If I’ve learned anything from years of walking cities with a camera, it’s this: urban photography rarely gives you a second chance. Moments don’t repeat. Light doesn’t wait. People don’t pause so that you can reconsider your settings—or your gear.
That reality has pushed me into an ongoing question rather than a fixed answer:
For a given urban photography situation, what tool is actually right for the job?
I’ve already narrowed my creative universe considerably. I’ve accepted two truths, at least for now: black and white images with the 28mm field of view. Those decisions remove distraction. They give me consistency. What they don’t answer is how different sensor formats interpret the same way of seeing—and, more importantly, which situations reward which compromises.
At the moment, I’m working with three systems that all deliver a 28mm equivalent field of view:
- APS-C: Fuji X-T5 with a Fuji 18mm f/2 lens.
- Full Frame: Canon RP with a Thypock Simera 28mm f/1.4 ASPH lens.
- Medium Format: Fuji GFX100RF with its fixed 35mm f/4 lens.
Same framing. Same intent. Very different results.
Why Fix the Field of View First?
Before sensor size even enters the conversation, everything is anchored to the 28mm perspective. I’ve written about this discipline in Finding Style in the Street: The 28mm Field of View and the Discipline of Presence and through Garry Winogrand’s influence in How He Shaped How I See.
The 28mm view forces you to engage with space. It includes foreground, subject, and background, whether you like it or not. Once that decision is made, sensor size stops being about composition and starts being about risk tolerance, intention, and time.
APS-C: When I Only Get One Shot
If I’m honest, APS-C answers more urban questions for me than any other format.
With the Fuji X-T5 and 18mm f/2, I get a 28mm equivalent view paired with the deepest usable depth of field of the three systems. That matters when I’m walking quickly, reacting instinctively, and trusting timing more than precision.
APS-C sensors introduce a 1.5× crop factor, as explained by Sony and detailed in comparisons from Skye Photo Academy and Moment. In real-world terms, it means more of the scene stays sharp at the same working apertures.
For run-and-gun street photography, that depth of field is everything. I don’t always have time to decide what deserves focus. Often, I need everything to hold together—gesture, context, background, and framing—in a single frame.
So APS-C answers this question clearly:
When the moment won’t wait and I only get one chance, which tool gives me the highest probability of success?
Most days, that answer is APS-C.
Full Frame: When Control Becomes a Creative Choice
Full frame introduces a different question altogether.
With the Canon RP and a 28mm f/1.4, I’m no longer relying on depth of field as insurance. I’m choosing it deliberately. Full frame, as outlined by Canon Europe, PetaPixel, and Amateur Photographer, sits at the balance point between flexibility and control.
This sensor size becomes relevant when I want to emphasize the subject without abandoning the background environment. It suits street portraits, quieter moments, and situations where I can afford to engage rather than react.
In The First Portrait, this balance became important. Full frame let me keep context while subtly guiding the viewer’s eye.
So the question full frame answers is:
When does the city need to soften slightly so a person—or a moment—can stand forward?
Medium Format: When the City Itself Is the Subject
Medium format answers an entirely different question—and it’s the one most closely tied to my best work to date.
When I look honestly at my strongest images, the ones that I feel are fully resolved and timeless, they almost all live in the realm of urban landscape and cityscape photography. They are slow photographs. Planned photographs. Walked-to, returned-to, waited-for photographs.
They live in my Portfolio.
Those images are exclusively medium format.
With the Fuji GFX100RF and 35mm f/4, the 28mm equivalent view takes on a different character. Articles from Fstoppers and Sirui describe medium format’s tonal depth and spatial rendering, but the real difference shows up in practice: the camera encourages deliberation.
Medium format doesn’t reward rushing. It rewards observation. When light direction, shadow shape, and spatial relationships matter more than reaction speed. In black and white, the files hold subtle transitions that feel essential to cityscape work—concrete, sky, glass, steel, and time all speaking quietly.
This sensor pairs naturally with the philosophy behind Why Walking the City Is Essential to My Urban Photography Practice. These images are found through repetition and patience, not chance.
So medium format answers this question:
When the city itself is the subject, and the photograph must withstand the test of time, what tool supports slow, intentional seeing?
For me, that answer is unequivocally medium format.
Black and White as the Unifying Constraint
Across all three systems, black and white becomes the equalizer. It removes colour as a differentiator and exposes how each sensor renders contrast, midtones, and texture.
APS-C feels graphic and decisive.
Full frame feels balanced and flexible.
Medium format feels spacious and quiet.
I’ve explored this technically in Using On-Camera Flash to Deepen Contrast in Black and White Street Photography, but sensor choice shapes black-and-white images just as much as technique.
So What Tool Is Right for the Job?
Right now, my working answers look like this:
- APS-C: Run-and-gun street photography where depth of field and speed are critical
- Full Frame: Street portraits and moments where separation is intentional
- Medium Format: Urban landscapes and cityscapes that demand patience, planning, and tonal depth
This framework reflects the thinking I outlined in Chapter Two of the Two-Year Project—style isn’t about choosing one tool forever, but knowing why you’re choosing it today.
An Ongoing Question, Not a Final Answer
This isn’t a conclusion. It’s a working process.
The field of view stays fixed. The walk remains the same. What changes is the question I’m asking of the city—and the tool I trust to answer it.
And increasingly, the pattern is clear:
speed belongs to APS-C,
balance belongs to full frame,
and my most deliberate, portfolio-defining work belongs to medium format.