cropfactorista

Cropfactorista is a term that emerged within photographic communities, particularly online, to describe individuals who exhibit an intense focus on, or obsession with, crop factor in digital cameras. Crop factor refers to the ratio of a digital camera sensor's diagonal measurement to that of a 35mm film frame (approximately 36mm x 24mm). A sensor with a crop factor greater than 1 (e.g., APS-C, Micro Four Thirds) is smaller than a full-frame sensor, effectively "cropping" the image circle projected by the lens.

Those described as cropfactoristas may frequently discuss, compare, and prioritize cameras based on their crop factor, often to the exclusion of other important photographic considerations. This can manifest in discussions about lens focal lengths, as a lens's field of view is altered by the crop factor (e.g., a 50mm lens on an APS-C camera with a 1.5x crop factor produces a field of view equivalent to a 75mm lens on a full-frame camera). The term is often used colloquially, sometimes with a slightly pejorative or humorous connotation, to describe someone perceived as overly fixated on this single technical specification. While crop factor is a valid and important consideration for many photographers, the "cropfactorista" label is applied when this focus is seen as disproportionate or dominant in their photographic discussions and decisions.