Crop-sensor camera owners need not apply

Apparently you need a full-frame camera to take portraits

I was browsing my local Craigslist listings and I came across an ad for portrait photography gigs. To be clear, I’m not interested in such a job, but I wanted to see what the qualifications were:

WHAT YOU WOULD PROVIDE (the company)?
- Provide us your availability and location preferences
- Conduct booked 30min sessions based on availability / location preference using natural light
- Must ""lightly"" edit (color/cropping/lighting) photos and deliver within 48 hours of shoot

Okay, no problems here. Pretty simple, actually.

REQUIREMENTS FOR YOU?
- Must have excellent camera technical skills
- Must be proficient with client direction / communication
- Must be proficient with Adobe Lr Classic / similar software
- Must be willing to provide excellent customer service
- Must be able to keep consistent communication with Mgmt
- Must be willing to shoot in inclement weather
- Must be experienced and comfortable working w/ Families and Children

Reasonable, enough. I use all these tools and have been for twenty years now. And then, they got nit-picky:

CAMERA REQUIREMENTS?
- You must own a professional-grade DSLR / Mirrorless camera
- No crop-sensors (APS-C)
- Full-frame Cameras Preferred
- Camera must be ≥ 24.2MP to apply
- Must have properly weatherized equipment

What? They don’t allow “crop-sensor” cameras, but “Full-frame” is preferred?

First of all, that statement is in itself contradictory. You prefer “full-frame” but then say you won’t allow anything else? Maybe they meant you could use medium format?

And a megapixel requirement? Sure, I realize that 24MP is plenty for most prints (assuming the clients are even buying prints, but what are you trying to do here? What if I have a 24MP camera but I have to crop? Does that disqualify those shots? What if I have an older DSLR that’s full-frame but only 16MP, like the Nikon D4 I used to own?

So what you’re saying is that I can’t work for you because my camera isn’t good enough. I have a flagship 20MP crop-sensor mirrorless camera (which is quite weather-sealed, thank you). But apparently it can’t deliver real photos due to it’s sensor format and resolution. But if I’m using a 45MP full-frame camera but only have slow-aperture lenses with marginal optics, that’s cool.

Sure, Jan.

Let’s take a look at this photo I took of our host’s abuela (grandmother) in Trinidad, Cuba:

A portrait taken with an inferior crop-sensor camera

For this shot, I used the OM System OM-1 plus a 45mm ƒ/1.8 lens (equivalent to 90mm in full-frame). Shot it at ƒ/2.0. Bokeh? Check. Sharpness? Check. Oh crap, it was only 20MP and the format was smaller than 35mm film. INSTA-FAIL!

Okay, let’s have some fun. After I did the requisite “light editing” in Adobe Lightroom Classic (their preferred tool), I sent the image to Topaz Photo AI for some sharpening and upscaling. While I could have gone larger, I chore 5200x6500 pixel dimensions, or just over 33MP. Putting this image into Photoshop, you can see the size of the photo at 300dpi: 17.34x21.7 inches. In other words, large enough to print the typical 16x20” photo with resolution to spare.

Screenshot from Adobe Photoshop showing the image size and resolution after upscaling with Topaz Photo AI.

And is the image still sharp? You tell me:

If anything, I should have softened her skin more, but the eyelashes are pin-sharp, even after upscaling the photo.

While I’m not going to argue that there are some wonderful features available in full-frame cameras (namely resolution and dynamic range), please don’t tell me that I can’t work for you because my camera isn’t good enough.