Film Lens on a Digital SLR Body

[Juanbond]

When I was in high school I worked for a photographer printing wedding pictures and helping out around his studio. The guy I worked for encouraged me to get a camera of my own and I bought a Nikon N70 with a Sigma 28-105mm f2.8-4 lens. I had a lot of fun with this set up but put it on the back burner when I went to college.

After I graduated college I purchased a Nikon D90 body and I have been using the Sigma lens with my new digital SLR. I have been pretty happy with the results but I feel like I might be cheating my self.

My question is: what kind of quality and mechanical issues am I going to face using an old (13 years old) film lens on my D90?

Thank you in advance.

 

[bsamcash]

My question is: what kind of quality and mechanical issues am I going to face using an old (13 years old) film lens on my D90?

Other than the crop factor, none. At least none that I know of, as I am not an expert on that particular lens. But I often use legacy lenses on newer bodies, and the results are great.

 

[AnimaLeo]

Crop factor effects old and new FX and DX lenses. You shouldn't notice any difference.

 

[compuwar]

When I was in high school I worked for a photographer printing wedding pictures and helping out around his studio. The guy I worked for encouraged me to get a camera of my own and I bought a Nikon N70 with a Sigma 28-105mm f2.8-4 lens. I had a lot of fun with this set up but put it on the back burner when I went to college.

After I graduated college I purchased a Nikon D90 body and I have been using the Sigma lens with my new digital SLR. I have been pretty happy with the results but I feel like I might be cheating my self.

My question is: what kind of quality and mechanical issues am I going to face using an old (13 years old) film lens on my D90?

Thank you in advance.

Mechanically- if it's an f-mount lens and it doesn't protrude into the mirror box, then it's a non-issue. Any F-mount lens from it's 1950's inception to today is going to function on a D90 unless it protrudes rearward into the mirror box- and the manual generally tells you what lenses do that, but they're not all that common.

IQ-wise, if the results make you happy, then don't worry about it. Optical coatings have gotten better, so flare resistance is probably the biggest difference between modern lenses and old ones- and if you ever go up to a really high-density image sensor, you'll probably see sharpness issues- but I can't find any MTFs for this lens so it's difficult to say for sure.

It looks like Sigma released a "DG" version of this lens in 2005 with new coatings which they claim reduces ghosting and flare.

Paul