Macro with a crop sensor means more magnification

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

Most macro lenses achieve 1:1 magnification. This means your subject is shown at the same size as it is in reality. Are you using a crop sensor? Then you get more magnification.

Macro lenses make it possible to show a small subject at its actual size. This is 1:1 magnification. If you use a camera with a crop sensor, you get even more magnification.

We all know that a smaller sensor gives you a narrower angle of view. This makes the focal length appear longer. This is, of course, compared with a full-frame sensor.

With macro photography, you also have to deal with this crop factor. A 100mm lens gives you an image equivalent to a focal length on full-frame multiplied by the crop factor.

But with macro photography, the minimum focusing distance does not change. This means you 'zoom in' closer to your subject. So you get even more magnification. With an APS-C sensor, this is 1.5x or 1.6x.

If you use an M43 sensor, the crop factor is even 2x. This means that a normal macro lens with 1:1 magnification produces an image that is magnified twice as much.

This effect can be useful in macro photography. Of course, you do not always need that much magnification. But it is available to you, and that can be handy.

On the other hand, a macro lens that already allows 2:1 magnification gives you even more magnification with a crop sensor. Extremely high magnifications become possible this way.

Incidentally, if you crop a photo with 1:1 magnification further in post-processing, you achieve the same effect. The magnification also increases. It is the same as using a crop sensor.

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