There is such a HUGE learning curve when you get started in photography. One thing you may have noticed when shopping for cameras is a big price jump between “beginner” cameras and professional ones. What’s the difference? Generally, the camera sensor! You probably noticed that the so-called full-frame sensors are SUPER expensive! So what gives? What does it mean if your camera has a cropped sensor, anyways?
Your camera sensor
To understand the “crop factor” you need to learn about your camera sensor! Your camera sensor is probably the most important part of your camera. It determines the quality and resolution of the image that can be created. In other words it decides if the image is full-frame or cropped. It is nice to know when buying your camera because this feature cannot be changed.
Most beginner or less expensive DSLR/mirrorless cameras are actually built with a cropped sensor. This means that the sensor surface is smaller and therefore has a smaller field of view. A full frame sensor has the same dimensions as a 35mm film. Cropped sensors affect the way your lens functions because it cannot access the full frame of the lens, and therefore applies what we call a “crop factor.”
The Crop Factor
To keep it simple, the crop factor is the multiplier you can use to identify what focal length your lens will approximate when used on that particular cropped sensor. So, if you have a cropped sensor with a crop factor of x1.6, that means you can multiply your lens focal length by 1.6 and that new number is the focal length approximation. I’ll give you some examples below.
Impact of the crop factor
For example, if you are using a 50mm lens on a cropped sensor with a x1.6 crop factor, 50mm x 1.6 = 80mm. That means if you use a 50mm lens on that camera body, when you look through the viewfinder and take a photo, it will look like you are actually using an 80mm lens. So that is why it is important to know whether your camera is cropped or full, and what your crop factor number is.
What to look for when purchasing a lens
So, now that you understand the crop factor, what does this mean when purchasing your lens? Click here to get our lens guide that covers everything you ever needed to know about lenses. That includes more crop factor info and important considerations!