Briefly comment on your opinion of the trend toward digital-dedicated lenses.

Briefly comment on your opinion of the trend toward digital-dedicated lenses.
Yes, as I still shoot with both film and digital SLRs.
68% (63 votes)
No, the weight and size benefits outweigh any double duty capability, and I have switched entirely to digital.
23% (21 votes)
No, as I have separate outfits for both my film and digital SLRs.
10% (9 votes)
Total votes: 93

COMMENTS
Ron Klupka's picture

This was never an issue for me as I have been satisfied with Olympus products for 20 yrs. When I went "prosumer" I stayed with Olympus. When I needed the flexibility of a dslr, I, again, stayed with Olympus. These people came out with a product, E-1, with specic digital lenses before ANYBODY else; now everyone is getting on the band wagon. I'm not a technical guy, but I do seem to have to make less corrections in Photoshop, and have less problems than folks using other systems. Perhaps there is something with the focusing of color wave lengths afterall.

Andrew Pike's picture

I am still building my film outfit, so when I must switch to digital in the far future, I want to be able to keep my lenses.

Michael Stockhill 's picture

For now, I like legacy commonality with Nikon platform. I just acquired a Sigma 15-30 zoom rather than a digital-only Nikkor so that I could use it on both F100 and D100. Long term, I wonder if the 4/3 sensor of the Olympus E-1 and the new E-300, with Olympus' great optics wouldn't be a very attractive platform. Otherwise, full-frame sensor would be the best of everything in an affordable Nikon for legacy users.

Charlie Larus's picture

Ideally, it would be nice to be able to use the same lenses for both formats, but I don't see that it's practical.

Duane Loya's picture

My concern is, if I have to start a new collection of lenses for my DSLR that's going to double my load on the road and when I travel. I would rather have a lens that works on both camera's and have to put up with the cropping factor.

John Rupe's picture

I think it is important that the new lens stay fully compatable, not only for film use, but I think everyone is looking forward to the day when every camera maker offers a "full frame" digital camera such as Kodak and Cannon have. My digital is a Kodak 14n and I hate the thought of going to a smaller sensor.

camerabug@camera35.com's picture

There are many advantages of both, why would a photographer want to limit themselves to just one? I put high value on a manufactor system that is forward and backward compatable.

Craig L.  Thompson's picture

I think that they jumped the gun with these lenses. I have a Canon D30 now but look forward to owning a full frame CCD/CMOS digital SLR in the future. Those lenses won't be nearly as important then.

Michael Gottlieb's picture

The savings of going all digital outweigh any of the minuses. I have not shot a roll of film for over one year. Smaller sensor sizes are a result of costs of research, development, and manufacturing. They then became the standard format, by default. The big question is this: what happens to all of those lenses dedicated to the APS-C size chip, when the costs of manufacturing 24x36 chips falls to the level of APS size chips? Moore's Law applies to all ICs. A CMOS sensor is nothing more than a huge mass of transistors/diodes. Given that the number of transistors on a chip doubles approximately every eighteen months, the costs of manufacturing APS vs. 24x36 will soon bisect. Just as competition has driven clock speeds of CPU chips past 1 GHz, competitive reasons will force camera makers to continually push the envelope on pixels. Remember, a pixel is nothing more than a diode. As the pixel density increases, camera makers will have to increase the physical size of the chip. I truly doubt that Canon or Nikon will say that the D70/Rebel will stay at 6 MP, permanently. A digital camera is nothing more than a computer with a lens, and the public has come to expect continual increases in computing power, no matter what the device. Case in point: cameraphones. arrested_development@hotmail.com

Matt Wood's picture

I just bought a Sigma 12-24...brilliant lens for d2h, haven't used film for over two years now!!

Mark Jacoby's picture

If the lens quality and picture quality are professional, then the dedicated compact size is here to stay. People will love the smaller size and lighter weight.

L.  Scott Fineberg's picture

I use Canon for 35mm film. I own several Canon lenses and several other brands, such as Sigma, Tokina and Vivitar. I would like to see the major lense manufacturers provide a greater selection of lower priced glass, as the cost of making a lense has been shown to be substantially less than current market prices reflect this possibility.

Colin Elliott's picture

I don't believe that digital- dedicated lenses is a good way to go. As DSLR's mature we will see increased availability of full size(24x36) sensors. This will ultimately render such lenses useless.

Brian's picture

I think it's a scam they are doing this, it is just a ploy to get us to buy more lens. What happens when the digital SLRs are no longer 1:1.6? Do the digital lens go to waste?

Baron Marsh's picture

I'd rather see lenses optimized for digital than compromised lenses that work ok for both media.

Ron Klupka's picture

My OM system did not have a dslr body that would be compatible. I went with the E-1 BECAUSE of the specific lenses. IMHO, most of the focusing and color problems people are having is because of the lenses not mating to the sensor. now, all of the manufacturers are going with dedicated lenses.

Alex Preciado's picture

If you purchase these digital dedicated lenses at the present time, you will be unable to use them when you trade up to cameras with full sized CMOS sensors even if they are the same brand.

David Landon, Jr.'s picture

I will always use my Minolta X-700 and Velvia film for my floral pictures.

Juan M.  Guillen's picture

Since sooner or later the CCDs will grow in size, I don't even consider the buy of a digital-dedicated lens.

Charlie Ballman's picture

I love the pics from both formats. I would love to have a digital slr that uses pentax k mount lens that is decently priced.

Mathilde M.'s picture

A lens must be cost effective, not just light. Therefore, I am for dual function. However, in photography one size does not fit all!

Stephen Blair's picture

Non-digital specific lenses work just fine on my DSLR. The only problems may arise at full aperture...a place I rarely go. I do use digital only lenses for super-wideangle to achieve normal wideangle results.

Joe Plocki's picture

I chose my camera manufacturer (Pentax) partially on the assumption that I would be later buying an *ist D and sharing future lenses between the two bodies. If not for lens interchangeability, my purchase decision could have been very different.

Lee Campbell's picture

I have all Nikon film and digital equipment and like being able to interchanage the lenses.

Yehbah's picture

We need bigger sensors not smaller lenses.

Clyde Selsor's picture

Digital doesn't come close to my Mamiya M645. Besides, I love my darkroom!

Jon Slater's picture

I will not buy a lens unless it works with both my film and digital bodies.

Stan Nicholls's picture

I use Nikon systems and appreciate that I don't need to re-invest in lenses.

Louis Freedman's picture

The real problem is that future high end digital cameras will need to have larger sensors for satisfactory performance as megapixel counts increase. The current digital lenses will become obsolete as will most existing digital cameras. Film cameras will remain viable- so why limit your future (and present) options with lenses with smaller coverage. Manufacturers are probably hoping this will happen so they can sell you new lenses as your digital lenses become obsolete!

George Hermann's picture

I would like a digital only wide angle fixed or zoom lens. Once past wide angle I like to carry lenses that can work on both film and digital. I use Nikon Equipment.

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