Is there any downside of using fullframe lens on a crop sensor body?

[donscot]

Hi all,
I know this subject is a bit contraversial, but I have the following scenario:
I have Sony A5100 and I bought Sony 1.8/50 mm FE lens which is designed for fullframe body. I've realised this after buying the lens... So far I have no problems using the FE on my A5100, but the main question is: Am I loosing quality in this case, or is there any downside of using the Fullftame lens on my crop A5100 body?

Judging by this (and other articles), there is no actual downside for my case, right?

What Happens if You Use a Full Frame Lens on Crop Sensor Cameras?

Should I go for the 1.8/50 mm crop lens?

 

[Tropicalmemories]

I think the only issues are size and weight compared to a lens designed for crop sensors?

As you're not using the corners of the 'full frame' rectangle you may even get some improvements in edge sharpness.

 

[donscot]

Well, then my next logical question will be: why would anybody sell a separate crop sensor, since the fullframe is working fine on both crop and fullframe? Maybe the factor is the price? Well, as far as I can see on the web, both 1.8/50 FE and 1.8/50 OSS are having similar price... So, I guess it is one of those marketing tricks of every company...

 

[Overread]

f1.8 50mm lenses are basically the most bare bones simplistic designs of lens and are often priced low to encourage people to buy their first prime lens. 50mm lenses have been standard lenses for AGES so its a really well worn market slot which keeps the price low.

Basically as said there's nothing wrong with using fullframe lenses on crop sensor bodies. In fact when it comes to more exotic and expensive high end lenses there's often only a fullframe option. Canon only makes a handful of crop sensor only lenses compared to the legion of fullframe ones, for example.

Weight and size are normally the benefits, a crop sensor lens of the same focal length and aperture will be smaller and lighter than a fullframe one (of the same age and quality). So for those who want a smaller, lighter lens the crop sensor 50mm will be their choice.

 

[donscot]

Yeah, but I still don't get it... Why would any company manufacture a crop and full frame lens of the same type for two different bodies, since the only difference between the two is size? I assume every person will go for the fullframe lens in this case, and make a compromise with the weight difference (and we are taking about small difference in weight, right?) but will have a fullframe lens, which they can also use if decide to move on to the fullframe body some day...

 

[480sparky]

Size, weight and price.

 

[Designer]

Yeah, but I still don't get it... Why would any company manufacture a crop and full frame lens of the same type for two different bodies, since the only difference between the two is size? I assume every person will go for the fullframe lens in this case, and make a compromise with the weight difference (and we are taking about small difference in weight, right?) but will have a fullframe lens, which they can also use if decide to move on to the fullframe body some day...

Move away from the ubiquitous 50mm lenses, and you will find that the more "professional grade" lenses that are designed for "full frame" cameras will cost more.

Size, weight, and price.

Camera manufacturers will market an "entry level" camera body that is priced well below the professional grade cameras, and they will also design and manufacture "entry level" lenses to go with them.

Furthermore, some lines of cameras and lenses are not fully compatible ("crop" to "full frame"). Always consult your user's manual for compatibility.

 

[Soocom1]

Yeah, but I still don't get it... Why would any company manufacture a crop and full frame lens of the same type for two different bodies, since the only difference between the two is size? I assume every person will go for the full frame lens in this case, and make a compromise with the weight difference (and we are taking about small difference in weight, right?) but will have a full frame lens, which they can also use if decide to move on to the full frame body some day...

I am going to rehash a bit of history that many are not aware of. This isnt the full story, only one piece of it.

In the late 1970's-80's solar panel manufacturing was making silicon wafers for solar panels. The standard size was 6" in diameter after manufacturing.

The computer chip (IC world) used the same process for the manufacture of computer chips.
This eventually included the manufacture of silicon wafers for digital cameras. The standard size of an ingot (raw silicon form where the wafers come from) were finished also to 6".

A 6" dia. wafer produces four 35mm full frame sensors. While the same wafer produces eight to ten APS sized sensors with much less waist.

Economics.

 

[donscot]

Yeah. After breaking this into pieces it make sence now. Thank you for clearing this for me guys. I am still learning...

 

[photoflyer]

In the Canon DSLR world it is EF/S for crop and EF for both crop and full frame. For me there is actually an advantage to putting the EF glass on the crop as it increases the effective focal length by 1.6 so the 300mm F4 L becomes 480mm. This is a disadvantage when shooting landscapes where a wide field of view is desired.

 

[ronlane]

In your case, since you already own the body and the glass there isn't any negatives to it.

As it was mentioned using ff glass on a crop sensor can help with corner to corner sharpness because you aren't "using" all of the glass.

There is really is no reason for the companies to make a bunch of crop sensor glass. Mom or Dad with camera (MWC or DWC) will be just fine with the entry level glass to take photos of the kids. But once you've gotten past a certain stage or shoot with a quality piece of glass, then you realize that no matter the body you have GLASS MATTERS.

Sorry to yell that but it really does matter.

 

[donscot]

Thanks for breaking this for me guys.

 

[weepete]

I was under the impression that EF-S mount was created so that Canon could scale down exising lens designs and use cheaper and lighter materials as opposed to designing new lenses by scratch.

The only real downside to using EF lenses is that the focal lengths of EF mount lenses are optimised for full frame cameras so can be a bit weird. One of my favorite focal lengths used to be 24-105mm but on a cropped sensor camera the wide end is more like a short telephoto where the EF-S 15-85mm is in my opinion much more flexible.

 

[donscot]

Is the focal length of 1.8/50 mm of a ff lens changes to 75 mm on a crop body due to the 1.5 crop factor, or it stays 50 mm?

 

[ronlane]

The lens is a 50mm on both full frame and crop sensor. But when mounted on the crop sensor the field of view is less than 50mm making it look like a 75mm on a Nikon (1.5) and 80mm on a Canon (1.6) full frame camera.