Photography - Focal Length Comparison

Rollover to see the difference between full frame and 1.6x crop sensors.

Above Picture Taken with Canon Rebel XT with a 50mm f/1.8 lens Rollover image taken with a Canon 5D with a 50mm f/1.8 lens.

Here is an example I put together this last weekend to show the difference between full frame cameras (Canon 5D, Canon 5DMK2, Canon 1DsMK2, Canon 1DsMK3) and 1.6x Focal Length Multipliers (Canon 50D, Rebel's etc.)

Depending on what you shoot one has an advantage over the other, but there are also some Canon bodies that have a 1.3x crop which is a happy medium.

People who need longer focal lengths (shooting birds) gain length by having a 1.6x crop body, people who shoot landscapes group photos etc benefit by having a full frame (equivalent to 35mm bodies).

So a 100mm lens on a full frame body is equal to a 100mm lens, but a 100mm lens on a 1.6x crop body has an effective focal length of 160mm.

The example I have shown is comparing a 50mm lens, to get the same picture of a full frame as on a 1.6x crop I would have to use a 80mm on a full frame and the 50mm on a 1.6x crop body.