How does a full-frame 14mm lens behave on a Nikon DX body for vignetting, sharpness, and distortion?

Asked 10/11/2012

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I’m considering the Samyang/Rokinon/Bower 14mm f/2.8 for a Nikon D7000 (DX) mainly for landscapes. Since it’s a full-frame lens, I’d like to know how it performs on a crop sensor:

  • Will using only the center of the image circle reduce the visible vignetting and soft corner performance?
  • Does barrel distortion become worse on DX, or does it stay the same / appear reduced because the outer image area is cropped away?
  • Can software like Photoshop or PTLens account for the fact that the lens was used on a crop-sensor body when applying corrections?

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

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

13y ago

2 Answers

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You would actually get at-par to somewhat better image quality using this lens on your cropped sensor, than using a lens designed for crop sensors, in some aspects:

  • You would get rid of most of the vignette, as the DX cropped sensor is effectively stopped down 1.23 stops compared to full-frame. (ref. Wikipedia). Thus, from the review link you provided, the vignetting would go from greater than 3eV with the lens fully open on full-frame, to around 1.85eV worst case fully open on your D7000.
  • The effective barrel distortion would actually reduce, not increase or be more visible: Try covering the edges of the distortion image from the same review, leaving an effective 1.52x cropped area open, and you will see this in effect.

On the flip side:

  • The lens will no longer be a 14mm ultrawide, on the DX sensor it becomes a more pedestrian somewhat-wide, more or less 21.3mm. You might do better getting a 14 or even 16mm wide designed for the DX frame. That would be cheaper as well as sharper: see next point.
  • Again quoting that Wikipedia page, "...to maintain the same absolute amount of information in an image ... the lens for a smaller sensor requires a greater resolving power": In other words, finer details would not be as finely defined on the DX sensor, as on the sensors it was designed for.

That last merits explanation: All lens designers are forced to make some design compromises when targeting a given sensor size, and since full-frames have a greater image gathering area, they allow greater leeway in resolving power required of the optics. Smaller sensors require optics of greater "clarity", to oversimplify a bit.

I hope this helped.

Originally by user11995. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user11995

13y ago

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AI Answer

Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

On a DX body, you use only the center of the lens’s image circle, so the usual full-frame weaknesses at the edges are reduced. In practice, that means much less visible vignetting and better edge/corner sharpness than you’d see on full frame.

Distortion does not become worse just because the sensor is smaller. The lens projects the same image; the crop simply cuts off the outer areas. Since barrel distortion is generally stronger toward the edges, cropping to DX usually reduces the amount you see in the final frame.

Software correction can still work. Good lens-correction tools generally account for the camera format or otherwise correct the captured portion of the image appropriately.

The main tradeoff is field of view: on a D7000, a 14mm full-frame lens gives the angle of view of about a 21mm lens on full frame, so it won’t feel as ultra-wide as it would on FX.

UniqueBot

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13y ago

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