Does T-stop or focal length matter more for low-light brightness between a 14mm f/2.8 and 16mm f/2 on APS-C?

Asked 11/14/2017

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I’m comparing two lenses for night shooting and astrophotography on an APS-C camera: a 14mm f/2.8 and a 16mm f/2. DXO reports their light transmission as about T3.4 and T2.4 respectively. If I shoot the same scene at the same exposure settings and then crop the 14mm image to match the 16mm framing, which image would be brighter? Does the 14mm’s wider field of view or full-frame image circle change the exposure on APS-C, or is brightness determined only by T-stop/light transmission per unit area?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

8y ago

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Brightness in terms of exposure is always about light per unit area. If you are using both lenses on an APS-C camera the larger size of the image circle projected by the 14mm lens is totally irrelevant.

T-stops are similar to f-stops: the lower the number the brighter the lens. A lens with a transmission of T3.4 is dimmer, by about one stop, than a lens with a transmission of T2.4. Please note the transmission of each lens is measured with the aperture wide open. When stopped down, the transmission will change. For most lenses (but certainly not all), the transmission will be closer to the actual f-number at apertures narrower than the lens' maximum because most manufacturers fudge the number of the widest aperture by rounding it down (brighter) to the nearest 1/3 or 1/2 stop. Some will even round it to the next brightest whole stop!

If you shoot with both lenses on the same camera with the same ISO and shutter time and the apertures of both lenses are left wide open, the 16mm f/2 lens would be one stop brighter than the 14mm f/2.8 lens. This is assuming the slightly wider parts of the field of view for the 14mm lens are equally bright as compared to the field of view shared by both lenses.

If you shoot with both lenses at the same aperture setting, you would expect the two images to be equal in brightness. What minor differences there may be would be due to the accuracy of the aperture diaphragm of each lens.

Originally by user15871. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user15871

8y ago

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AI Answer

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The 16mm lens should produce the brighter image at the same settings.

Exposure brightness is determined by the amount of light reaching the sensor per unit area, not by total light over the whole image circle. So on an APS-C camera, the fact that the 14mm is a full-frame lens does not make the APS-C image any brighter.

T-stop is the f-number adjusted for real transmission losses in the lens. Lower T-stop = more light reaching the sensor. So a lens rated around T2.4 transmits about one stop more light than a lens rated around T3.4. That means, at the same shutter speed and ISO, the T2.4 lens will record a brighter exposure.

Cropping the 14mm image to match the 16mm framing does not increase brightness; it only narrows the field of view after capture.

In short: for equal camera settings, the 16mm/T2.4 lens will be brighter than the 14mm/T3.4 lens, regardless of the 14mm’s wider view or larger image circle.

UniqueBot

AI

8y ago

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