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txbuckeye · Mar 30, 2006, 11:29 AM

Definite newbie issue here. I'm about to make the leap from the consumer digicam to the SLR. I'm looking at a couple Nikons and have a question about their lenses. Nikon has a set of lenses listed as "DX Nikkor Lenses for Digital SLRs." How are these lenses different from their "standard" lenses and are they interchangeable? For example, would the "70-300mm f/4-5.6G AF Zoom-Nikkor" work with the D50 or D70s? If so, are there reasons why this is sub-optimal and you should stick with the lenses specifically labeled as for dgitial?

keith1200rs · Mar 30, 2006, 12:08 PM

Hopefully someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but the only thing different about "digital" lenses is they are designed to cover a digital sensor area, not film. With a couple of exceptions, 35mm film is bigger than a camera CCD so you can use a non-digital lens on a digital camera but not the other way round. Well, you could put a digital lens on a fim SLR, but the edge quality may be poor and there is a good chance of major vignetting.

Keith.

Shred · Mar 30, 2006, 12:10 PM

DX lenses are designed to be used with cameras that have APS-C sized sensor (currently all Nikon DSLR cameras)
DX lenses have smaller image circle than normal lenses and they wont work well with film or FF (full frame) cameras.
If you attach a DX lens to a film camera or in the future to FF digital camera the result will be images with heavy vignetting.

D50 or any other digital camera with APS-C sensor works just fine with"normal" lenses.

Nagasaki · Mar 31, 2006, 10:22 AM

There's also a difference in the way that digital cameras record the light. With film it doesn't matter what angle the light strikes at, with digital the light needs to strike the sensor straight on. I believe the the DX lenses are designed to focus the light so that more strikes the sensor at right angles.

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Mar 30, 2006, 11:29 AM	#1
txbuckeye Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 1	Definite newbie issue here. I'm about to make the leap from the consumer digicam to the SLR. I'm looking at a couple Nikons and have a question about their lenses. Nikon has a set of lenses listed as "DX Nikkor Lenses for Digital SLRs." How are these lenses different from their "standard" lenses and are they interchangeable? For example, would the "70-300mm f/4-5.6G AF Zoom-Nikkor" work with the D50 or D70s? If so, are there reasons why this is sub-optimal and you should stick with the lenses specifically labeled as for dgitial?

Mar 30, 2006, 12:08 PM	#2
keith1200rs Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 215	Hopefully someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but the only thing different about "digital" lenses is they are designed to cover a digital sensor area, not film. With a couple of exceptions, 35mm film is bigger than a camera CCD so you can use a non-digital lens on a digital camera but not the other way round. Well, you could put a digital lens on a fim SLR, but the edge quality may be poor and there is a good chance of major vignetting. Keith.

Mar 30, 2006, 12:10 PM	#3
Shred Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 108	DX lenses are designed to be used with cameras that have APS-C sized sensor (currently all Nikon DSLR cameras) DX lenses have smaller image circle than normal lenses and they wont work well with film or FF (full frame) cameras. If you attach a DX lens to a film camera or in the future to FF digital camera the result will be images with heavy vignetting. D50 or any other digital camera with APS-C sensor works just fine with"normal" lenses.

Mar 31, 2006, 10:22 AM	#4
Nagasaki Moderator Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 897	There's also a difference in the way that digital cameras record the light. With film it doesn't matter what angle the light strikes at, with digital the light needs to strike the sensor straight on. I believe the the DX lenses are designed to focus the light so that more strikes the sensor at right angles.