Why do cameras call it "Macro Lens" if it zooms in and is used to capture tiny objects? Shouldn't it be "Micro Lens"?

simple@lemm.ee to No Stupid Questions@lemmy.world – 66 points –
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Yep, most macro lenses such as the 90 to 105 range from Sigma, Canon, Nikon and their ilk tend to have a designation like 1:1 in the description.

This is normally based on a 35mm frame size, for cropped sensors the magnification is greater.

Actually for cropped sensors it'll still be 1:1 but "cropped"

You can get more magnification if you use extension tubes or specialized lenses.

Cropped by way of a smaller sensor, but magnified if you compare a "full frame sensor" camera and a "crop sensor" camera with identical pixel counts. A penny will have a penny-sized projection on the sensor, but the image from the crop sensor will have ~40% more pixels of the penny.