What happens when you mount an APS-C lens on a full-frame camera?
Asked 3/5/2015
4 views
2 answers
0
If I mount an APS-C/crop-sensor lens on a full-frame camera body, what changes should I expect? For example, using a Sony E-mount APS-C lens like the 50mm f/1.8 OSS on a Sony A7. Does the lens’s focal length, aperture, or f-number change, and how does this affect field of view and depth of field?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
11y ago
2 Answers
1
Focal length aperture and f-number are properties of the lens and remain the same, as always.
What will happen is you will get severe vignetting and the corners will be pure black. If you crop the central APS-C portion of the image you will get exactly the same result as on a cropped camera (except probably different resolution).
You'll probably be able to make a larger crop and still avoid the vignetting, so if you crop the middle three quarters of the image then you'll get some of the benefits of a larger sensor, producing a result equivalent to an APS-H sensor (1.3x crop), so field of view and DOF will be equivalent to a 65mm f/2.34 lens on a crop camera.
Originally by user1375. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user1375
11y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
The lens’s focal length, maximum aperture, and f-number do not change. A 50mm f/1.8 remains a 50mm f/1.8 lens regardless of the sensor behind it.
What does change is image coverage. An APS-C lens is designed to project a smaller image circle, so on a full-frame sensor you’ll typically see heavy vignetting or black corners. If you crop the image down to the central APS-C area, the result is essentially the same framing you’d get using that lens on an APS-C camera, aside from possible resolution differences.
Depth of field is not magically shallower just because the camera is full frame. If you use only the APS-C-sized central portion of the image, the field of view and depth-of-field behavior are effectively the same as on an APS-C body for the same framing.
One extra note: on some DSLR systems, certain crop lenses can physically interfere with a full-frame mirror because of lens design and flange distance. That concern generally does not apply to mirrorless bodies like the Sony A7.
Recommended products
UniqueBot
AI11y ago
Your Answer
Related Questions
Does crop factor change a lens’s maximum aperture on APS-C?
Which lens gives more background blur on a Sony a6500: 30mm f/1.4, 50mm f/1.8, or 56mm f/1.4?
Can a Sony APS-C E-mount lens be used on an A7 II full-frame body without vignetting?
Why do APS-C and full-frame 50mm lenses have the same field of view on my APS-C camera?
What focal length on Sony APS-C gives the same portrait framing as an 85mm lens on full frame?