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Should I buy DX lenses or Full Frame?

Ben Goldenberg

Ben Goldenberg

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I know this has probably been discussed, but after searching for a while I can't figure anything out. People are saying that the Red sensor is the same as DX, is this true? If so is it better to by dx lenses or full frame lenses?
 
Hi!

Hi!

... it's allways better to buy fullframe because lenses are mostly sharper thowards the center and some have a visible brightness-falloff thowards the corners - but there are also some good croped lenses - and yes, a croped
lens will cover the red sensor.


martin
 
As I understand it;

DX format sensor dimensions; 23.6 mm × 15.8 mm.
RED sensor dimensions 24.4 mm x 13.7 mm.

So, yes pretty much the same size, problem is all Nikkor and Sigma DX lenses are 'G' type, meaning they have no aperture ring - it's all done internally. I'm not sure about other manufacturers but if they're the same you won't be able to set correct exposure on the lens - indeed it will be permanently wide open.
 
As Liam says, your main problem with DX lenses will be the lack of an aperture ring. Now the last I heard of it, the Birger Nikon Mount was going to offer iris control for 'G' type lenses - which will be great, but isn't going to be much use to you until the mount actually arrives.

I just received my new 17-55mm f/2.8 DX yesterday for my D300, and it's a beautiful piece of glass - sharp and contrasty with punchy colours even wide-open. Also the focal length is a lot more useful on Red than something like a 28-70mm f/2.8 will be.

But then again, all of that irrelevant without aperture control. So until a mount does exist that can give you that control, I would strongly advise against purchasing DX lenses (at least if you're getting them solely for use on a Red One - they're great on Nikon's DX cameras). If you have to buy lenses now I'd suggest you get these three:

17-35mm f/2.8
50mm f/1.8
80-200mm f/2.8

(that's assuming of course that you want zoom lenses, which I'm inferring from your initial question about DX lenses)
 
Grug said:
If you have to buy lenses now I'd suggest you get these three:

17-35mm f/2.8
50mm f/1.8
80-200mm f/2.8
)
Click to expand...

I personally prefer the 50mm f1.4, and you can pick the old manual focus AIS one up pretty inexpensively.
 
Grug said:
And the focus rings turn in completely the wrong direction... But then again, you are shooting beatifully cinematic footage through SLR lenses on a video camera that's very existence comes as somewhat of a surprise...

So take careful note of the limitations and enjoy!
Click to expand...

Is RED a 'video' camera? If so, then what does that make my D300?
 
Ok thanks guys, I just spent like 4 grand on Nikon lenses and the 12-24 sigma, and I was getting worried that I should have bought DX. Luckily, it seems that I bought the right lenses, I just wanted a really wide lens, that wasn't a fisheye. Do you think the 12-24 is about as wide as I am going to get?
 
Grug said:
A If you have to buy lenses now I'd suggest you get these three:

17-35mm f/2.8
50mm f/1.8
80-200mm f/2.8

(that's assuming of course that you want zoom lenses, which I'm inferring from your initial question about DX lenses)
Click to expand...

Yeah, I was looking for primes, but specifically a really wide one. I bought a fisheye for the RED, I think it was a 14mm fisheye from nikon. Unfortunatly I placed in on my d200 and lost everything that was good about it. Then I found out about the DX lenses. I had no idea.

So now I have these lenses.
sigma 12-24 4-5.6
14mm Nikon Fisheye
35mm 2.0
50mm 1.4
60mm macro 2.8
85mm 1.4
 
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