On a Canon 550D, is an EF 50mm lens the same field of view as my kit lens at 50mm?
Asked 5/3/2011
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I use a Canon 550D with the 18-55mm EF-S kit lens. Since the camera has a 1.6x crop sensor, I’m confused about how a Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 compares.
If I mount the EF 50mm f/1.4 on my 550D, will it give the same framing/field of view as my 18-55mm lens set to 50mm on the same camera? Or does the crop factor make it behave like an 80mm lens in this comparison?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
15y ago
2 Answers
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I'm going to go with the very simple answer here:
The lens does not change. The f/1.4 50mm EF lens has exactly the same focal length (and everything that goes with that) as your EF-S zoom lens set to 50mm.
The "crop factor" is not useful for comparing different lenses on the same camera. It's only useful for comparing lenses across different camera formats — which means different film or sensor size.
And then, because I can't help myself, I'm going to go a bit further. This seems like overcomplicated nonsense, but it's actually both pretty simple (it only seems complicated — honest!), and a reasonably useful tool to know about.
So, in case you want to chase things further, once you're definitely unconfused and clear about the basics, see:
- Is the kit lens focal length specified for APS-C or FF?
- What is the difference between EF and EF-S lenses?
- Does my crop sensor camera actually turn my lenses into a longer focal length?
- What is crop factor and how does it relate to focal length?
- Why do we talk about focal-length when frame sizes are different?
- Why do Full Frame lenses and crop body lenses exhibit the same crop factor when used on a crop body camera?
Which give some depth and background. But still, remember, the answer to your question is simple: focal length is a property of the lens, and you can't change it without more optics.
Originally by user1943. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user1943
15y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Yes — on your Canon 550D, an EF 50mm lens and your EF-S kit lens set to 50mm will give essentially the same field of view/framing.
The crop factor does not change the lens’s actual focal length, and it is not useful for comparing two lenses on the same camera body. It’s mainly used to compare how a lens looks on different sensor sizes, such as APS-C versus full frame.
So on your 550D:
- 50mm is 50mm, whether the lens is EF or EF-S
- your 18-55mm at 50mm and an EF 50mm prime will show a very similar scene
What will differ is everything else about the lenses:
- the EF 50mm f/1.4 has a much wider maximum aperture
- that helps in lower light
- it can give shallower depth of field / more background blur
- it may also be optically and physically better built than the kit lens
People call 50mm on APS-C “80mm equivalent” only when comparing its field of view to a full-frame camera.
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