Liam Hall
Veteran
You are conflating “sensor crop” with “image circle”.
Image circle is a factor of the design of the lens. A 50mm designed for FF will produce an image circle large enough to cover a FF sensor. A 50mm designed for APS-C will produce an image circle large enough for APS-C, but will vignette on a FF sensor. Worth noting, the image circle will vary in size between different designs, even for lenses designed for the same format. Take 10 different 50mm lenses and I’ll bet they all produce slightly different sized image circles. But, importantly, their magnification will be the same.
Your A7 is performing sensor crop ‘in camera’. It’s simply using the central portion of the sensor to capture the image. It’s the same as taking the lens and using it on a 5D (FF) and a 7D (APS-C). Again, the magnification performed by the lens remains unchanged.
Image circle is a factor of the design of the lens. A 50mm designed for FF will produce an image circle large enough to cover a FF sensor. A 50mm designed for APS-C will produce an image circle large enough for APS-C, but will vignette on a FF sensor. Worth noting, the image circle will vary in size between different designs, even for lenses designed for the same format. Take 10 different 50mm lenses and I’ll bet they all produce slightly different sized image circles. But, importantly, their magnification will be the same.
Your A7 is performing sensor crop ‘in camera’. It’s simply using the central portion of the sensor to capture the image. It’s the same as taking the lens and using it on a 5D (FF) and a 7D (APS-C). Again, the magnification performed by the lens remains unchanged.