The DX Crop Factor

The Nikon D3200 has a DX sensor that is roughly one-third smaller than a full-frame sensor (that is the same as a full frame of film). This means that, in regard to lenses, you have to take a crop factor into account.

NOTE The DX sensor in the Nikon D3200 is 23.2mm wide and 15.4mm high, while the FX sensor in the Nikon D4 is 36mm wide and 23.9mm high.

Because the size of the sensor in the D3200 is smaller than that of a 35mm frame, it doesn’t record the entire scene. To determine the effective focal length of a lens, multiply its focal length by 1.5. This gives you the equivalent focal length on a 35mm FX sensor. For example, if you use a 50mm focal length and apply the 1.5X multiplier, the equivalent focal length is 75mm. The amount of the scene captured by the full-frame sensor, as shown in Figure 4.12 is larger than how a cropped sensor captures it, which is shown in Figure 4.13.

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4.12 Captured on a full frame sensor using a 24mm lens. Exposure: ISO 200, f/8.0, 1/250 second.

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4.13 Captured on a cropped frame sensor using a 24mm lens, a lot less of the scene is captured when compared to the full frame photo in Figure 4.12. Exposure: ISO 200, f/8.0, 1/250 second.

The D3200 Kit Lens

The kit lens that came with your camera is an AF-S Nikkor 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6G VR ...

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