have not yet handled the R50 but this model is clearly the entry level model for beginners to camera photography, users graduating across to the RF mount from EF-M and budget DSLR users moving to mirrorless. The R50 uses the same sensor as the R10 but is smaller with fewer control access points and no joystick.

Canon Lenses

There is no RF-S ultrawide zoom yet but the existing EF-M 11-22mm is a very nice lens of well known quality which could easily be re-housed to fit the RF mount. I hope Canon does this soon.  

The short standard RF-S 18-45mm is very nice. My copy delivers good results at all focal lengths and apertures.

The Long standard RF-S 18-150mm is optically the same as the EF-M lens now re-housed with RF-S designation for the RF mount. My copy of this lens is very nice delivering very good results at all apertures and focal lengths and also very good near-macro results. This is one of the best compact, light, general purpose lenses I have encountered.

The RF-S 55-210 tele zoom will make a nice compact companion to the 18-45 although the reach is a bit short.

The full frame RF 100-400 also works very well on the R7/R10 giving an effective 160-640mm focal length range.

There are no RF-S primes yet but the EF-M 22mm f2 is another nice lens of known capability which Canon could re-house for the Rf mount very easily. The RF 16mm f2.8 can be used on an RF crop sensor body with an effective focal length of 25.6mm but images are soft around the periphery with this lens on the R10. The RF mount does not as yet have a 28mm prime but I would like to see Canon copy Nikon in producing a compact but sharp 28mm which can work well on either full frame or crop models.

So Canon is most of the way there already. They just need to re-house two existing EF-M mount lenses to complete the set.

Any others ?

Leica has ceased production of crop sensor models.  Ricoh/Pentax still make two APSC models although they are DSLRs not mirrorless.

Conclusion

On my analysis the number of models of camera bodies or lenses offered is much less relevant than the careful design of a limited selection of products most likely  to meet the requirements of crop sensor camera buyers.

With this in mind I think that Nikon and Canon are better targeting their consumers than Sony and Fujifilm. I think both Sony and Fujifilm might be better able to engage their potential customers if they were to completely review their crop sensor offerings with a view to streamlining and better targeting a smaller number of  bodies and lenses to  the likely users and most frequent use cases.

I have taken a bet that Canon will in the near future add an RF-S 11-22mm UWA zoom and an RF-S 22mm f2 to their RF-S catalogue, at which point they will be just about done for crop sensor essentials.

We will see how that goes.