I _think_ I know the answer, but I wanted to ask around: If a macro lens does, say, 1:1 lifesize on a 35mm camera, does putting it on a crop camera change the macro ratio/magnification?
My impression is that, while the "reach" changes on a crop, the macro size ratio would not.
No. 1:1 means that it can take a photo such that the image the lens projects on the sensor is the same size as real life. On a crop, the image projected is of the same size, but only a crop of it lands on the sensor. It's similar to the fact that a 50mm lens is still considered a 50mm lens on a crop camera - the magnification is also a property of the lens that does not change with sensor size.
Betacamman wrote:
I _think_ I know the answer, but I wanted to ask around: If a macro lens does, say, 1:1 lifesize on a 35mm camera, does putting it on a crop camera change the macro ratio/magnification?
It depends what you mean by "the macro ratio/magnification". It remians the same at the sensor but a print will have a magnification factor equal to the crop factor over a print from a full frame sensor. By the same consideration, for two sensors of the same resolution, the resolved detail in the printed image will seem to have been reduced by the crop factor, in that the resolved detail has been stretched. The actual amount of detail will be the same.
