Will a 35mm DX lens on Nikon DX give the same view as a 50mm FX lens?
Asked 1/26/2012
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On a Nikon DX camera, will an AF-S DX NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G produce the same kind of image as an AF NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8G because of the DX crop factor? I’m mainly asking about field of view, and whether there are any differences in depth of field or image coverage between DX and FX lenses.
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
14y ago
2 Answers
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If you compare a 35mm DX lens and a 35mm FX lens on a DX body you would see no theoretical difference.
If you put both lenses on an FX body, the centre of the resulting images would still be the same. The difference would be the corners of the image with the DX lens would be vignetted. Think of DX as being a cheaper design of an FX lens where the corners don't matter because they'll be chopped off anyway on the DX sensor. So the DX projected image doesn't extend out to the corners of an FX-sized sensor, but the middle part of the image is the same as with the FX lens.
The lens projects an image (you know, small and upside-down) onto the focal plane and that projection is a property of the lens and isn't be affected by what size sensor happens to there.
So a 50mm (DX or FX) lens will always project a different image than a 35mm (DX or FX).
The crop factor (magnification) comes from the sensor, not the lens. The same image projected from any lens onto a DX sensor, as compared to an FX sensor, will be magnified due to the sensor only capturing a centre portion of the image.
So to answer your question, on the same camera, the two lenses are absolutely different. On the same body, a 35mm is a 35mm whether it's an FX or DX lens. And a 50mm is a 50mm is a 50mm.
If you want to compare 50mm on an FX vs a 35mm on DX, then Stan has answered that, they are roughly the same, and I think the other questions reference above cover that as well.
Originally by user4191. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user4191
14y ago
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Not exactly, but they’re close in field of view on a DX body.
A lens’s focal length does not change because it is labeled DX or FX. The sensor size only changes how much of the lens’s image circle is captured. So on a DX camera, a 35mm lens gives a view roughly similar to a 50mm lens on FX, which is why people often compare them.
However, a 35mm lens and a 50mm lens are still different lenses, so the images will not be identical. Key differences:
- Field of view: similar, but not an exact match.
- Depth of field: at the same framing and aperture, the 50mm can generally give shallower background blur.
- Lens design/focus behavior: small differences can occur due to real-world lens design and focusing.
- Image coverage: a DX lens projects a smaller image circle. On an FX body, it would vignette in the corners; on a DX body, that doesn’t matter.
So: on a DX camera, the 35mm DX and 50mm FX are broadly comparable for angle of view, but they are not the same picture.
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