Crop Factor Calculator

Find out what your lens actually looks like on your camera. Select your sensor size and enter a focal length to see the 35mm equivalent focal length, effective field of view, and how it compares across sensor sizes.

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Field of View Comparison

Same Lens, Different Sensors

How your lens behaves on different camera bodies.

Sensor Crop Equivalent Field of View

Understanding Crop Factor

Here's the short version: crop factor tells you how your camera's sensor size changes what you see through the lens. The baseline is a 35mm full-frame sensor (36x24mm). If your sensor is smaller than that, it captures a narrower slice of the image, like cropping into the centre of a photo.

The result? A tighter field of view that looks like you're shooting with a longer lens on a full-frame camera.

How Crop Factor Works

A 50mm lens is always a 50mm lens. Mount it on any camera you want. The optics inside the lens don't change.

What does change is the field of view. A smaller sensor only captures the centre of the image circle the lens projects. So on an APS-C camera with a 1.5x crop factor, your 50mm lens gives you the same field of view as a 75mm lens on full frame.

You're not getting more reach. You're just seeing less of the scene.

Common Crop Factors

Full Frame (1x) is the baseline. No crop at all. Cameras like the Sony A7 series, Canon R5/R6, and Nikon Z5/Z6/Z8 all use full-frame sensors. Whatever the lens says on the barrel is exactly what you get.

APS-C (1.5x or 1.6x) is the most popular crop sensor format out there. Nikon, Sony, and Fujifilm APS-C cameras use a 1.5x crop factor, while Canon APS-C is slightly tighter at 1.6x. Put a 35mm lens on APS-C and you'll get roughly the same view as a 50mm on full frame.

Micro Four Thirds (2x) doubles the effective focal length. A 25mm lens on MFT looks like a 50mm on full frame. Telephoto reach becomes very affordable, but getting truly wide shots takes some work.

Medium Format (0.79x) goes the other way. The sensor is larger than full frame, so you get a wider field of view and shallower depth of field at equivalent framings. A 65mm on medium format feels more like a 50mm on full frame.

Does Crop Factor Affect Depth of Field?

Technically, no. A 50mm f/2.8 lens produces the exact same depth of field regardless of sensor size at the same focus distance.

But practically? Yes. To get the same framing on a crop sensor, you'll either use a shorter focal length (which deepens DoF) or stand further away (which also deepens DoF). Either way, you end up with more of the scene in focus.

That's why full-frame cameras are the go-to for creamy shallow depth of field in portraits. And it's also why Micro Four Thirds cameras can be brilliant for travel and video, where keeping everything sharp is actually what you want. Understanding how crop factor interacts with your camera settings helps you make the most of whatever system you shoot on.

Want to understand your camera better? Our Camera Settings guide walks you through focal length, aperture, and all the settings that shape your images.

Frequently Asked Questions

Not exactly. The lens focal length stays the same. What changes is the field of view. A crop sensor captures a smaller portion of the image circle, which looks like you've cropped into the centre of a full-frame image. The effect is similar to more reach, which is why wildlife and sports photographers sometimes appreciate crop sensors. But you're not getting extra optical zoom or resolution.
For exposure, no. f/2.8 lets in the same amount of light per unit area on any sensor size. But for depth of field equivalence, yes. A 50mm f/1.8 on APS-C (1.5x) gives roughly the same depth of field as a 75mm f/2.7 on full frame. This is useful when comparing the background blur you'll get between different camera systems.
It's a way to describe field of view using full-frame focal lengths as the standard reference. When someone says "equivalent to 50mm," they mean the field of view matches what a 50mm lens gives on a 35mm full-frame camera. This lets photographers compare lenses across different sensor sizes using a common language.
Not at all. Full frame gives you shallower depth of field, generally better low-light performance, and wider field of view. But crop sensors give you extra reach for wildlife and sports, are lighter and more affordable, and the depth of field advantage means easier focus for video. The best sensor size depends on what you shoot.
Usually yes, as long as the lens mount is compatible. A full-frame lens on a crop sensor camera will work perfectly. The camera just uses the centre portion of the image circle. You'll get the crop factor applied to the field of view, but the lens will function normally. Going the other way (crop lens on full-frame body) often causes heavy vignetting since the image circle is too small.

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