Film Lenses On FX Camera

[TerryCacek]

I'm considering a Nikon D700, a full frame camera.  I have a closet full of lenses bought in the film era so I assumed they would work great on the full frame digital camera.  A guy just explained to me that film has a natural curl, and that the lens manufacturers designed lenses to focus across the curl.  Digital sensors are flat, so the new lenses are designed to focus on a flat plane.

To experience the full advantage of full frame, he claims that I need to scrap my film-era lenses and buy lenses designed for the flat digital sensors.  How much of an issue is this?  I assume it is less of an issue with crop frame cameras because they use only the center of the circle of light.

How do we know if a lens was designed for film or for digital?  Are all the lenses in the current Nikon and Canon catalogs designed for digital?

All advice will be appreciated.

Terry

[Lisa Nikodym]

I've never heard of this issue before.  Perhaps someone with more technical knowledge should chime in, but I think the guy is spouting complete nonsense.  There are plenty of people using old film lenses with digital cameras.  The guy wouldn't be trying to sell you new lenses by any chance, would he?  

Lisa

[raysem]

You can use pretty much all of your old film lenses with a D700 (there are a few lenses that won't work, but they are very rare).

I can assure you that they work very well.

You weren't talking to a lens salesman now, were you???

[TerryCacek]

You can use pretty much all of your old film lenses with a D700 (there are a few lenses that won't work, but they are very rare).

I can assure you that they work very well.

You weren't talking to a lens salesman now, were you???

[TerryCacek]

No, the guy does not sell lenses.  He is a factory authorized repair man.

Thanks for your replies.

Terry

[Jonathan Ratzlaff]

If you want to know how your old lenses will work, check Bjorn Rorslett's site

[Gary Brown]

A guy just explained to me that film has a natural curl, and that the lens manufacturers designed lenses to focus across the curl.  Digital sensors are flat, so the new lenses are designed to focus on a flat plane.

I don't recall ever hearing that theory, but FWIW here's one essay saying that differences in lens coatings can cause some “film” lenses to perform less well with digital: Why Film Camera Lenses Aren't Great for DSLRs

[Rob C]

Natural curl of film.

Excuse the induced curl of lip, but the guy obviously hadn't heard of pressure plates. That says much about factory-approved workmen and probably explains why so many new cameras and lenses have had to be returned to sender these past few years.

I use manual Nikkor lenses on the D700 and the the D200 and have but one, seldom-used 2.8/180 af optic. They all work fine - so far. But I await their curl some day.

To be kind, maybe he (the repair expert) was thinking of the curvature of plane, the shell effect that many wide lenses display... but then, who would second-guess an expert, especially an expert mechanic?

;-)

Rob C

[JohnBrew]

I use all manual focus lenses on my D700. Since you say you have many lenses from the film days, I would suggest you get to testing them and find out for yourself.

[Dave Gurtcheff]

In the days of film and my Leica slide projector, Leica DID make a special projection lens designed so that when the slide heated up in it's cardboard mount, and "popped", it popped into focus not OUT of focus. Cameras had pressure plates to hold film flat. I seem to recall that Zeiss Contax/Yashica even had a 35mm film camera that produced a vacuum to enhance film flatness.
I use a 1DS III and some older lenses with no problems. I also use a Sony A900 with a ton of old Minolta film AF lenses, and they are magnificent. The A900 with in camera stabilization, and a vintage Minolta 20mm lens is AMAZING! (Especially with DX Optics to correct the mustace distortion sometimes noticed in horizons). The A900 with an old AF 500 mirror is also amazing.
Dave

[Chairman Bill]

The 105 f2.5 was a peach on my FM & FE, it's equally good on the D700. Same goes for all my other Nikkors.

[lookit]

In response to the blog post about film camera lenses being not great for DSLRs - as I understand reflection is a significant problem whether light is passing from glass into air or vice versa, so most lenses should have coatings on all surfaces to deal with the light coming in, which should be equally effective for light reflecting back out off the sensor.  A lens that was good on film by modern standards should be fine on digital.  (And only a few lenses, stopped down somewhat and with perfect technique, can use all of the potential of either film or digital.)

[Policar]

There was a long discussion of this elsewhere.  Curved film never came up, but who knows?  I'm certainly not an engineer, neither are most people here, and we shouldn't always question those who are engineers just because they are.

The issues with "film lenses" that did come up were:

Increased chromatic aberration, both in terms of fringing and green/magenta bokeh.  Apparently this is a lot worse with some lenses and particularly wider ones, partially because of the difference between the flat bayer sensor and multi-layered film emulsion.

Poor performance wide open, as lenses for film needed to be a lot faster but not as sharp.  And bad lenses look a lot worse on digital.

Increased fall-off with wide, tilt/shift, and ultra-fast lenses due to issues with oblique light angles.

Significantly less contrast:  film doesn't bounce much light back, while sensors do, and so digital cameras need better coatings.

[leuallen]

Some lenses under certain circumstances will cause a flare spot on the image. This usually occurs with a very bright background, think overexposed white seamless. It is due to the light being reflected off the sensor to the rear element and then back to the sensor. Digital lenses have the rear element coated.

I had this occur with a Tamron 90mm macro under extreme circumstances, otherwise the lens was great.

Larry

[mas55101]

Total Bull!  I would, however, use your best lenses.  My permanent D3x lens is an AIS 28mm f2.8, Nikon's best wide angle.

[24x36]

Mostly FUD directed at convincing you you need "new" equipment. When I shot Pentax I had nothing but older, manual focus lenses. I experienced no issues using any of them (on APS-C, of course, since it is the only choice in Pentax mount, and is why I switched to Nikon after my patience reached its end). If you have good quality lenses, then generally they will perform well on a FF dSLR. If you had mediocre or poor quality lenses, then they'll continue to be mediocre or poor. 

[alanscape]

Ignore him........look at the site below and check your closet contents. Then look in the back of the D700 manual at the list of suitable lenses... some can damage digital cameras.

http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/companies/nikon/nikkoresources/AFNikkor/index.htm

Film curl indeed....................pressure plate, depth of field, film tension??