Camera Labs

the reviews are great, but most of us have film kit we want to change to digital. I have nikon 28-80 AF; 80-200AF ED 2.8; & a 300 AF ED f4 on an 801 + a TC-16A teleconverter , how will these perform on the D200? Also, I have Canon EF 50mm f1.8; EF 100-200 1:4.5 A lenses on an EOS 620, how will they perform on a EOS 400? New lenses aren't a real option financially, but are they necessary?

Hello Peter-piper, welcome to the Cameralabs forums!

I also used to have a Nikon F801 - it was a great camera! Actually, it still is a great camera.

You should be able to use most Nikkor lenses on a Nikon DSLR, and most Canon lenses on a Canon DSLR.

There are some exceptions for a few older or very specialist lenses though which may not support all the latest metering or focusing options, but you can check which lenses are affected on the websites for the DSLRs you're interested in. Check Canon's 400D page and Nikon's D200 page. I think you'll be fine with your lenses though.

As you probably know, the sensors in most DSLRs are physically smaller than a frame of 35mm film. This means they have a smaller field of view. So it's like using a lens with a longer effective focal length.

So when describing how a lens performs on a DSLR, we refer to 'equivalent' focal lengths. And it's very easy to work out.

For Nikon DSLRs, simply multiply the lens focal length by 1.5 times.

So your 28-80mm would be equivalent to 42-120mm, your 80-200mm would be equivalent to 120-300mm and your 300mm would become 450mm.

Canon DSLRs are slightly different. Their professional models like the 5D and 1Ds Mark II actually have sensors the same size as 35mm film, so there's no need to multiply the lens focal length.

Their consumer and semi-pro DSLRs like the 400D and 30D though have smaller sensors with a field reduction factor of 1.6 times. So for these models, simply multiply the lens focal length by 1.6 times.

So your 50mm would be equivalent to 80mm and your 100-200mm would be equivalent to 160-320mm.

Be sure to check the Canon and Nikon websites to confirm absolute compatibility though.

Gordon