At the same 300mm setting, will a 28-300mm and a 70-300mm lens give the same magnification?
Asked 1/12/2018
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If I set two zoom lenses to 300mm, such as a 28-300mm and a 70-300mm, will they produce the same magnification and field of view on the same camera body? If not, what causes the difference?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
8y ago
2 Answers
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Nominally, on the same camera (same crop factor), it should be the same, if focused at infinity. But most lenses exhibit an effect called focus breathing, i.e. they change their focal length when focused at a shorter distance.
The nominal values (28-300 or 70-300) are only true at infinity. How much focus breathing a given lens exhibits can only be found in test reports, maybe, it's not data given by the lens manufacurer in the data sheet.
Originally by user32110. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user32110
8y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
On the same camera body, two lenses set to 300mm should give essentially the same field of view and magnification at infinity focus, because focal length is what determines image size on a given sensor format.
In practice, they may not look exactly identical for two main reasons:
- Focus breathing: many lenses change their effective focal length as you focus closer, so at short subject distances a lens marked 300mm may behave a bit differently from another 300mm lens.
- Stated focal lengths are approximate: manufacturers usually round focal lengths, and measured values can differ slightly from the name on the lens.
So the short answer is: yes, nominally they should match at 300mm on the same camera, especially focused at infinity. Small real-world differences can happen due to focus breathing and the fact that marked focal lengths are not perfectly exact.
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