Fx... Dx?

[DSJohnson]

Ok so I have been having an ongoing discussion with a friend and need to clear some things up!

I don't know much about the topic so thought I'd ask here...

We both own Nikon's... He has D90 and I have a D5000. They both have the same optics and image sensors... My question is...

- Can FX Lenses work on DX Cameras? And IF SO are certain DX Cameras able to get "more out of the FX Lenses than others?"

[OsmosisStudios]

Yes/yes.

That's the short answer.

Any and all lenses back to the old AI lenses will work on both your cameras. You'll lose autofocus (you before him) and you'll likely lost metering too. Hell, the D5000 will actually accept pre-AI lenses.

You can, in a sense, get "more" out of FX lenses on DX, but only compared to FX and only in certain regards. Because the DX sensor only uses the middle section of the FX lens circle, you're essentially getting the best part of the lens' optics. This is great for things like the 70-200 f/2.8 VR1, where the edges and corner werent great on FX, but because those were essentially cropped off on DX, it performed splendidly.

That being said, the switch from DX lenses onto an FX body is different. Yes, the lenses can be used (they mount fine), but you reduce the effective resolution (from 12 to 5mp, generally). Its a tradeoff, but there are some advantages. For one, the D3/D3s can fire at 9fps in FX mode, but at 11fps in DX mode. This mode also effectively multiples your apparent focal length by 1.5, which is great for sports (where the increase in FPS is also positive). Generally speaking, though, DX lenses on FX bodies isnt ideal.

I currently own 2 DX lenses and 2 FX lenses, but use ALL on my DX-sensor camera. No a problem.