On an APS-C camera, will a full-frame lens and an APS-C lens with the same focal length and aperture produce different photos?
Asked 1/16/2014
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If I use two lenses on the same APS-C camera with the same focal length, aperture, ISO, and shutter speed—for example a full-frame lens and an APS-C-only lens—what differences should I expect in the resulting image?
Specifically, will one be brighter, have different depth of field, show better edge quality, or be more prone to flare? Assume similar lens quality and optical design.
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
12y ago
2 Answers
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You can get more lens flare using a full frame lens on a smaller sensor when shooting close to the sun or other lightsources.
The reason for this is simply the APS-C lens has a narrower field of view and so a lightsource just out of frame has no physical path through the lens. If you're using a full frame lens with the same composition then there is a path through the lens, even though the light doesn't fall onto the sensor directly (since it's smaller than full frame), it can bounce off the inside of the camera, off the rear lens element and back onto the sensor where it will reduce the contrast of your image.
This only happens when the lightsource is very bright, e.g. the sun, or a strong nearby light at night. It can be avoided by shading the lens with your hand.
Originally by user1375. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user1375
12y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
If the focal length, f-number, shutter speed, and ISO are the same on the same APS-C camera, exposure and depth of field will be essentially the same. An APS-C lens does not “concentrate” light more than a full-frame lens; the main optical difference is that the full-frame lens projects a larger image circle.
In practice, the likely differences are:
- edge/corner performance: a full-frame lens often looks better on APS-C because the smaller sensor uses more of the lens’s center “sweet spot” and avoids the outer edges of the image circle.
- flare/veiling glare: a full-frame lens can sometimes be a bit more prone to flare from very bright light sources just outside the APS-C frame, because light can still pass through parts of the larger image circle and bounce internally. Shading the lens can help.
- size/cost: full-frame lenses are often larger, heavier, and more expensive.
So for image brightness and depth of field, no meaningful difference just from full-frame vs APS-C coverage. Differences come mostly from the specific lens design and quality, not the format label alone.
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