Do Nikon FX prime lenses work well on a D5300, and do they lose sharpness on DX?
Asked 3/9/2016
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I use a Nikon D5300 (DX/APS-C) and I’m considering Nikon FX prime lenses such as the 35mm f/1.4G or 85mm f/1.8G. Reviews of these lenses on full-frame cameras often praise their sharpness and bokeh, but I’ve also heard claims that full-frame lenses do not perform as expected on APS-C bodies.
Will Nikon FX lenses work properly on a D5300? Should I expect any loss of sharpness or other flaws compared with using the same lens on a full-frame Nikon body? Also, what practical alternatives should I consider if I’m choosing between FX and DX primes?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
10y ago
2 Answers
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First of all does it work as expected when I use FX lenses on my d5300 camera?
The FX objective is fully functional on DX body except that it has smaller FoV compared to the case when used on FX camera.
Is there any unsharpness or flaw?
An objective has a resolution characteristic, too. You will get best resolution if you use whole available image circle, there probably are no exceptions to this rule (have not seen any to the moment). If you use the smaller image circle you are limiting the resolution.
What are the alternatives?
If you want same resolution as FX lenses on FX cameras have (at least with same pixel count), there is only one alternative to getting FX camera: you may try Sigma SD1 which may give more detailed 15MP image than 24MP image of a Bayer FX sensor. Be ready for a bunch of drawbacks though. Review with live comparison.
Another way of improving the image quality is start using RAW (NEF) files with appropriate software (if you aren't yet). JPEG is almost always worse than the output of RAW editing program with proper settings.
Originally by user49477. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user49477
10y ago
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Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Yes. Nikon FX lenses work normally on a D5300. The main difference is field of view: the DX sensor crops the image, so the lens looks tighter than it would on full frame.
Using an FX lens on DX does not inherently make it less sharp. In fact, because the camera uses only the center of the lens’s image circle, you often avoid weaker edge/corner performance seen on full frame. What changes is framing, not basic lens function.
As with any lens, sharpness still depends on the specific model and aperture. For example, one user reported a 35mm lens being softer wide open at f/1.8 and sharper when stopped down to around f/2.2–f/2.8. That behavior is normal and not caused by the DX body itself.
So if you like the focal length and size/cost tradeoffs, FX primes are perfectly usable on your D5300. The practical alternative is a DX prime if you want a focal length that better matches your intended framing on APS-C, or if you want a smaller/lighter lens.
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