The difference between full frame and APS-C sensors is their size. The measurement between any two sensors is known as the crop factor. Full frame to APS-C is generally 1.5x (i.e., the full frame sensor is 1.5x larger).I'm told that there's only a one-stop difference between a full-frame and an APS-C sensor, which doesn't seem like much. For example, this is a 13-second exposure on my NEX (at ISO 100): With a one-stop advantage on a full-frame sensor, I'd still need a 6.5-second exposure at ISO 200, to maintain the same quality.
The Origin of APS-C Sensors. It should not come as a surprise, but APS-C sensors have been around for a long, long time. For those wondering, the full form of APS-C is Advanced Photo System, a film format that was used widely in the mid 1990s but has been discontinued ever since. No one really knows when the first APS-C camera came out, but the
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