d800 with fx lens

I hope this doesnt seem really dumb - because I am!!.

I currently have a d300 with a Nikon 17-55 f2.8 dx lens - I paid a lot of money for this lens/

My friend wants to sell me a D800 - which I would love to buy - the problem is I would not be able to afford a different lens for a while.

What will happen if I put the DX lens on to this camera? - will I still get full frame? - will it still be 17mm at its widest

any guidance would be appreciated!!.

You can use the DX lens. The D800 allows you to change the frame size to accommodate either DX or FX... although, you'll only be getting the benefit of the DX form factor by using the DX lens... It'll still work fine... If you google the issue on YouTube, there are many demos to illustrate exactly what you'll get in both the viewfinder and in LiveMod...

Thank u for that

Taken from Ken Rockwell ; On FX and 35mm cameras, at most zoom settings the corners turn black. Don't bother with this lens on full-frame cameras.

At the longest focal lengths it illuminates the entire FX field, but is never as super-sharp at the corners as you'd want from a $1,400 lens.

On DX as designed, of course it's always super-sharp.

Thank u for the info I may just have to persevere until I can afford a fx lens

You can use the AF-S DX 17-55mm f/2.8 on a D800. If the D800 is set to auto DX mode (default), as soon as you mount a DX lens on the D800 it will automatically sense this and use only the center portion of the sensor resulting in 15.5MP images with the same apparent angle of view that you currently are getting with this lens on your D300.

ukno1guru said:

I hope this doesnt seem really dumb - because I am!!.

I currently have a d300 with a Nikon 17-55 f2.8 dx lens - I paid a lot of money for this lens/

My friend wants to sell me a D800 - which I would love to buy - the problem is I would not be able to afford a different lens for a while.

What will happen if I put the DX lens on to this camera? - will I still get full frame? - will it still be 17mm at its widest

any guidance would be appreciated!!.

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Sell the the D300 and 17-55mm f2.8 and get a Nikon 24-120mm f4 or 24-85mm VR as your new kit lens.

The last two posts summed it up. Don't waste your time converting an expensive 36mp FX camera into a 15 mp DX. Either go FX properly or hang on to your cash, unless your friend is asking less than a D7000.

I agree on replacing the basic kit lens - I love the 24-85mm on the D800, and it can be had fairly inexpensively.

That said, 16MP's is nothing to sneeze at, so don't hesitate using the right DX lenses on that thing. I have some great ultrawides and fisheyes from my DX days that won't fully cover the sensor, but I'll use them in DX mode or even in FX and crop away what doesn't work. I also us DX mode with long lenses shooting wildlife when I would wind up cropping a lot anyway. Why pull in more photo than you have to. It's a very flexible camera.

LensWork said:

You can use the AF-S DX 17-55mm f/2.8 on a D800. If the D800 is set to auto DX mode (default), as soon as you mount a DX lens on the D800 it will automatically sense this and use only the center portion of the sensor resulting in 15.5MP images with the same apparent angle of view that you currently are getting with this lens on your D300.

Click to expand...

Photos taken with this setting should look the same coverage-wise as how they would turn out if taken with the D300. And as LensWork said, the MP should be slightly larger as well. The D800 has a much nicer sensor, too. I suggest you follow gqtuazon's advice and sell the D300 as well as the DX lens you have and invest in an FX lens.

Great advice from all above, Move to the D800!

Do u think the 24-120 is as good as the lens I have ???

Thank u everybody for your help I could probably afford to sell it all and go for a the d800 with the 24-120 f4 lens -will I notice much difference? I paid 1500 for the 17-55 f2.8 -the 24-120 is a cheaper lens.

I have the 24-120 and it's pretty much left on my D800e as a walkabout lens.
It's a beauty, bokeh not as good as my 14-24 or 24-70 f2.8 but it's certainly as crisp and it has vrII which the other two don't have.

ukno1guru said:

Thank u everybody for your help I could probably afford to sell it all and go for a the d800 with the 24-120 f4 lens -will I notice much difference? I paid 1500 for the 17-55 f2.8 -the 24-120 is a cheaper lens.

Click to expand...

Your Nikon 17-55mm f2.8 at f2.8 is really not that sharp except on the center when compared with the Nikon 24-70mm f2.8. That is one of the lenses that I wish Nikon would update. Used price for that lens is just under $1k or depending on the condition of the lens. The 24-120mm f4, if you can afford that one, that's what I would lean towards.

My 24-120 spends a lot of time on my D800 and I also use it on the D300 regularly. It isn't quite as sharp as the 24-70 2.8 but it's very good and more versatile.