From the photographer’s blog we want to make your life easier (photographically speaking), that’s the purpose of each of the articles we write, so I’m going to dedicate today’s post to telling you what the clipping factor or conversion factor is. you’ve probably heard of or if you’ve just landed, you’ll soon hear it, as well as terms like Full Frame, APS-C, cultural factor. All these strange and ugly names have an explanation and my goal this time is for you to understand them as simply as possible.
To stand up and understand what we’re talking about, I have to go back to the analog age (which seems to talk about prehistory and isn’t that far back in time, or I want to think that if I don’t realize how much older do I have?). When there were only analog cameras different films were used, but the most used was the 35 mm, and in fact it is still sold (36×24 mm).
- When launching the first digital cameras.
- They respected this size when making the sensor.
- What is called a full-frame sensor.
- However.
- The goal of any company is to sell.
- So they managed to sell more cameras.
- How do I do it? Easy.
- Making them cheaper and more affordable to reach a much wider audience.
- To cut costs.
- They have reduced the size of the sensor and this is where the well-known culture factor comes in.
- Well.
- What they did was exactly that.
- Cut the sensor.
In this Nikon image, you can see how the image is projected with a larger sensor and a smaller sensor. The left area corresponds to the part of the scene captured with each sensor. Notice how the figure above represents the full-size sensor (FX for Nikon) covering a wider area.
Then you’ll see which area each sensor would cover. The same image taken with a full-size sensor and a cropped sensor (for Nikon FX and DX respectively).
In fact, the difference lies mainly in the fact that the scene seems “trimmed”, as the sensor records less part of the scene to be captured. Most cameras have a conversion factor of 1. 5 or 1. 6x, which is the sensor ratio of 35 mm. This is where conversions with focal lengths come from, as a 50 mm lens, for example, on a non-full format camera and has a clipping factor of 1. 5 x results in an apparent focal length of 75 mm (result of the following multiplication: 50 -1. 5 -75). Here is an equivalence table that will allow you to calculate the apparent focal length that a lens can have depending on the clipping factor of your camera, I insist, the apparent focal length, eh ??:
And I say apparently because it’s not really the case, since the properties of that focal length, like distortions, don’t change at all. To make it easier to understand (an expert can put your hands on your head), imagine you have a photo printed on paper and cut the edges. The image is exactly the same, but it is “cut”, part of the scene is lost.
To make it clearer, I leave you a video of different comparisons with different lenses:
Now comes the million-dollar question, what’s better?Can I buy a full-size camera or camera equipped with an APS-C sensor (the one worn by most non-full-frame SLRs)?Well, the key isn’t in the answer, but in the question, let’s reformulate it: do you really need a full-size SLR camera?
Many times we think that the more expensive the better, or that the more options or properties a gadget has, the better it will be, regardless of what really suits our needs. Camera with sensor cut out for many years, in fact lately the photos I take and that my people like the most are made with the iPhone, by that I mean that if you are not a professional photographer, you may not need to pass a pasture to cover most of the scene. It may be better to use your financial resources to expand your lens range, or even practice a lot to improve your results and start enjoying photography even more. Don’t hold on to numbers, terms or equipment if you don’t really need them. Enjoy photography, learn to move, tell stories, compose correctly, highlight focus; to concentrate, develop your photographic eye and forget about conversions. Observe, feel and shoot. It’s photography.
I hope that my explanation is clear enough and that you have understood it from the conversion factor, which in the end is nothing more than a multiplication to see what is the apparent focal length of a lens in a camera that does not have a full size. I left you a graph, if you can’t find the value you’re looking for, just multiply the focal length of your lens by the clipping factor you have on your camera (1. 5x, 1. 6x?) Otherwise, don’t hesitate and leave your question in the comments. Are we here to help you?
Thank you and soon!
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