Will a Nikon D850 reduce macro magnification compared with a D7500 using the same lens?
Asked 11/3/2017
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I’m moving from a Nikon D7500 (DX) to a Nikon D850 (FX) and mainly shoot macro. Using the same macro lens and setup, should I expect the reproduction ratio to change, or just a wider field of view? I bought the D850 for larger high-PPI prints and want to know whether subject detail or working distance will be affected when switching from DX to full frame.
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
8y ago
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There is no significant difference between the two camera's you mentioned when it comes to catching detail. The D7500 should be a bit better at it, but the difference is only about 3%.
The reproduction ratio does not change. It is a lens property, so wit the same lens, it will always stay the same. The sensor of the D850 is much bigger, but fortunately it also has a lot more pixels. The amount of pixels that are used by your subject will be about the same.
Suppose you are taking a picture of a fruit fly that is about 4 mm long. At a 1:1 reproduction ratio, it will also be 4 mm long on the sensor. On the D7500 sensor it will be roughly 1030 pixels long, and on the D850 it will be about 1000 pixels long. Not a real difference. But the D7500 sensor is 5,568 pixels long, so you have 4,565 pixels before or after the fly. The D850 sensor is 8,256 pixels long, so you have 7,256 pixels before or after the fly. With both camera's you can print the fly with the same size and quality, but if you do that, the D850 will give a larger photo which shows much more of the surroundings of the fly. You are not losing anything, you just get more of the surrounding with the D850.
Originally by user40887. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user40887
8y ago
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Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
The reproduction ratio does not change when you switch from a D7500 to a D850 if you use the same lens at the same focus distance. Magnification is a property of the lens/setup: at 1:1, a 10mm subject is projected as 10mm on the sensor regardless of whether the sensor is DX or FX.
What does change is the field of view. The larger full-frame sensor captures more of the image circle, so your subject occupies a smaller portion of the overall frame compared with DX. That can make it seem like you have “less reach,” but the actual lens magnification is unchanged.
In terms of fine detail on the subject, the difference between these two bodies is minimal with the same setup because the D850’s extra resolution largely offsets the larger sensor area. You generally won’t see a significant loss of captured subject detail; the main practical difference is wider framing on full frame.
If you want the subject to fill the frame the same way it did on DX, you’d need to move closer if possible, crop, or use a higher-magnification setup.
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