Compare the photograph, not just the sensor label.
“Full frame has more blur” leaves out the conditions. A useful comparison holds framing, camera position and viewing criteria steady.
First experiment: keep the lens and distance
Use 50 mm at 3 m. Changing from a 36 × 24 mm sensor to a 24 × 16 mm sensor does not alter the lens's physical magnification at that distance. Instead, the smaller sensor captures a narrower section of the image. The person occupies more of the frame. Comparing those two pictures as though they had identical framing is misleading.
This simulator now projects subject size using sensor dimensions rather than only a cosmetic scale. The preview follows the sensor aspect ratio, so a change of format may also change the shape of the frame. Generated people use an approximate height calibration, which you can adjust.
Second experiment: match framing from the same position
For a 1.5× crop example, divide 50 mm by 1.5: approximately 33.3 mm. Both sensors here have a 3:2 aspect ratio. At ordinary distances these focal lengths yield very similar framing from the same camera position. The thin-lens finite-focus correction means the match is approximate, especially at close distances.
To also approximate the same DOF under proportionally scaled CoC criteria, divide f/2.8 by 1.5: about f/1.87. At 3 m, full-frame 50 mm f/2.8 with CoC 0.030 mm gives a near/far interval of about 2.729–3.330 m. The idealized 24 × 16 mm setup at 33.33 mm f/1.87 and CoC 0.020 mm gives a very similar interval.
Open the matched-format A/B comparison →Equivalent aperture is not exposure compensation
An f/2.8 lens remains f/2.8 for exposure calculations on either sensor. Equivalence describes a chosen comparison of framing and blur at a common output size. It is not an instruction to change the light meter reading or assume identical noise, dynamic range or color.
Real lens choices are discrete. Your lens might offer f/1.8 or f/2, not f/1.87. The example uses Custom lens specifically to explain the relationship rather than pretend that a named product has that exact setting.
Third experiment: step back instead
Switch on Keep subject size, then increase focal length. The tool recalculates camera distance to maintain the projected subject height. That changes perspective relationships to the background. It is a different experiment from standing still and changing sensor crop.
For fair comparisons, state what you held fixed: position, subject size, aperture, aspect ratio, or output criterion. There is no single sensor-size answer independent of those choices.
Continue with the portrait aperture experiment or inspect the projection equations.
Verify the numbers: reproducible reference examples · equations and limitations · publisher and corrections.