Digital vs 35mm lens question

this may be the noob question of the day but could someone explain to me what the difference between the two are and are 35mm lens compatable with a dslr body?

For instance... I have a Nikon N80 with a 50mm 1.8D lens. When I get my D80...could I still use that lens at all on the new camera?

Thanks for any advice as I want to make sure I am investing into a new camera with the proper info.

The difference between a standard 35mm lens, and a lens designed for digital only, is the size of the image circle the lens produces. Since most DSLR's have a sensor that is smaller than a 35mm film frame, they don't need to project as large of an image onto the sensor.

You will be able to use your 50mm lens on the D80, but what you see when you look thru the lens, will not be the same as what you see when you look thru the lens on your N80 because of the 1.5x crop factor. Because of the smaller sized sensor in the D80, your image will be "cropped". So your 50mm lens will give you the same field of view as a 75mm lens would on your N80.

Thank you, that helps!

You probably cannot use the in-camera exposure meter of D80 with a manual lens.

I guess you've probably found that out by now.

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Originally Posted by AgingEyes

You probably cannot use the in-camera exposure meter of D80 with a manual lens.

I guess you've probably found that out by now.

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The N80 is an electronic AF advanced film camera. The 50 f/1.8 is in Nikon's current line up and will work fine with a digital body. Metering and all. Nikon even gives the spec on the angle of view for film and digital bodies.

The "made for digital" lenses are more marketing than anything. They produce a smaller imaging circle and therefore allow for a smaller lighter lens to be made. This has the side effect of not allowing the "made for digital" lenses to be used on full frame cameras such as Nikon's newest digital SLR camera, the D3. It also prevents you from using the "made for digital" lenses on your N80 without severe vignetting.

Film counterparts just project a larger image circle, one large enough to cover a frame of 35mm film. Film lenses are also a little larger and heavier than their digital counterparts. The film lenses will have the same attributes that they would on a film body with an added benefit of camera cropping the center of the image circle. This has the effect of adding 1.5x to the focal length(making your telephoto lenses appear longer)and using the best part of a given lens, the center.

Personally I have owned a digital SLR for 4 years now and I still have only one "made for digital" lens. I am not too familiar with Nikon, but I know Canon's best lens series doesn't have any "made for digital" lenses. That's enough evidence for me to not worry about "digital" lenses.