DX mode on FF body?
p.1 #1DX mode on FF body?
My new Z5-II has DX mode at the touch of a button. It looks like a useful feature provided one is OK with shooting at 12 MP.
Do you use it? Or do you just crop in post? Do you use it only on the higher MP bodies or also on the small 26 (I mean 24) MP bodies? Only with certain lenses?
Edited on Feb 19, 2026 at 10:41 AM · View previous versions
Do you use it? Or do you just crop in post? Do you use it only on the higher MP bodies or also on the small 26 (I mean 24) MP bodies? Only with certain lenses?
Edited on Feb 19, 2026 at 10:41 AM · View previous versions
Feb 19, 2026 at 10:27 AM
RoamingScott
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p.1 #2DX mode on FF body?
I would never use it on a 24mp body, but I use it all the time on my Z9. It helps me track distant subjects (birds, mostly) more reliably and the bigger the subject is in frame, the better the AF works. If I know I'm going to be cropping down to 20mp anyways, then it gets used in the field.
Nikon doesn't have 26mp bodies, btw
Nikon doesn't have 26mp bodies, btw
Feb 19, 2026 at 10:29 AM
p.1 #3DX mode on FF body?
Fixed. Yea, 26mp, 24.5mp, I guess I don't care enough about those differences to get it right :-)
And I guess the 24.5mp sensor drops to 10.6mp in DX mode.
And I guess the 24.5mp sensor drops to 10.6mp in DX mode.
Feb 19, 2026 at 10:41 AM
p.1 #4DX mode on FF body?
Like @RoamingScott, I'm using it all the time on Z9, mostly to reach more distant targets without changing the lens to a longer one (because I don't have one, or because I'm too lazy to switch...) Alternatively, I'm using the Z9 with the little 16-50mm kit lens as a glorified point-and-shoot carry-anywhere camera at times.
The only issue is that sometimes I'm forgetting to check whether I have the Large file size set. Actually, if I do have that setting in place, I end up with 20MP~ish files that aren't that much smaller, resolution-wise, than the 24MP of the FX, Medium size output.
And even when I'm down to DX, medium size, there's still ~10MP to go, which is perfectly fine for my work a lot of the time, since much of it is for the web anyway. It's pushing it when talking about print (or so I tell myself) but there's never been an actual shortage of pixels in my experience. Yours may be different, of course.
The only issue is that sometimes I'm forgetting to check whether I have the Large file size set. Actually, if I do have that setting in place, I end up with 20MP~ish files that aren't that much smaller, resolution-wise, than the 24MP of the FX, Medium size output.
And even when I'm down to DX, medium size, there's still ~10MP to go, which is perfectly fine for my work a lot of the time, since much of it is for the web anyway. It's pushing it when talking about print (or so I tell myself) but there's never been an actual shortage of pixels in my experience. Yours may be different, of course.
Feb 19, 2026 at 10:59 AM
p.1 #5DX mode on FF body?
I never use DX mode, because I see absolutely no advantage in doing so.
If you want to crop, you can do so in post just fine.
If you want to crop, you can do so in post just fine.
Feb 19, 2026 at 03:14 PM
p.1 #6DX mode on FF body?
I too use crop mode frequently, but never on 24mpx-class bodies.
Most of my work is ultimately displayed on 4K (or sometime 5K) screens, so I'm always aware of that target when I crop. Plus, I like to have wiggle room to crop in post. The Z8 crop mode, which barely covers 5K, is about as close as I like to shave it.
A while back I made this crude graphic to help myself visualize the crop-ability of my three main systems (A7cr, Z8 and iPhone 17).
Most of my work is ultimately displayed on 4K (or sometime 5K) screens, so I'm always aware of that target when I crop. Plus, I like to have wiggle room to crop in post. The Z8 crop mode, which barely covers 5K, is about as close as I like to shave it.
A while back I made this crude graphic to help myself visualize the crop-ability of my three main systems (A7cr, Z8 and iPhone 17).
Feb 19, 2026 at 04:07 PM
p.1 #7DX mode on FF body?
How in the world did we ever produce acceptable images back when DSLRs were 8-12 MP?
Feb 19, 2026 at 06:08 PM
RoamingScott
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p.1 #8DX mode on FF body?
How on earth did we ever go to the store when all we had was a horse and buggy?
Why should we be beholden to standards of antiquated technology for the sake of arguments?
You were also looking at those pictures on a 720p CRT.
Why should we be beholden to standards of antiquated technology for the sake of arguments?
You were also looking at those pictures on a 720p CRT.
Feb 19, 2026 at 06:39 PM
p.1 #9DX mode on FF body?
Sure I use it, but in consideration for what I'm using it for regarding the impact to image quality when shooting on 24mp bodies. I like the 50-250 so much for its size/weight ratio I kept it after divesting of all things DX for use on my Z7 when hiking.
Feb 19, 2026 at 08:20 PM
p.1 #10DX mode on FF body?
I used crop mode with my D850 with a 200-500 f/5.6. It was exactly the same as shooting a 20 mp D500. I used it that way for birding as I always ended up cropping the heck out of everything anyway. Today I just use my D500 for birding. A lot of people get real anal over crop mode because you are really wasting pixels. My philosophy is that "If it looks good, it is good"
Feb 19, 2026 at 08:56 PM
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p.1 #11DX mode on FF body?
darwinphoto wrote:
How in the world did we ever produce acceptable images back when DSLRs were 8-12 MP?
32" 4k/5k monitor was not that popular back then.
How in the world did we ever produce acceptable images back when DSLRs were 8-12 MP?
32" 4k/5k monitor was not that popular back then.
Feb 19, 2026 at 10:03 PM
p.1 #12DX mode on FF body?
I use it on my z8 and it drops to 19mp. I don’t do it on my ZF
Feb 19, 2026 at 10:12 PM
p.1 #13DX mode on FF body?
darwinphoto wrote:
My new Z5-II has DX mode at the touch of a button. It looks like a useful feature provided one is OK with shooting at 12 MP.
Do you use it? Or do you just crop in post? Do you use it only on the higher MP bodies or also on the small 26 (I mean 24) MP bodies? Only with certain lenses?
I always crop afterwards. There are some limited use cases, such as stretching the buffer thoughput or simplifying processing, but if the subject is alive then it may move to close to or out of the DX area and ruin the composition. On a 24MP camera it's praticularly not a great idea. I'm more inclined to use with 60MP+ cameras where you get 26MP+.
In any case, perhaps just go out and try it one day. I'm not sure of the exact size, but it woudl be less than 11MP.
EBH
My new Z5-II has DX mode at the touch of a button. It looks like a useful feature provided one is OK with shooting at 12 MP.
Do you use it? Or do you just crop in post? Do you use it only on the higher MP bodies or also on the small 26 (I mean 24) MP bodies? Only with certain lenses?
I always crop afterwards. There are some limited use cases, such as stretching the buffer thoughput or simplifying processing, but if the subject is alive then it may move to close to or out of the DX area and ruin the composition. On a 24MP camera it's praticularly not a great idea. I'm more inclined to use with 60MP+ cameras where you get 26MP+.
In any case, perhaps just go out and try it one day. I'm not sure of the exact size, but it woudl be less than 11MP.
EBH
Feb 19, 2026 at 10:19 PM
p.1 #14DX mode on FF body?
Easier and more flexible to just crop in post. You can decide how you want to frame it and what bits to trim away or what bits to keep depending on how you want to use the photo later.
Feb 20, 2026 at 12:03 AM
p.1 #15DX mode on FF body?
We all have forgetten how large we could print D200, or even D1X/D100, files.
Feb 20, 2026 at 01:59 AM
p.1 #16DX mode on FF body?
Thats not hard for me to forget since I never owned those. :-p
Feb 20, 2026 at 04:00 AM
p.1 #17DX mode on FF body?
Sauseschritt wrote:
Thats not hard for me to forget since I never owned those. :-p
Well, I've owned D100, D200, D300, D700. Then I moved to 24 Mpix cameras (D7200, D780, Z6 & Z5 II), and I own only FX bodies at present.
I made very very good A3 prints from 5 Mpix crop from D300 files ...
Aside from my personal experience, which is irrelevant, I remember an exhibition of Steve McCurry's prints in 2011 (https://www.arte.it/notizie/roma/al-macro-una-grande-retrospettiva-dedicata-a-steve-mccurry-7258).
Very large prints from both D3 and D3X, and from scanned slides as well. Very large prints (1 m large at least) from D3 files weren't "technically" as good as D3X files. However, I wonder what those who claim they will never crop 24 Mpix files are going to do with their photos, apart from pixel peeping ...
Thats not hard for me to forget since I never owned those. :-p
Well, I've owned D100, D200, D300, D700. Then I moved to 24 Mpix cameras (D7200, D780, Z6 & Z5 II), and I own only FX bodies at present.
I made very very good A3 prints from 5 Mpix crop from D300 files ...
Aside from my personal experience, which is irrelevant, I remember an exhibition of Steve McCurry's prints in 2011 (https://www.arte.it/notizie/roma/al-macro-una-grande-retrospettiva-dedicata-a-steve-mccurry-7258).
Very large prints from both D3 and D3X, and from scanned slides as well. Very large prints (1 m large at least) from D3 files weren't "technically" as good as D3X files. However, I wonder what those who claim they will never crop 24 Mpix files are going to do with their photos, apart from pixel peeping ...
Feb 20, 2026 at 05:28 AM
p.1 #18DX mode on FF body?
I used it on the Z8 from time to time. I’m glad there’s an option to make the DX indicator blink.
I would use it on a “low-resolution” body after considering the image’s final destination and if I really-really have to use it. You know, I still enjoy images I made with the 6mp Canon D60 more than 20 years ago.
I would use it on a “low-resolution” body after considering the image’s final destination and if I really-really have to use it. You know, I still enjoy images I made with the 6mp Canon D60 more than 20 years ago.
Feb 20, 2026 at 08:28 AM
RoamingScott
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p.1 #19DX mode on FF body?
There's a really big difference between a full frame, low resolution sensor with big fat pixels, and trimming down today's tiny little pixels to the same resolution.
Feb 20, 2026 at 08:38 AM
p.1 #20DX mode on FF body?
RoamingScott wrote:
There's a really big difference between a full frame, low resolution sensor with big fat pixels, and trimming down today's tiny little pixels to the same resolution.
I hear people don't own computers anymore and look at pictures on IG on their phones only. Unless you plan to print big why care at all about the size of the image? I crop Oly images without second thoughts, and those are "the worst pixels" after phone pixels
There's a really big difference between a full frame, low resolution sensor with big fat pixels, and trimming down today's tiny little pixels to the same resolution.
I hear people don't own computers anymore and look at pictures on IG on their phones only. Unless you plan to print big why care at all about the size of the image? I crop Oly images without second thoughts, and those are "the worst pixels" after phone pixels
Feb 20, 2026 at 08:54 AM