Crop Camera vs. Full Frame Camera

[Contarama]

I know this horse is deader than a dead horse can be but can someone please tell me real straightforward and simple like does a 35mm lens on a crop camera shoot basically the same photo as a 50mm lens on a fullframe or would you still have the wide angle perspective distortion in the 35 on crop?

 

[back alley]

here is my completely unscientific take on this...

a 35mm lens on a cropped camera still looks like a 35mm shot...only taken from a closer position.

 

[Contarama]

That is exactly what I thought Joe...thank you for responding...I'm in a pissing match with some folks about this topic and I had to double check... 🙂

 

[swoop]

Just go for full frame. They're so much more affordable than they used to be. And if you can't justify the price even still. Well then crop cameras are geared exactly toward your market. The quality of either is excellent. The only difference if the character of the images. And even that is barely noticeable.

 

[Contarama]

What I can't wrap my fool mind around is why so many folks insist that there crop camera mounted with say a 50mm shoots the same picture as a fullframe with either a 75 or 80...do these people not understand the focal lengths of their lenses? And if they don't know the difference between what a 35 does and what a 50 does shouldn't they just give up photography all together???

I apologize for bringing up such a mundane BS topic but I'm a little bit out of round on the subject...

 

[craygc]

Its not really about the focal length at all. Its all about distance to subject so if your maintain your distance and shoot with a 50mm then a 75mm (then crop your 50mm shot to the same coverage as the 75mm) your perspective will be identical.

Link 1
Link 2

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

It'll look the same. I've shot both crop cameras (Nikon D70) and fullframe (Kodak 14n and Canon 5D mkII). There's no wideangle distortion in the crop camera with 35mm lens because you have to stand back from the subject the same distance you would with a 50mm on a fullframe or film camera so perspective is the same.

This issue has been around longer than digital. I shot Mamiya 645 medium format starting in high school and still use it today. Standard lens on 645 is 80mm, which gives the same look on 120 film that a 50mm lens gives on 35mm film. On 6x7, a 90mm lens is the standard...also gives same look as 50mm on 35mm film.

Now I will say that fullframe cameras are much nicer to work with. The viewfinder is bigger and easier to see and focus with, the bigger sensor gives (in my opinion having actually owned and used both types for years) better tonality and more resolution. Even with the same pixel count, because the crop sensor needs sharper lenses to get the same amount of detail because each pixel is smaller. If you can afford fullframe, get it. You'll have the ability to use your lenses if you own a lot of lenses from 35mm film if you shot Canon EOS, Nikon, or Sony (using Minolta AF lenses) the lenses work normally with no crop factor. If you cannot afford fullframe, the crop ones give very nice images, so you won't be sacrificing a lot.

 

[Jamie Pillers]

Thanks a LOT, Craig! I had always wanted to do the experiment conducted in Link 2, but always too lazy. NOW I see. 🙂

 

[Contarama]

Thank you all so much...now I understand...makes me want to throw my D5000 in the pond and carry on with my F2... 🙂

 

[rxmd]

What I can't wrap my fool mind around is why so many folks insist that there crop camera mounted with say a 50mm shoots the same picture as a fullframe with either a 75 or 80...do these people not understand the focal lengths of their lenses?

They do. By cropping to a smaller you get the same angle of view and perspective as with a longer lens on a larger format.

There is nothing magical to a 35 or a 50 as such. It all depends on the size of the medium. Getting this seems to be difficult only for people for whom 24x36mm is the only film format they've ever used.

It's been discussed to death and there are probably hundreds of examples out there. I remember posting one myself, taken with a 15 and cropping the center section to the angle of view of a 50 and bam! all the wide angle weirdness is gone.

 

[gavinlg]

It's all about the equivalent field of view. If you stick a 50mm lens on a crop cam, it's basically a 75mm.

If lenses were to keep their original perspective, the ricoh GRD series would be absolutely horrible. They have a 6mm lens. But their 6mm lens on the tiny sensor translates as a 28mm perspective, with 28mm characteristics, albeit with an infinite depth of field.

 

[uinku]

But their 6mm lens on the tiny sensor translates as a 28mm perspective, with 28mm characteristics, albeit with an infinite depth of field.

Yes, it's worth noting that a crop sensor will give you a larger depth of field per equivalent "field of view" (i.e. you won't be able to obtain that razor-thin focus effect as easily).

 

[Sparrow]

With rectilinear lenses the view is the same with any lens, but one gets more of the world in the photo with the shorter lenses ... 12mm with a 35mm overlaying it, on full frame 135

 

[Dingo]

To me I'm just concerned if the power of a lens can be fully 'utilized' or not.

 

[charjohncarter]

A 35mm lens is like a 50mm on a FF film camera or if you want to pay for it a FF digital. I leave my 35mm lens on my APS DSLR. It only comes off under extreme shooting conditions: which are rare as I rarely use a DSLR. But her are two one is a 35mm on a DSLR , and the other is a 20MM on the same DSLR:

cropped a little;

 

[zwarte_kat]

I have another related question:
When a lens originally made for full frame is used on a crop body, let's take the GXR M Mount for example, are the dept of field numbers written on the lens still accurate?

As far as I understand, the sharpest distance will still be the same, but there will be slightly LESS in focus, because the image is enlarged and cropped compared with full frame, making blurred parts bigger and more obvious (the acceptable circle of confusion).

I wonder then, how are the DOF markings of full frame lenses to be interpreted on (1.5) crop bodies?

 

[craygc]

I have another related question:
When a lens originally made for full frame is used on a crop body, let's take the GXR M Mount for example, are the dept of field numbers written on the lens still accurate?

As far as I understand, the sharpest distance will still be the same, but there will be slightly LESS in focus, because the image is enlarged and cropped compared with full frame, making blurred parts bigger and more obvious (the acceptable circle of confusion).

I wonder then, how are the DOF markings of full frame lenses to be interpreted on (1.5) crop bodies?

Firstly, as you're aware, this is diferent again, and somewhat independent, from the original question.
CoC = Circle of Confusion
Assumption that distance to subject remains constant

• Original plane of focus remains the same regardless of crop - ignoring any curvature of field issues
  
• Same lens, different crop: CoC is identical as captured on both sensors
  
• Same lens, different crop, image printed same size: larger crop has lower DoF due to necessary magnification of CoC in printing
  
• Different lens, same FoV: CoC is smaller on the sensor the larger the crop - related to focal length differences
  
• Different lens, same FoV, image printed same size: both have similar DoF from DoF increase from shorter focal length, offset by CoC magnification in printing.

• If you use eg. a 50mm lens on a 1.5x crop sensor but move back 1.5x the distance to achieve the same FoV as full frame and print to the same size, the perceived DoF increases from the crop sensor print as the DoF from the increased distance to subject is greater than the 1.5x magnification of the CoC in printing.