This test shows focal length comparison on a 1.5 crop factor camera (all Nikon DX cameras) from 12mm to 500mm. All images were taken on Nikon D300 with ISO 200, f/10. The focal lengths are not 100% accurate because of different lens sizes and mounts (when short lenses such as the 50mm f/1.4 were used, the camera was mounted on the tripod, while zoom lenses had to be mounted via lens collars). The tripod was never moved (just slightly re-adjusted to focus on the top-left portion of the blue ornament). The 420 and 500mm shots are a little soft because of slight vibration and use of a teleconverter.
The shots were taken indoors because it was too cold outside :)
Nasim Mansurov
Very useful, thank you! I was deciding between the Nikon 135mm f/2 and the 180mm f/2.8 for my D300, bearing in mind that I’ll be buying a D3 when finances allow it. I’ll go with the faster aperture lens and attach it to the (DX sensor-sized) D300 when I want a really cropped closeup. So many of the other sites which compare focal lengths do so with fancy flash graphics which prevent me making a proper comparison.