FX vs. DX Lens
Nov 23, 2014 05:53:44 #
All most as smart as switching the C & H on sink handles or putting the fridge door handle on the hinge side. I bet they were trying to figure out why you couldn't hook it up correctly????
MT Shooter wrote:
I reversed the shift arms on my 1956 Chevy 3 speed column shifter. No one could ever figure out the gears but me! LOL
Nov 23, 2014 05:55:25 #
PCity wrote:
If you have a crop sensor camera and have (for example) a DX 18-200mm lens attched, you have the equivalent of a 27-300mm field of view (1.5 factor).
If you were to attach an 28-300 FX lens to a crop sensor camera, would the field of view just be 28-300m?
If you were to attach an 28-300 FX lens to a crop sensor camera, would the field of view just be 28-300m?
You would multiply the focal length like you did for the 18-200 - but this would only apply to field of view.
The difference between a DX-only lens and an FX lens is that the FX is physically larger, to be able to 'cover' the full sized sensor. The advantage of DX only is that you can have a smaller, lighter lens than the corresponding one for an FX. The 28-300 on FX offers the same field of view as the 18-200 on DX, but physically the 28-300 is much larger.
Nov 23, 2014 05:56:55 #
JimEaco wrote:
and... a DX Lens on an FX Body will also have the same 1.5 magnification: although seldom discussed or considered.
Don't think so . . .
Nov 23, 2014 06:04:21 #
MT Shooter wrote:
PCity, sorry you are getting such conflicting, and... (show quote)
The 200mm image from the cropped camera would only be identical to the 300mm from the full frame with regards to field of view. At the same distance, the 300mm offers greater magnification, and and correspondingly shorter depth of field, than a 200mm lens, regardless of what camera it is on.
If you put a 200mm lens on both cameras, and crop the full frame image to the same field of view as the smaller sensor - then the image would be almost identical - but you would have fewer pixels in the cropped full frame image. The field of view and the depth of field would be identical.
Nov 23, 2014 06:44:26 #
JimEaco wrote:
We can split words; agree to disagree... br The FX... (show quote)
The image circle projected from most DX lenses will not cover a FX sensor or film camera. Some may / do though.
Nov 23, 2014 06:50:46 #
This question is one of the most confusing things about digital cameras.
What does crop factor mean?
My own understanding is:
The crop factor shows what the equivalent field of view is relative to a standard.
The standard is the classic 35mm film camera, that we all used to love.
So, in Nikon terms:
FX = crop factor 1.0
DX = crop factor 1.5
CX = crop factor 2.7
And for compacts
1/2.3 inch = crop factor 5.7
Without doing the math exactly, the captured picture on each of the sensor above would be about the same if you take the value FX / crop factor.
50mm FX / DX crop factor 1.5 = 35mm
50mm FX / CX crop factor 2.7 = 18.5mm
50mm FX / compact factor 5.6 = 8.9 mm
All of these will yield just about the same picture, with a little edge variance, since the math was not exact.
That's why Nikon created the DX 35mm f1.8 and the 18.5mm CX f1.8
FX cameras can detect a DX lens, and reduce the size of the image they capture to match the image circle needed for a DX sensor. You can also turn that feature off, if the vignetting is acceptable to you. The 35mm DX lens is usable for me on an FX camera in FX image size.
There are other considerations such as depth of field for each sensor size that will affect the look of the picture, but what is captured will be about the same.
Going the other way, to find the effective field of view on the smaller sensor, you multiply.
FX 300mm x DX crop 1.5 = 450mm
FX 300MM x CX crop 2.7 = 810mm
FX 300mm x compact 5.7 = 1710 mm
That is the "reach" advantage of smaller sensor.
All this doesn't really matter, get out and take pictures, and see what you see through the viewfinder.
Of course, this question will be beaten to death as each new photographer comes to his or her own understanding of how to get the shot..
What does crop factor mean?
My own understanding is:
The crop factor shows what the equivalent field of view is relative to a standard.
The standard is the classic 35mm film camera, that we all used to love.
So, in Nikon terms:
FX = crop factor 1.0
DX = crop factor 1.5
CX = crop factor 2.7
And for compacts
1/2.3 inch = crop factor 5.7
Without doing the math exactly, the captured picture on each of the sensor above would be about the same if you take the value FX / crop factor.
50mm FX / DX crop factor 1.5 = 35mm
50mm FX / CX crop factor 2.7 = 18.5mm
50mm FX / compact factor 5.6 = 8.9 mm
All of these will yield just about the same picture, with a little edge variance, since the math was not exact.
That's why Nikon created the DX 35mm f1.8 and the 18.5mm CX f1.8
FX cameras can detect a DX lens, and reduce the size of the image they capture to match the image circle needed for a DX sensor. You can also turn that feature off, if the vignetting is acceptable to you. The 35mm DX lens is usable for me on an FX camera in FX image size.
There are other considerations such as depth of field for each sensor size that will affect the look of the picture, but what is captured will be about the same.
Going the other way, to find the effective field of view on the smaller sensor, you multiply.
FX 300mm x DX crop 1.5 = 450mm
FX 300MM x CX crop 2.7 = 810mm
FX 300mm x compact 5.7 = 1710 mm
That is the "reach" advantage of smaller sensor.
All this doesn't really matter, get out and take pictures, and see what you see through the viewfinder.
Of course, this question will be beaten to death as each new photographer comes to his or her own understanding of how to get the shot..
Nov 23, 2014 07:54:07 #
Thank you for the link.
jerryc41 wrote:
See how they look with your own eyes and the Nikon Lens Simulator.
http://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/lens/simulator/
http://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/lens/simulator/
Nov 23, 2014 08:01:53 #
lamiaceae wrote:
The image circle projected from most DX lenses will not cover a FX sensor or film camera. Some may / do though.
You won't get an argument, and I am glad you raise the point about enlarging the image from a cropped sensor camera more than from a full frame - which accounts for the observation that even though the "reach" of a cropped camera is greater, the image quality from the same lens at the same distance on a full frame camera when printed to the same size looks better even though it has fewer pixels. Enlarging the cropped sensor image introduces greater magnification of flaws and aberrations. I noticed that when I went from a D300 to a D700, both were approx 12 mp.
Nov 23, 2014 09:56:27 #
JimEaco wrote:
and... a DX Lens on an FX Body will also have the same 1.5 magnification: although seldom discussed or considered.
Huh?
Nov 23, 2014 10:03:12 #
Nov 23, 2014 10:06:25 #
MT Shooter wrote:
No it would not apply. The Nikon FX bodies will shoot a DX lens in either DX mode (with the sensor cropped to DX size and the corresponding reduction in resolution), or in FX mode, in which you will have sometimes heavy vignetting around the image because of the smaller projected image diameter. You can select what mode you want to use that DX lens in on all Nikon FX bodies.
The full answer is more complex for many if not most FX cameras. For example, my Nikon D800 has FIVE different image areas it can use. (One of them is kind of stealthy and only comes up when taking still images in live view mode. It provides a 16x9 format.)
In addition the zoom you set on the lens greatly affects the image you record.
So for example my DX 10-24 works fine in full FX mode and in the two intermediate modes (no vignetting and just a little edge distortion) at zooms of 18 mm and above. It is even pretty good in the intermediate modes at down to about 15mm. Below that and you start seeing vignetting.
Of course in DX mode it works normally over the full range of zoom, but it is only using the center 15 plus Megapixels of the sensor.
Nov 23, 2014 10:08:10 #
Nov 23, 2014 10:08:14 #
Gene51 wrote:
typo?
I was disagreeing with the claim that a DX lens has a crop factor on an FX camera. Could have been less sarcastic.
Nov 23, 2014 10:24:55 #
Searcher wrote:
The attached diagram might help (or hinder) the conversation
Excellent diagram!
Nov 23, 2014 10:36:30 #
Gene51 wrote:
If you put a 200mm lens on both cameras, and crop the full frame image to the same field of view as the smaller sensor - then the image would be almost identical - but you would (insert "usually" here) have fewer pixels in the cropped full frame image.
D3100 = 14MP
D800 cropped = 16 MP
Gene51 wrote:
...even though the "reach" of a cropped camera is greater, the image quality from the same lens at the same distance on a full frame camera when printed to the same size looks better even though it has fewer pixels.
After all else, that's the important part.
D800 cropped = 16 MP
D7100 = 24 MP
But he cropped D800 looks better because the 16 million photo sites are "better" pixels.
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