If you’re wondering how to do a camera size comparison with lens attached to the camera body, then read our guide, where we explain how more weight adds more value to your professional photography.
For most of us, portability is very important, especially for those who stay outdoors most of the time. This also translates to the photography community, where many people want their camera gear to be compact while not compromising performance. The topic of camera size comparison with lens always trends on search engines, as people want their camera gear to be as compact as possible.
Camera Size vs. Lens Size
This debate of camera size comparison with lens is particularly between the two famous camera types, compact cameras, a.k.a. point-and-shoot cameras (or APS-C), and full-frame cameras. Full-frame camera systems are much heavier and larger than compact camera systems, but they offer significantly better optical results. A shallower depth of field, better low-light performance, and sharper images.
On the other side, compact cameras, as the name suggests, are more compact and easier to carry around, giving you more convenience but with compromises in quality. But the question here is, how can you balance both convenience and optical quality without sacrificing too much on this camera lens’ spectrum of weight and image quality?
Sweet Spot of Camera Size and Lens Weight:
To find that sweet spot, first, we need to revisit the basics. The most popular sensor size in full-frame cameras is approximately 36mm x 24mm, which is equivalent to 35mm film. In APS-C cameras, it is around ~23.6mm x 15.6mm, which is significantly smaller than the full frame, as expected.
Naturally, the lens required to cover this large sensor should be large, as it has to make a much larger image circle to cover the sensor, while compact system lenses don’t need to be that large.
Then there are lens breeds that have much wider apertures, e.g., f/1.4, as compared to ordinary lenses. Such lenses require larger glass elements to capture that wide field of view, along with the already complex optics to maintain sharpness in a full-frame camera.
For example, a Sony A6400, a quite popular camera, weighs around 600 grams as compared to a full-frame camera like the Canon EOS R6, equipped with a high-end lens like the SIRUI 85mm f/1.4 lens, which will weigh more than 1200 grams. This is almost double what a compact camera is, but the image quality will be miles better.
So, we recommend that a general sweet spot based on modern gear would be around 850 to 1100 grams if you are using an APS-C attached with a prime lens with an f/1.4 aperture. Below this are all the compact camera systems that have a fixed built-in lens and don’t offer a lot of creative freedom but solid freedom to easily carry around.
Next are full-frame cameras. For this, a sweet spot of not compromising too much while staying in a portable range would be somewhere between 1,100 and 1,400 grams with a full-frame camera body attached to a lens, let’s just say with an f/1.8 aperture.
Anything above and below this range will sacrifice too much portability or optical quality, as we explained above. If you run these numbers, then there is a common trend for full-frame camera bodies to be 10 to 25% larger than compact bodies in width, height, and depth.
Camera and Lens Sizes in 2025:
In 2025, people are getting used to the range between 900 and 1,200 grams of full-frame or APS-C camera setups. This can include a high-quality camera lens with an f/1.4 or f/1.8 prime lens, ranging from 500 to 700 grams max weight.
The SIRUI AURORA 85mm F1.4 lens is designed to capture cinematic pictures and videos while staying in the sweet spot of the camera and lens size ratio. When compared to compact cameras and their lenses, the weight and size increase you get with Aurora lenses is worth it for the superior image depth, sharpness, and dreamy bokeh you get in your creative works.
Anyone who can do this quantitative comparison can conclude that this lens delivers top-tier performance at this build profile. Plus, the lens can be used to get studio-quality portraits, which is the most in-demand thing to do in this niche. Moreover, the low-light performance and aluminum alloy construction are something hard not to appreciate.
