Author: Harry Guinness / Source: howtogeek.com
Digital cameras have two primary sensor formats: full frame (or 35mm) cameras where the sensor is roughly the same size as a 35mm film frame and crop sensor (or APS-C) cameras where the sensor is just under 2/3 the size. Lenses designed for full frame cameras work on crop sensor cameras, but using crop sensor lenses on full frame cameras is either impossible (Canon) or comes with some serious compromises (Nikon and Sony).
If you’ve got a crop sensor camera, it can be tempting just to buy crop lenses, but it’s not always the best idea.RELATED: What’s the Difference Between a Full Frame and Crop Sensor Camera?
Canon, Nikon, and Sony all make crop sensor and full frame lenses.
- On Canon, EF lenses are designed for full frame cameras; EF-S lenses are only compatible with crop sensor cameras.
- On Nikon, FX lenses are designed for full frame cameras; DX lenses are designed for crop sensor cameras, although kind of work on full frame cameras.
- On Sony, FE lenses are designed for full frame cameras; E lenses are designed for crop sensor cameras, although kind of work on full frame cameras.
| Celebrities Then and Now | |
| |
| Photo gallery of celebrities then and … | |
| Stanton Daily | |
| View Now |
Lenses and Sensor Size
Lenses project the “image circle” on to the sensor in your camera. To adequately cover the sensor, lenses designed for crop sensor cameras have to project a smaller image circle than ones designed for full frame cameras. In the image below courtesy of Sony, you can see how the different combinations work.
Since a full frame lens projects an image larger than a full frame sensor, the two work perfectly together. The same is true when you use an APS-C camera and a full frame lens; the sensor is just sampling from a smaller portion of the image circle.
A crop sensor lens on a crop sensor camera works as well. The image circle, although smaller than a full frame lens, is still larger than a crop sensor. It’s only when you have a full frame camera and a crop sensor lens that you have issues: the sensor is larger than the image circle.
Different brands handle this differently. Canon EF-S lenses are incompatible with EF cameras. The lens won’t even mount.
Nikon DX lenses and Sony E lenses will…
The post Should You Buy Crop Sensor Specific Camera Lenses? appeared first on FeedBox.