Lens Compatibility

[eminart]

Some of you may recognize me as the guy that's been lusting and longing for a digital camera for a few weeks now. Well, I finally have one on its way. It's a D80 and I opted for the economical 18-55mm lens for now.

But, my wife actually has an old nikon 35mm and a couple of lenses which I suddenly remembered a little while ago. I sprinted to the untility room cabinet and pulled it down to check out the lenses. I know that all or most? lenses made after 1986, I think it was, are compatible with new model cameras. But, I'm not sure how to tell what these are. The ones I need are "AI", right?

This is what I found in her camera case:

Nikon Nikkor-NC Auto 1:2.8 f=24mm 417809
Nikon Nikkor 85mm 1:1.8 438038

Would those work? And are they any good?


thanks for helpin' the newbie,
scott

 

[ChickenFriedRyce]

I think those will work on the D80. I was told older Nikkor lenses won't work on the D40/D40x/D60.

 

[Socrates]

Some of you may recognize me as the guy that's been lusting and longing for a digital camera for a few weeks now. Well, I finally have one on its way. It's a D80 and I opted for the economical 18-55mm lens for now.

But, my wife actually has an old nikon 35mm and a couple of lenses which I suddenly remembered a little while ago. I sprinted to the untility room cabinet and pulled it down to check out the lenses. I know that all or most? lenses made after 1986, I think it was, are compatible with new model cameras. But, I'm not sure how to tell what these are. The ones I need are "AI", right?

This is what I found in her camera case:

Nikon Nikkor-NC Auto 1:2.8 f=24mm 417809
Nikon Nikkor 85mm 1:1.8 438038

Would those work? And are they any good?


thanks for helpin' the newbie,
scott

Well, the 85/1.8 will definitely work. I used that lens today with my D80. By the way, it's an excellent lens. It's my "outdoor portrait" lens.

I'm not familiar with the 24/2.8. I believe that it will also work but I don't recognize the "NC" identification.

By the way, ANY lens that does work with the D80 will give a different FoV (field of view) then it would with film. The 85 will seem to be a 122 and the 24 will seem to be a 36. All lenses will have a FoV 150% of what they have with film. That's because the sensor is smaller than the 35mm film frame.

 

[Socrates]

I think those will work on the D80. I was told older Nikkor lenses won't work on the D40/D40x/D60.

Any lens that works on the D80 will also work on the D40/40X/60 except that the autofocus won't work on the D40/40X/60.

 

[sabbath999]

I think those will work on the D80. I was told older Nikkor lenses won't work on the D40/D40x/D60.

Actually, that's not right... more old manual focus lenses work with the D40 than work with the D80... they just don't autofocus (obviously) and the meter doesn't work (nor will the meter work on the D80).

The D40 can use non-AI lenses, whereas the D80 cannot.

 

[eminart]

I found a photo on the web of the 85mm I have (I think).

This is it: http://www.photosynthesis.co.nz/nikon/n8518.jpg

Edit: And here's the 24mm - http://www.photosynthesis.co.nz/nikon/c2428.jpg


Are these ok? Too old?

 

[Mav]

Those look like old pre AF/AF-D era lenses without CPUs. They'll work and you'll be able to take photos with them, but you'll have to guess at exposure and manually focus. With a D200 or higher you'll have metering support but would still have to manually focus.

 

[sabbath999]

They'll work and you'll be able to take photos with them, but you'll have to guess at exposure and manually focus.

They have made this newfangled invention called am external light meter, it has been around for about 90 years or so... you don't actually have to guess...

 

[Mav]

Yeah but if you don't have a light meter........

 

[Sandspur]

Hey, if you don't have a light meter, shoot a few test shots at different settings and check them, and the histogram, then readjust as needed.

It's a slow process sometimes, but it'll work in a pinch.

 

[eminart]

Alright, so what if these were lenses that wouldn't work? Would happens if you put one of the non-compatible lenses on your camera? I'm worried about damaging something. Is that a concern, or do they just not "work"?

 

[Mav]

They need to be AI or AI-s, or at least AI converted.

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/compatibility-lens.htm#dslr

The only thing that will actually break anything are old style invasive fisheye lenses, which these aren't.