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Photography vocabulary · Camera Parts & Settings

Full-frame

Meaning in photography, with examples

/ˌfʊl ˈfreɪm/adjectiveCommon term

In photography, full-frame means: Describes a camera or sensor the same size as a frame of 35 mm film, about 36 × 24 mm. It is the reference size for comparing other sensors.

In Turkish: tam kare, full frame

How it is used

Used before a noun (a full-frame camera, a full-frame sensor) and in questions like “Is it full-frame or crop?” Full-frame cameras generally do better in low light and give a shallower depth of field for the same framing, but they are heavier and cost more.

Example sentences

  1. I upgraded to a full-frame body for cleaner high-ISO images.

  2. Is this lens designed for full-frame or APS-C cameras?

Common collocations

  • full-frame camera
  • full-frame sensor
  • full-frame equivalent
  • full-frame mirrorless
  • crop factorA number that compares a sensor's size with full-frame. Multiplying a lens's focal length by it gives the full-frame equivalent field of view.
  • sensorThe light-sensitive chip inside a digital camera that records the image. It does the job that film did in older cameras.
  • mirrorless cameraA digital camera with interchangeable lenses but no mirror inside. Light goes straight to the sensor, and you see the image on a screen or an electronic viewfinder.
  • DSLRShort for digital single-lens reflex: a digital camera with a mirror that reflects light from the lens up into an optical viewfinder.

More terms: Camera Parts & Settings

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