I need some insight on using my stock of auto focus Nikon lenses on a Nikon D200 body. I am aware that the focal length of these lenses will change due to the sensor size being differnet that the 35mm film size. My concern is performance. Can expect the same image quality with a lens that is not specifically designed for a digital sensor? The bulk of my ptotography has been on 35mm transperency film. Can I expect to match those results with my existing lenses mounted on a D200 body. I am especially concerned with enlargements in the 8" x 10" to 16" x 20" range. Any insight will be appreciated.

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Originally Posted by culverdd

I need some insight on using my stock of auto focus Nikon lenses on a Nikon D200 body. I am aware that the focal length of these lenses will change due to the sensor size being differnet that the 35mm film size. My concern is performance. Can expect the same image quality with a lens that is not specifically designed for a digital sensor? The bulk of my ptotography has been on 35mm transperency film. Can I expect to match those results with my existing lenses mounted on a D200 body. I am especially concerned with enlargements in the 8" x 10" to 16" x 20" range. Any insight will be appreciated.

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In most cases, performance will be much BETTER with a non DX (DX = Digital, smaller image circle) or "film" lens on a small-sensor body. If you read a lot of lens reviews, you'll find that most lenses are sharper towards the center, with softness problems being closer to the edges & corners. Using a "film" lens on a digital body uses the "best" part of the lens only.

While this is a "general" comment, in the case of Nikkor lenses most are engineered to be of high quality - even some of their "consumer" priced glass is fantastic.

The bigger issue with higher-end lenses like Nikkors is sharpness at a given aperture (and shooting digital makes this easy to test for each lens). The majority of 35mm SLR lenses are sharpest in the f4 - f8 range. Take your favorite lens, stick in on a tripod and shoot something like a billboard, a page of text, a skyscraper with hard window lines, at each f-stop (adjusting the shutter speed for correct exposure of course). Open each image in Photoshop/Etc, crop and zoom to the same section of each, and compare the results. You may be very surprised at how rough f@@ can look, even with a $1000 lens.

Hope that helps - MC (20+ year Nikon user, commercial shooter)

Yes