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Comment by tomstokes | Hacker News Reader

Very exciting to see the price of full frame cameras coming down toward more affordable levels. Of course, the camera body is only one half of the equation. DSLR Lenses that can properly cover a full-frame sensor are still going to be expensive.

For those who aren't familiar with camera terminology: 'full-frame' refers to the size of the image sensor. A full-frame sensor is a full 36mm x 24mm, equivalent to traditional 35mm film. Most DSLRs (as well as Sony's NEX series cameras) use smaller APS-C sensors which are 25mm x 17mm (varies depending on manufacturer).

Larger sensors allow for larger pixels, which in turn capture more light. This lowers the noise and improves low-light performance significantly. Furthermore, larger sensors have a more shallow depth of field for the same aperture size, making it easier to provide out-of-focus backgrounds for more artistic shots.

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DSLR Lenses that can properly cover a full-frame sensor are still going to be expensive.

Only if you want fast fixed aperture zooms, or super fast focusing lenses. You can buy yourself a new Nikkor 50mm/1.8 for about $200, an AF Nikkor 28mm for about $300 and an AF Nikkor 85 for about $500. And if you're willing to accept manual focus and second hand lenses, there is an almost limitless choice of lenses for less $200 out there.

Depth of field is exactly the same between full frame sensor and crop sensor with the same aperture and same focal length. The difference comes to play when you use the same aperture and same field of view - different focal lengths, ex. 50mm f/2.8 on crop and 75mm f/2.8 on FF-sensor. You can consider the crop sensor just as the name says - a crop from the full frame image.

The thing you must understand about the SLR market is that it is long-term. Nikon in particular are obsessed with backwards compatibility. You can buy an F-mount lens from the '50s, you won't get autofocus on it obv, but you can still take a picture. I have a bunch of excellent lenses bought for film Nikons back in the day - they will all work perfectly on the D600, and on whatever camera Nikon releases in 10, 20, 50 years time.

What you call a "DSLR lens" is really just a temporary thing. The past and the future is just "SLR lens".

Indeed, I have a bunch of nice Nikon lenses that I bought with an Nikon F100, when I got a Nikon digital camera with a DX sensor I was a bit sick that my wide angle zoom (18-35) becomes an roughly an oversized 28-50 equivalent. Although the boost in length of longer lenses is actually quite nice...

Never quite been able to justify a full-frame sensor camera for my pictures of cats, kids and soggy mountainsides - but if this new camera is a "reasonable" price I might go for it just to get the joy of 18mm back again.

I've been using old Pentax lenses on my NEX-3. It's pretty cool, as you can get a very good, very bright F1.7 50mm Pentax lens from the 80s for well under 100 EUR. And it's fun to combine 30+ year old tech with very recent digital tech, I don't get to do that all that often. The lack of autofocus is annoying, though -- manually focusing on a NEX is much more annoying than on an old Pentax --, and a lens designed for the NEX could be quite a bit smaller.

> What you call a "DSLR lens" is really just a temporary thing. The past and the future is just "SLR lens".

Nope. Ever heard the term "pixel vignetting"? There are inherent differences between a sensor and film. "DSLR lens" should be built for better telecentricity than the classical ones.

> DSLR Lenses that can properly cover a full-frame sensor are still going to be expensive

Nikon anounced yesterday the "NIKKOR 24-85mm VR" Lens for FX (full frame) with a suggested retail price of $599.95. http://www.nikonusa.com/Nikon-Products/Product/Camera-Lenses...

Yeah...it seems like, Nikon released this zoom for that exact market, http://www.dpreview.com/news/2012/06/14/Nikon-Nikkor-24-85mm...

You can actually match any analog or digital lense to any digital Nikon camera. The only impact you will ahve is on focus, on the smaller digital sensors it actually gets you more telle-lense than written on it. This doesn't work the other way round so. Digital lenses on analog cameras don't work.

Does anybody know if analog lenses work on the D600 as usual? As it was already mentioned all Nikons so far are back compatible so i asume they do. If so, the costs for lenses wouldn't be any higher than they are now. Mind that this doesn't mean they aren't high already!

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