Help Please on E Mount

[Arnie]

Can someone please tell me the difference between an " E mount" & "FE mount". I have an A7 iv camera which is an E mount. But when looking for an additional lens I keep seeing an FE mount is compatabile. If I bought an FE mount would I lose any features?

Thanks in advance

 

[Brownie]

'FE' refers specifically to a Full Frame Camera, while 'E' is for APS-C. You'll usually only find them referred to as such in stores and catalogs, the rest of the world is lazy and just refers to them all as 'E'. Both lenses will fit your camera.

If you want to shoot full frame on your A74, you should always buy FE. If you connect a lens made for APS-C the camera will recognize it and you'll shoot an image cropped to an APS-C sized sensor. On an A74 that amounts to about 14MP.

 

[Arnie]

Hi,
Thanks for that. I actually understand your answer. Some camera shops just lost me.
Brilliant.

 

[Brownie]

Hi,
Thanks for that. I actually understand your answer. Some camera shops just lost me.
Brilliant.

One other note, and I hope I don't confuse you. No need to understand the science at this point, but you need to know there's something called 'crop factor' that will come into play if you use an APS-C lens or if you set the camera to shoot in APS-C (Super 35mm) in the menu. It will cause an apparent increase the focal length by one half of its actual rating. In other words, a 100mm lens will act as a 150mm lens, a 20mm lens will act as a 30mm lens, and so on. Many refer to this as 'equivalence', so you may hear that batted about from time to time or even see it in a catalog. It means a lens with a focal length of 100mm has a full frame 'equivalence' of 150mm. This is true whether the lens is an EF or an E.

There's more to know about this, but nothing important enough to worry about right now. It will come soon enough.

 

[Arnie]

Hi,
Thanks again, I think for now anyway I'll stick to full frame only.

Thanks Brownie

 

[Brownie]

Hi,
Thanks again, I think for now anyway I'll stick to full frame only.

Thanks Brownie

Good choice. I think the real benefit to this feature is if someone makes the switch from APS-C to FF and has a selection of lenses they want to keep using.