In article , Sander Vesik
writes
David Littlewood wrote:

Not in the normally-accepted use of the word in photography. You would
get exactly the same result (apart perhaps from more grain) by using a
wide and blowing up the central portion as using a long lens.

No you won't. Try shooting a row of trees at 17mm, 20mm, 35mm and 50mm.
Now look at the center crops.

I have. Apart from slight changes in grain and DoF, and possibly a touch
of distortion, the pictures are identical.

What do you think they would show?
--
David Littlewood