Sensor format comparisons

The format pairs photographers ask about most, each with a scale diagram, measured dimensions and what the difference means for lens choice. For any other pair, use the sensor size comparison tool.

Full Frame vs APS-CThe most common upgrade question in photography. APS-C bodies and lenses are smaller and cheaper; full frame gives a wider view from the same lens and more light-gathering area.1.00× vs 1.53× · area -57%
Full Frame vs Micro Four ThirdsMicro Four Thirds trades sensor area for compact bodies and lenses. The crop factor is close to 2×, which makes mental conversion simple: double the focal length.1.00× vs 2.00× · area -74%
APS-C vs Micro Four ThirdsBoth are crop formats, but they are not interchangeable. APS-C is larger and uses a wider 3:2 shape; Micro Four Thirds is 4:3 and noticeably smaller in area.1.53× vs 2.00× · area -39%
Full Frame vs 1-inch1-inch sensors power premium compacts and many drones. Compared with full frame the difference in area is large, and lens focal lengths on 1-inch cameras look unusually short.1.00× vs 2.73× · area -87%

Relative crop between formats

Read across a row: the value is how much longer a lens looks on the column format than on the row format. A value above 1 means the column format frames tighter. Each value is the ratio of the two computed crop factors.

From \ to	Medium Format 44×33	Full Frame	APS-H	APS-C	Canon APS-C	Micro Four Thirds	1-inch
Medium Format 44×33	1.00×	1.27×	1.63×	1.93×	2.04×	2.53×	3.45×
Full Frame	0.79×	1.00×	1.29×	1.53×	1.61×	2.00×	2.73×
APS-H	0.61×	0.77×	1.00×	1.18×	1.25×	1.55×	2.11×
APS-C	0.52×	0.66×	0.85×	1.00×	1.06×	1.31×	1.79×
Canon APS-C	0.49×	0.62×	0.80×	0.95×	1.00×	1.24×	1.69×
Micro Four Thirds	0.40×	0.50×	0.65×	0.76×	0.81×	1.00×	1.36×
1-inch	0.29×	0.37×	0.47×	0.56×	0.59×	0.73×	1.00×

Reading a comparison

Area tells you how much light-gathering surface each format has at the same exposure. Crop factor tells you how the field of view changes for the same lens. Aspect ratio tells you the shape of the frame. The three are related but not interchangeable, which is why every comparison shows all of them.

Crop factorfull-frame diagonal ÷ sensor diagonal

Equivalent focal lengthfocal length × crop factor

Field of view2 × atan(sensor dimension ÷ (2 × focal length))