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FX lens on DX body?

2K views 20 replies 9 participants last post by  Da Plant Man 
#1 ·
Before I get all excited about saving up money to buy the nikkor 70mm-300mm, its okay to use FX lens on a DX body, right? It'll just be a little more zoomed in, correct?

Also, is 300mm enough? I'm seeing its only 4.3x zoom, while my old point and shoot had 10x...
 
#2 ·
With my DX body, its actual focal length will be 105-450mm, right?
 
#4 ·
and even though I have a D5100 (does not have auto focus built in) I can use just AF lens, not AF-S. I really would like to upgrade to an FX body later on, like maybe the D800 or D3s. I wouldn't have auto focus, but I never use that anyways.
 
#7 ·
I know it won't have autofocus. If I get it, can I just use manual?
 
#8 ·
Yeah you can just manually focus the lenses, they will meter just fine so exposure will be correct. And as for your original question of will 300mm be enough: on DX 300mm plenty, I hardly ever zoom my 70-300 past the 200mm mark when I have it mounted on my D80. And even if its not the D5100 has a high enough resolution that you could crop the photo down later with no negative effects.
 
#11 ·
No it didn't. The lens actually zoomed that much. It was a fujifilm finepix something, but the zoom on that one was insane.
 
#13 ·
It is possible to have a very long optical zoom on a Point and Shoot Camera. Mine has a 20x Optical Zoom, which is equivalent to about 500mm on a full frame camera. Of course nowhere near the quality of the DSLR, but it still zooms in that far without cropping anything or zooming in digitally....all optical, and the results aren't half bad.
 
#15 ·
Glad thats settled, lol.

Also, for Nikon, which speedlight is best? I want one that can attach to my camera and can be remote. Any recommendations? It would be for aquarium and general use.

Gah, I need a job. I wanna spend 1k on glass and more on accessories, lol.
 
#17 ·
The best would be a SB-910, most affordable would be a SB-700...or SB-600 if you can find one used (Nikon discontinued them in favor of the SB-700)

Unfortunately, neither can be used remotely without buying anything else since your D5100 doesn't have commander mode built in. You'd have to buy a flash trigger.

Normally their very expensive for quality ones, but you can pick up a cheap
cowboystudio set (transmitter and receiver) for $20 that works really well for the price...

http://www.amazon.com/CowboyStudio-NPT-04-Channel-Wireless-Receiver/dp/B002W3IXZW

The only downside is that you cant use TTL or any of the auto modes on the flash when on these wireless triggers. You would have to set the flash manually.

Now you see why having commander mode is a big deal. If you did, and used a Nikon speedlight, you would be able to set the power level and flash exposure compensation from the commander menu on the camera without ever touching the flash.
 
#18 ·
Yeah... Commander mode would be a giant plus. I will get a D800 soon enough. I want to learn all the basics, then upgrade maybe in 6 months. Its also going to take that amount of time to save up enough money.
 
#21 ·
Soo...looking at lens again. What is the best all around telephoto? Would be nice to have zoom capability, but prime is okay.. Budget is $500 or around that.

I was looking at the 70-300mm but all the pictures I see coming off of it don't seem the best. Also, I think I can save $400 by buying the AF one and it doesn't come with VR, which I don't mind. I can barely tell the difference on the lens I have now.
 
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