Does FF make your photos pop?

[tt]

Seriously guys, it's like tennis guys arguing over their gear. They hyperfocus on every little detail because those things are easily obsessed over. The truth is, I could play against Nadal, giving him just an old sneaker to hit the ball with and he'd still kick my ass. You can take fantastic pictures with a crop sensor camera and a little skill. Just don't tell Canon that, they want you to want 12 frames a second.

It's been interesting for me to recently see photographers I've been following, talking about how they're enjoying the X100, and anticipating the X1 Pro. Simultaneously, others have been heading to Medium Format!

For all, they're focused on lighting, good light. And they can pull good shots  - be it for Photojournalism (Mullins), wedding photography and some glamour (Lovegrove), flash photography (Hobby), bands and other (Arius).

I guess there are a *lot* of factors that contribute to getting the pop you're after.

[neuroanatomist]

I am not even sure if it is the FF or composition, light, post procession, primes etc.

It's everything, not one thing. There is no shortcut.

Still, none of the posted crop photos made a similar impression on me like the two shots in my last post.

Sharp edges, like in the shot of the woman that you've posted can be achived with a backlight, or like in this case with contrasty clothing and background (including the blur of the background). Look at how her right hand fades into the background, while her left is in sharp focus.

The effect from the image of the kid is given by the high background blur and by the small focal length used to amplify the ratio of distances.

Other than this, I personaly see no 3D effect in them that you say you see.

The reason why your shots look bland is not because of lacking a 3D effect, but that you have no subject that pops in front of the viewer.

+1.  Like I said, FF is not a magic bullet.  It really is about lighting and composition.  Does the ability to better manage DoF with FF help?  Sure.  But if you can't get 'pop' from an APS-C camera, you won't automatically get it with FF.  Conversely, if you can get 'pop' with APS-C, it can be improved - in some cases - by using a FF camera.