AF lens on a manual camera

[wescobts]

All of my lens are AF, but recently I have this itch to shoot film, and my film camera is older & manual. Will any long term harm be done to these lens ? should I invest in a good manual focus lens ?

 

[usayit]

Depends on the type of mounts... what are they?

In general, no because modern lenses are stopped down and aperture controlled electronically

 

[wescobts]

They are Nikon AF primes, 50mm 1.8, 35mm 2.0, 20mm 2.8. I was just wondering if I was doing the focusing that it might damage the focusing unit inside the lens'. The body is an old FG20, probably made in the 70's. They mount real well, I think that is ok.

 

[Derrel]

ALL Nikon AF 50mm f/1.8, 35mm f/2, and 20mm f/2.8 AF lenses are "screwdriver focusing" designs, and can be used on manual focusing bodies with no worry about damaging the lens or its focusing mechanism. On Nikon lenses, the aperture control is mechanical, so, you're good to go! BY older film camera, I am assuming it is older as in 1977 or newer, and not something from the pre-AI era, which would require an aperture coupling prong to be added to the lenses if you wished to do open aperture light metering.

AF and AF-D Nikkors work pretty well on "older" Nikon film cameras like FE,FM,FE-2,FM-2,F2A, F2AS,F3,FG,FG-20,FA,EM,etc.

 

[wescobts]

Thank you Derrel, that's the info I was looking for, just saved me some big bucks :thumbup: