Same Lens on Two Different Cameras? Do The Pictures Look the Same?

I have a Nikon D70 and I really want a 50mm lens but I've seen shots taken with it on different cameras… Would they look the same because it's the same lens, or no because they are two different cameras?

There could be differences between them because the camera settings for jpegs might be different (e.g., contrast, sharpness, saturation, and/or resolution). If you shot raw, there would likely be fewer differences apart from pixel dimensions, which are dependent on the sensor. If the pictures were taken by different people, you may see differences due to style and skill level. Then there are the external factors such as lighting. Bottom line is: don't use this as a basis of evaluating the lens. If you really want to know, go to a web site that posts laboratory tests.

They will look different if one is on a full frame camera, and the other is on a camera with an APS-C sized sensor (the DX sensor on your camera). Then the angle of view will be different.

On a camera with the smaller sensor like yours - it will look more like an 80mm than a 50mm.

No way of knowing without taking the photos.

All things being equal: yes… With exceptions.

If you are shooting at the same lighting conditions (outdoors: exact same time of day and year, same cloud cover. Studio: exact same lighing position and settings), using the same settings (apperture, shutter speed, distance to subject, focused on EXACTLY the same spot, at the exact same height and distance from the subject, same ISO, shooting the same subject) on a similar sensor type (cropped or full frame): yes.

Things would change if ANY of the above was different.

There's also the posibility that the two cameras have varying image quality in trems of higher ISO settings. The more recent cameras have a tendency to produce less noise at higher ISO settings than older models due to sensor technology improving.

Also, going from a full frame to a cropped sensor would change things quite a bit as well.

Hopefully that sort of answered your question.

If you know exactly what you're doing, you can make it exactly the same. The camera and lens are only tools.

They would be similar, but not the same.

When they were taken makes a difference as the light would be different. Lighting is one of the most important parts of the composition, if not THE most important. Flat, shadowless, overcast light will produce a flat image no matter the quality of the lens used, on the other hand direct, contrasty light will produce an image with 'pop' with three dimensions, an image taken with a poor lens in this light will rival an image in 'flat' light taken with a really good lens.

Camera bodies make little difference unless you are shooting Jpeg and have filters turned on, for a truer comparison shoot Raw, then you are comparing the data strait off the sensors.

There will be some differences, the low light capability of of a Pentax K5 or the Nikon D7000 will be noticeably less noisy than the D70 if you shoot in low light, and a 14bit Raw will have much more data than a 12bit Raw, but you will only see the difference in large files printed big, where every bit of data matters, if the image you compare is on a screen there will be no difference as the graphics card driver will ignore the extra data as they only need small files (around 2Mb - 4Mb) unless you compare 100% crops.

Comparisons are rarely direct comparisons and, unless you know what's happening in each camera, it's easy to get misleading results.