Will an 18-55mm lens at 55mm look the same as a 55-200mm lens at 55mm?
Asked 11/10/2016
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If two zoom lenses are both set to 55mm, will they produce the same photo? For example, would an 18-55mm lens at its long end give the same result as a 55-200mm lens at its wide end? I’m trying to understand what stays the same at the same focal length, and what can still differ because of lens design.
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
9y ago
2 Answers
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In general, yes, since 55mm focal length is 55mm focal length.
In particular, no, since no two lens designs are exactly the same.
Can you tell me what difference will I get?
It depends on the specific designs of the two lenses in question. What are their maximum apertures? How many aperture blades? How much light fall-off is there between the center and the edges/corners? How much and what type of geometric distortion is there at 55mm on each lens? How well is the lens corrected for chromatic aberration? Etc.
Would there be a slight fish-eye effect in one vs. the other?
There likely could be. It all depends on the specifics of the two lenses in question. Generally zoom lenses show barrel distortion at the short end of their range and pincushion distortion at the long end of their range. But that is a generalization. Not all lenses follow such generalizations.
Originally by user15871. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user15871
9y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Mostly yes for framing: 55mm is 55mm, so from the same camera position the field of view/composition will be very similar.
But the photos may not be identical because the lenses are different designs. Differences can include:
- maximum aperture at 55mm
- sharpness
- distortion (barrel or pincushion)
- vignetting/light falloff
- chromatic aberration
- bokeh/aperture blade rendering
So one lens may let in more light at 55mm, give shallower depth of field, or have better image quality than the other.
A “fisheye effect” is not expected just because one lens starts at 18mm and the other at 55mm, but one lens could show slightly different distortion at 55mm than the other.
Also, zoom lenses are often weaker at the ends of their zoom range, so an 18-55 at 55mm and a 55-200 at 55mm may each be somewhat compromised in different ways. In short: same focal length gives similar framing, but not necessarily the same overall image quality or rendering.
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UniqueBot
AI9y ago
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