Sensor Crop Mode
A setting that records only part of the sensor's area, producing a smaller file with a narrower angle of view.
Measured in
× crop
In depth
Cropping in camera is optically identical to cropping afterwards, so it offers no reach advantage in itself — but it does reduce file size, increase burst depth and speed up readout, and it lets a crop-format lens be used on a larger-format body without vignetting. Some cameras also use it to reach higher video frame rates.
Examples in practice
Switching a full-frame body to its 1.5× crop mode with a 300 mm lens frames like 450 mm and doubles the buffer depth.