What is pixel density with low res lenses?

[CameraClicker]

You worry about numbers to much

Well numbers matter depending on what you are doing with your photos. I could be wrong, but the ones that come to my mind are: large print photos, birdsters & sportsters who crop.

That's probably half right. Large prints are meant to be viewed from a distance. I'm speaking of billboard sized prints, and the floor to ceiling prints you see in the mall. Walk right up to one of those and examine closely! Five or fifty PPI? Very blotchy, no fine details. Doesn't matter when viewed by most people from across the hall. Viewed from far enough away, they look good. Even 36 by 24, you will usually view from some distance. The art gallery has figured out how to ensure that, they put up a low fence to keep you back. At home, use a couch.

Cropping can be a problem. If you take a photo of a robin from across the street, and it just fills the centre meter area of your viewfinder, you need a longer lens! Or, a teleconverter.

I would like to make an amendment to my OP. The low-pass filter that is in all the older cameras is the reason why these lenses score so low. So it wasn't really the lenses, it was the low-pass filter gimping those expensive lenses.

They make cameras for all types of photographers from beginner to expert. The low pass filter is there to prevent moire, which can happen if your camera has a Bayer pattern filter and you find the right subject. Sharpening is lost during post processing too. Add it back in at the end, while watching for halos and moire. If you get either, you added too much.

I thought about getting a D2x, but after two digital Nikons, I got a Canon 30D instead. It still takes great photos.

 

[hamlet]

I sure hope Nikon becomes more specialized with their cameras and lenses. You've got so many people here who bought either a: d7100, d610 and d800 when they wanted a camera like the d700. We need more choices and not just a slightly better 24mp camera every time. The df was a good move. In the lens department i want to see more wide angles and some tilt-shift options.