[Warren Eig] “That crop factor, 1.6 makes the 50mm an 80mm.”
And this is why people are so confused on this point. The crop factor does not make the 50mm an 80mm. The width of the image on APS-C will be similar to an 80mm on a full-frame camera.
Think of focal length this way: each lens, due to the way the glass curves for each focal length, renders a scene a specific way. Most of the time, this will be very hard to see for the average consumer, but for someone who lives and breathes images, it will be more noticeable. The way the 50mm represents the world will always be the same, no matter what crop sensor you’re on. The way the 80mm represents the world will also be different, and will remain the same way no matter the crop sensor.
The width between the two is what changes, nothing else.