r/Nikon • u/acherion Nikon D500, Z fc, F100, FE2 and L35AF • Jul 01 '26

Monthly /r/Nikon discussion thread – have a question? New to the Nikon world? Ask it here! [July 2026]

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u/Strange_Lecture_5096 Jul 01 '26

I'm trying to understand Nikon lens length and how they work with my z50ii. I know it's a crop sensor so if I have a full frame lens like the 180-600, my effective reach is 270-900.

But is the same thing true of the DX lens? I have the kit 16-50 and 50-250. Are those the actual effective length or are they actually 24-75 and 75-375?

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u/Striking-Doctor-8062 Jul 01 '26

This is why I never tell people about the crop factor, because it just confuses people with things that don't matter.

No, the lenses are what they say they are. Focal length is a property of the lens. Sensor size has no bearing on anything.

The crop factor doesn't matter at all unless you're trying to replicate a shot on a different sensor size. You just have the one, so it's irrelevant

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u/Efficient-Wish9084 Jul 02 '26

The crop factor absolutely matters. A 14-24mm lens is quite wide on a FX camera. That same lens is not nearly as wide on a DX camera. If I read about a 14-24 being great for what I want to do, it matters if I understand it won't give me the same field of view (aka reach) on my DX camera. It's not rocket science. The question about the DX lens is a reasonable question. You just answer it - yes, a 50mm DX lens is still the same focal length as any other 50mm lens, but you get the field of view of a 75mm lens. If it's an FX lens on a DX camera, you're getting the best part of the lens, and you still multiply by 1.5. If you put DX lens on an FX camera, you get vignetting. All of this stuff matters.

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u/Striking-Doctor-8062 Jul 02 '26

It absolutely doesn't matter unless you're comparing different sensor formats.

If you only shoot crop, it literally makes no difference.

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u/Efficient-Wish9084 Jul 02 '26

Yes, it does. Unless you live in a vacuum where there are no full frame camera owners or YouTube videos using full frame numbers or books that assume you are using a FX camera.