Nikon Speedbooster

just4shiggles

New member
Hi, I have a Nikon D5500. I have been searching for a way to use FX type lenses with the smaller APC-S sensor. I know that you can use them, but they have the crop factor of approximately 1.5 I believe. I have heard of these things called speed boosters and did some research into metabones. What I can't seem to figure out is if there is an adapter from an FX lens to a APC-S sensor on a Nikon body. All I can find is Nikon to Sony-E, or Canon, etc. I cannot seem to find an adapter that simply eliminates the crop factor. I appreciate any advice you all could give me.
 

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
Hi, I have a Nikon D5500. I have been searching for a way to use FX type lenses with the smaller APC-S sensor. I know that you can use them, but they have the crop factor of approximately 1.5 I believe. I have heard of these things called speed boosters and did some research into metabones. What I can't seem to figure out is if there is an adapter from an FX lens to a APC-S sensor on a Nikon body. All I can find is Nikon to Sony-E, or Canon, etc. I cannot seem to find an adapter that simply eliminates the crop factor. I appreciate any advice you all could give me.
The crop-factor stems from the smaller APS-C sensor, not the lens. Crop Factor Explained

EDIT: Forgot too mention speed boosters are for mirrorless format cameras. I've never seen one for a DSLR such as your D5500.
 
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just4shiggles

New member
OK, that's what I was unsure of. I do realize that the crop factor is from the sensor, but I was hoping that a speed booster, or some equivalent, had been made for D5500. Thanks!
 

singlerosa_RIP

Senior Member
I don't think the lenses have a crop factor, it's the body. A 50mm DX lens will work the same as a 50mm FX lens on your D5500 (for the most part). In the full frame world, the 24-70 is the standard mid-zoom. When you put in on DX, it becomes 36-105, losing 12mm on the wide end and gaining on the long end. That's why many folks use DX for birding or sports. It gives you extra reach on a lens. To get the approximate same field of view as the 24-70 on DX, Nikon makes the 17-55 2.8. So, Nikon's wide FX lenses will not be as wide on DX, but long FX lenses will be 1.5X as long on DX. Clear as mud, eh?
 
Buying FX lenses is a good idea if at some time in the future you plan to move to a FX camera. Also the FX lenses tend to be a higher quality and work very good on your DX camera. Just remember the crop factor still remains so you have to take that into account.
 

Danno

Senior Member
Hi, I have a Nikon D5500. I have been searching for a way to use FX type lenses with the smaller APC-S sensor. I know that you can use them, but they have the crop factor of approximately 1.5 I believe. I have heard of these things called speed boosters and did some research into metabones. What I can't seem to figure out is if there is an adapter from an FX lens to a APC-S sensor on a Nikon body. All I can find is Nikon to Sony-E, or Canon, etc. I cannot seem to find an adapter that simply eliminates the crop factor. I appreciate any advice you all could give me.

You do not need any kind of adapter to use FX Lens. You should make sure in the description it says AF-S, which means the lens has a motor in it for focus.
 

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
OP is talking about Metabones Speedboosters... They're sort of like reverse TC's in that they give lenses a *wider* FOV. For instance you put an 85mm f/1.8G on a DX body you get the FOV of, say, a 50mm lens. I'm pulling numbers out of my hat because I don't know the actual ratio, but you get the idea: reverse TC's.

They don't work on DSLR's, they're for mirrorless bodies.
 

Blacktop

Senior Member
OP is talking about Metabones Speedboosters... They're sort of like reverse TC's in that they give lenses a *wider* FOV. For instance you put an 85mm f/1.8G on a DX body you get the FOV of, say, a 50mm lens. I'm pulling numbers out of my hat because I don't know the actual ratio, but you get the idea: reverse TC's.

They don't work on DSLR's, they're for mirrorless bodies.

I had no idea they had those!:indecisiveness: I learn something new every month.
 

Danno

Senior Member
OP is talking about Metabones Speedboosters... They're sort of like reverse TC's in that they give lenses a *wider* FOV. For instance you put an 85mm f/1.8G on a DX body you get the FOV of, say, a 50mm lens. I'm pulling numbers out of my hat because I don't know the actual ratio, but you get the idea: reverse TC's.

They don't work on DSLR's, they're for mirrorless bodies.

Thanks for the explanation HF. I had never heard of such a thing.
 

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
I had no idea they had those!:indecisiveness: I learn something new every month.
Thanks for the explanation HF. I had never heard of such a thing.
I've only seen a couple in the wild. I don't know how/if they affect image quality or not but they do look like pretty cool gizmos... They call them "speed boosters" because they gather more light (since they act like a wide angle), thus allowing you to shoot at a higher shutter speed. Or... Something like that. I'm unclear on the details.
 

Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
Hi, I have a Nikon D5500. I have been searching for a way to use FX type lenses with the smaller APC-S sensor. I know that you can use them, but they have the crop factor of approximately 1.5 I believe. I have heard of these things called speed boosters and did some research into metabones. What I can't seem to figure out is if there is an adapter from an FX lens to a APC-S sensor on a Nikon body. All I can find is Nikon to Sony-E, or Canon, etc. I cannot seem to find an adapter that simply eliminates the crop factor. I appreciate any advice you all could give me.
First thing is that you DON'T need an adapter to use FX lenses on an APC-S Nikon sensor. Canon, on the other hand have made it so their Full Frame lenses will not fit on their cropped sensor.

The only thing you have to worry about with Nikon FX lenses is that older (pre AI or AI-S) lenses could damage some lever in the camera body of SOME models. But, if my memory serves me well, the D5500 can take all Nikon lenses.

I suspect that this is why you won't find an adapter on the market for FX lenses to fit on a Nikon DX body.

See, I just saved you bunch of money.

Enjoy your Nikon.
 

Bob Blaylock

Senior Member
Hi, I have a Nikon D5500. I have been searching for a way to use FX type lenses with the smaller APC-S sensor. I know that you can use them, but they have the crop factor of approximately 1.5 I believe. I have heard of these things called speed boosters and did some research into metabones. What I can't seem to figure out is if there is an adapter from an FX lens to a APC-S sensor on a Nikon body. All I can find is Nikon to Sony-E, or Canon, etc. I cannot seem to find an adapter that simply eliminates the crop factor. I appreciate any advice you all could give me.

As others have said, you don't need any adapter to use FX lenses on a DX body. The only difference that FX vs. DX makes is that an FX lens has a large enough field to cover the larger FX-sized sensor, or a standard frame of 35mm film, while a DX lens has a smaller field, to only cover the smaller sensor of a DX camera.

You can use FX lenses just fine on a DX body. I have several 1970s-vintage lenses, originally for use with my F2, that I routinely use on my D3200.

On the other hand, if you try using a DX lens on an FX body, then you can expect a result something like this:

F2_13_1K.jpg

That was taken using the stock 18-55mm lens that came with my D3200, mounted on my F2, using Tri-X film. Because it's a DX lens, it didn't cover the entire 36×24mm frame of 35mm film.

The one thing that you will want to watch for, in more modern lenses, is that they be designated “AF-S”, “AF-I”, or “AF-P”. These designations indicate a lens that has a built-in focusing motor. Lenses designated only as “AF”, without the “-S”, “-I”, or “-P” do not have a built-in motor, and will only autofocus on camera bodies which provide a focus motor in the body, which the D3x00 and D5x00 bodies do not. You can still use them on your D5500, but you'll have to focus manually.

@Marcel made mention of old non-AI lenses. Nikon claims that non-AI lenses cannot be used on any DSLR other than the DF. My three non-AI lenses, by D3200, and I, very much disagree with Nikon on this point. As far as I know, the only issue that non-AI lenses introduce is that the conflict with the AI coupling on some newer cameras, with the potential to cause damage to that coupling. The DF has an AI coupling that folds up out of the way to allow non-AI lenses to be mounted, as did some of the early “transitional” film SLRS back in the late 1970s and early 1980s, to allow AI lenses to be safely mounted. The D3x00 and D5x00 bodies simply don't have an AI coupling at all, so the issue simply isn't relevant to them. My non-AI lenses work just fine on my D3200, albeit with the very obvious and expected issues that would apply to any non-CPU lens—no exposure metering or autofocus; the camera will only operate in “M” mode and everything has to be set manually.


As for angle of view. a 50mm DX lens will give you the same angle of view on your DX-sized sensor as a 50mm FX lens; but that is approximately the same angle of view that you'd get on an FX sensor or a 35mm film camera using a 75mm lens. Any lens will give a narrower angle of view on a DX sensor than on an FX sensor, because the DX sensor is smaller, and takes in a smaller portion of the image focused by that lens. The “crop factor” that is often cited, and generally given as 1.5 (though 1.55 would be more accurate) describes this relationship. Any lens on a DX sensor gives a field of view about equal to a lens with that focal length multiplied by 1.55 on an FX body. In my picture above, I had the lens zoomed out to 18mm, with it trying, (and failing, because it's a DX lens) to cover an FX-sized frame. On a DX camera, the sensor would be a smaller portion of that image, taking in a narrower field of view, that would be approximately equal to what I would have got on the 35mm frame if I had used a 28mm lens.
 
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