Does lens size depend on the sensor? If the sensor's area is too small, will wide angle lens not be able to map data onto the sensor at a desired resolution? (e.g. as sensor size increases given a chosen lens, will resolution of final image increase)
williampeng20
Yeah you're correct in that as sensor size increases, you're going to have a higher resolution on the image. And because the size of the sensor is variable, you need to make sure you have a compatible lens, whether it be a cropped lens or a full-frame lens. If you use a cropped lens with a full-frame sensor, then you'll experience black bars at the edge of the image.
More about Cropped vs. Full-frame cameras:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/photography/tips-and-solutions/understanding-crop-factor
edricx
Expanding on William's answer, lenses will project an image circle of a certain radius onto the sensor. Manufacturers design lenses so that the image circle adequately covers the sensor size of the camera it's used with. So APS-C aka crop sensor cameras can have lenses that project smaller image circles than a full frame camera. Small correction: using a lens meant for a smaller sensor size on a larger sensor will not result in rectangular black bars, because the lens projects a circle not a rectangle. Instead, you'll see gradual vignetting around the edges of your photo.
Does lens size depend on the sensor? If the sensor's area is too small, will wide angle lens not be able to map data onto the sensor at a desired resolution? (e.g. as sensor size increases given a chosen lens, will resolution of final image increase)
Yeah you're correct in that as sensor size increases, you're going to have a higher resolution on the image. And because the size of the sensor is variable, you need to make sure you have a compatible lens, whether it be a cropped lens or a full-frame lens. If you use a cropped lens with a full-frame sensor, then you'll experience black bars at the edge of the image. More about Cropped vs. Full-frame cameras: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/photography/tips-and-solutions/understanding-crop-factor
Expanding on William's answer, lenses will project an image circle of a certain radius onto the sensor. Manufacturers design lenses so that the image circle adequately covers the sensor size of the camera it's used with. So APS-C aka crop sensor cameras can have lenses that project smaller image circles than a full frame camera. Small correction: using a lens meant for a smaller sensor size on a larger sensor will not result in rectangular black bars, because the lens projects a circle not a rectangle. Instead, you'll see gradual vignetting around the edges of your photo.