question about focal length multiplier

[Isaiahfortythirtyone]

hi guys. i have been reading about this Focal Length Multiplier. the 350D has that of 1.6x and Nikons have 1.5x(?) and so on.

i understand most of it, but am still confused somewhat

does this mean that what i see is NOT what i get? for example, if i see a WHOLE waterfall thru the viewfinder of the 350D, and i snap the shot, i will not get the whole waterfall in the picture? in the sense that parts of both edges will be cut off?

or

because of the multiplier, it changes the focal length of the lens. meaning if i have a 28mm - 105mm lens, i multiply by 1.6 to get 44-168 effective focal length on the digital slr? meaning that i lose the 'wide angle' effect? or...take a simpler example. if i use the canon 50mm f1.8II lens that is so popular, does that mean that instead of getting a 50mm field of view, i get a 50mm x 1.6 = 80mm lens in actual fact?

do i lose any of the picture at all because of this multiplier thingy?

is this why there are now special digital lenses like the DC and DG by sigma and the 18-200 DI II by tamron?

thanks guys

 

[Del_CtrlnoAlt]

for the waterfall part... its due to the viewfinder is not a 100% viewfinder...

if you jump direct to DSLR without using SLR, you won't understand the part... effectively, when you use film 28mm its suppose to cover this amount of width... but when using a crop factor, you might need 17mm to cover the same width from the same location.

 

[nightwolf75]

pls do a search? this question has been asked numerous times.

else, read this.
http://luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/understanding-series/dslr-mag.shtml