Desert Gecko Loc: desert southwest, USA

I've read that digital sensors have surpassed even the best 35mm film, and with sensor res increasing steadily, I wonder if film lenses (Canon L and Nikon/Sony G, as well as some nice third-party glass) are able to keep up. On the other hand, sensor size has not increased, so is it really necessary to improve lens resolution? Does it matter if there are 24 million or 42 million pixels on a 36x24mm sensor?

I also read that Sony is building its line of GM lenses with an eye toward resolving future sensors, but that could be a hint at a forthcoming medium format body and not necessarily a full-frame, super high-res sensor with a gazillion miniscule pixels.

For what it's worth, I use a couple fim lenses on my 36MP a7R with excellent results, but I'm curious about higher resolution bodies such as Sony a7Rii/a99ii and Canon 5DS. Anyone shooting a 42MP or higher body with film lenses care to opine?

CO

I know that lenses now have better anti-reflective coatings. This is more critical for digital cameras than it was for film. Lenses with lower grade coatings can result in more ghosting when used on digital cameras. I'm not sure about resolving ability. LensTip.com does extensive lens testing. Their image resolution testing shows how many lines pairs per millimeter a lens can resolve.

Gitchigumi Loc: Wake Forest, NC

Interesting question... I would think that an excellent 35mm film lens would equally good on the full format digital camera. And, that camera could be a 100mp and still do a great job. The reason is that a lens is a lens. It doesn't do anything to to the image except relay it to the film/sensor. Certainly, modern lenses have image stabilization, autofocus, etc.. But, the lens glass and arrangement are basically the same. The huge difference, however is that old zoom lenses tended to be not-so-good, at least when compared to modern zooms. The prime lenses, however, could be excellent candidates for your DSLR, just probably manual (no AF, etc). Personally, I enjoy the modern lenses and use them in lieu of any film lenses, just for everything they do to help. And, modern zooms have gotten so good that you don't need a whole set of primes to get the job done. That is my $0.02 worth.

Fotomacher Loc: Toronto

I have used some Nikkor AI-s prime lenses with my D810 and before that, a D700. IQ is excellent with the only discernible diffence vs newer glass being the contrast. Modern coatings have improved contrast rendering but its an easy fix in post. The advantage is cost since (for example) a Nikkor 300mm f/4.5 AI-s can be had for about USD$225 and it’s all metal construction.

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

I use them all the time and yes, in my opinion they continue to be very good.

grtday Loc: Houston, TX

Agreed. Buy the older lens and get a great deal!

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

If you shoot several hundred megapixels, they may have, of course, good lenses for film, will be good lenses for digital, a lot surpass newer designs!

toxdoc42

Would you buy and regularly use a Model-T Ford? How about the quality of a car built 10 years ago versus today? Use the same logic for other consumer products, electronics?

Have lens and camera quality not had parallel improvements?

Desert Gecko Loc: desert southwest, USA

CO, Gitchigumi, Fotomacher, camerapapi (cool name!), grtday, speters, and toxdoc42 -- Thanks for your insightful replies. I'm sure there will be more to read later, but you've mostly reassured me a bit.

I’ve sold most of my gear, so I am able to switch to any brand or lens mount without much trouble, and I’m at a point where I am trying to decide between the Sony e-mount a7Rii and a-mount a99ii – although I’ve considered a couple Nikons and one Canon. I just want to be sure that film-era (specifically, Minolta Maxxum-era) lenses will be okay on these 42MP bodies and even higher-res future bodies. I think I would prefer the a99ii mostly because of the many quality, older lenses available for such low prices. I know they adapt to the a7Rii, but not using the a7Rii’s focus system (only lenses with an internal focus motor bypass a Sony adapter’s focus system).

As far as using old lenses being the same as using an older car... well, my truck is a 2010 and still going strong. Not quite a Model T, but neither are the lenses I'm considering. The coatings are the only real issue I'm aware of (other than resolution, thus this thread), but I've not had any trouble with the older lenses I've used except for a bit of flare in one (so I must be careful shooting into the sun) and purple fringing in the other (so I must stop down a bit or fix it in post). Considering both lenses are amazingly sharp and one is fast focusing (don't know about the other) and I got each for less than $100, I can deal with the minor inadequacies. For what it's worth, the one with flare issues is a Tamron 35-135mm Tele-Macro, and the fast-focusing one is a Minolta 75-30mm "New" model, a good 1-pound alternative to heavy Sony G glass.

Thanks again. I should probably also ask Davethehiker for his input.

toxdoc42

If they don't work with the camel's autofocus, good luck! The new digital cameras do not have any rousing aide in the viewfinder! I was used to the rangefinder aide in the viewfinder of my film based Nikons. My D3400 doesn't have that and so if the camera doesn't focus correctly, yes that would be my fault for not Pointing the autofocus dot where I really wanted it and being sure the camera focuses, the viewfinder image looks okay, unless you had the ability to blow it up. I actually purchased a right angle viewer for the camera, used to be able to pull the top of the viewfinder off and shoot from the waist, and that has a 2X magnifier that helps.

OddJobber Loc: Portland, OR

Focusing aid?

toxdoc42

In the film era, you had a "choice" of split image or prism aide on the focusing screen. You "knew" the image was "in focus" when the image above and below the split matched or the prism effect cleared and you saw the same image there as in the rest. I have been looking for a way to change out the screen on my D3400 and it doesn't seem right to be possible.

Davethehiker Loc: South West Pennsylvania

Yes.
edit....
Hell yes!

r.grossner Loc: Rockford IL & Sarasota FL

Use one on my D750 and also 85mm 1.8 and 104 f/4 micro AI's. Not knocking the new glass, I've got that too but my 24-120 f/4 can't focus to 1:1.

BebuLamar

Many people said that old lenses can not take advantage of very high resolution sensor and since I use mostly old lenses. My newest lenses introduced before 2000 so I only use a 16MP FF camera.