Lens Comparison Tool

Configure two lenses to compare their optical characteristics side by side

Field of View

The field of view (FOV) is the angular extent of the scene captured by the lens. It depends on the focal length and the sensor size. The diagonal FOV is calculated as:

Where d is the sensor diagonal and f is the focal length. Horizontal and vertical FOVs use the sensor width and height respectively.

35mm Equivalent Focal Length

The 35mm equivalent allows comparing lenses across sensor sizes. It is calculated by multiplying the actual focal length by the crop factor (ratio of full-frame diagonal to the sensor diagonal). A 35mm lens on APS-C (~1.5x crop) gives a field of view equivalent to ~52mm on full frame.

Minimum Focus Distance & Magnification

Minimum focus distance (MFD) determines how close you can get to your subject. Combined with focal length, it affects the maximum magnification ratio. A shorter MFD relative to the focal length enables greater close-up capability.

Perspective

Perspective is determined by the distance between camera and subject, not by focal length alone. However, since wider lenses are typically used closer to the subject and telephoto lenses from further away, focal length indirectly affects perspective:

• Wide angle (14–35mm): Emphasizes foreground, exaggerates distances between near and far objects
• Normal (40–60mm): Closest to natural human vision perspective
• Telephoto (70–200mm+): Compresses distances, flattens perspective, isolates subjects

Typical Shooting Distance

To frame a subject of the same size, the shooting distance scales proportionally with focal length. If you frame a portrait at 2m with a 50mm lens, you would need about 3.4m with an 85mm lens to get the same framing. This distance change is what creates different perspective rendering.