>>3790484>I just find it bizarre in a way that many systems seem to sell both APS and FF lenses, which are intended for one sensor or the other, but ultimately are still interchangeable with each other.I honestly find it bizarre that you find this bizarre. It makes a lot more sense knowing that you're a m4/3 shooter, but, like... It's such an obvious advantage, and probably the biggest reason why Olympus is in such dire financial straits.
So, if you don't know: A larger sensor gives you better image quality. A full frame sensor will almost always give you higher resolution, sharper images, and lower noise. But the larger sensor is also going to make the camera more expensive.
So what they do is they offer both cheaper crop bodies AND higher-end bodies with larger sensors. That way, they get new customers in with the cheap bodies, but if they get into photography, they can upgrade to a camera with a larger sensor and get better-quality images.
Making the lenses compatible from the larger to smaller formats has two advantages:
1. It makes that upgrade path even easier. If someone has to sell all of their lenses to move up, they might as well consider moving to another system. If some of that investment in lenses can come with them, they're a lot more likely to stay in the system they already own.
2. They don't need to have a whole redundant overlapping system with the larger format. If the 50mm full frame lens works perfectly well on the crop camera, they don't need to make an ~80mm short tele portrait lens specifically for the crop system. If the 35mm works perfectly well on the crop camera, they don't need to make a crop-specific 50mm. Basically, everything just slots down one niche and you're good to go. The only lenses they really *need* to make for the crop system are lenses where it's cost-prohibitive to sell full frame glass to crop shooters; so ultrawide, kit lens, and maybe a telephoto for the two-lens kit.
