Nikon Question

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iskoos

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I never owned Nikon and was thinking it is same as Canon which has the AF motor in lens bodies (talking about the EOS line). But looks like Nikon is a bit different. I see on their website that they list for each camera model which lenses are compatible which are not.
I assume this is due to Nikon has some bodies still out there that have the AF motor inside the camera body.

Can someone tell me which Nikon's have AF motor inside the camera body which do not...

I am just curious that's all...
Thanks
 
As far as I know, it's the lower level DSLR models that don't have the motor in the body. D40, D60, D3000, D5000.
The higher level bodies; D70, D80, D90, D100/200/300 etc have the motors.
 
Well, as I spent more time on Nikon's website, I got confused even more. You really need to pick your Nikon wisely or you will be disappointed I guess.
I am not trying to put down Nikon at all. To me, there is no winner between Nikon and Canon. I just couldn't understand why it had to be like that. I am glad that I have Canon. I do not need to think about which lenses will work for me and which won't...

What is the reason Nikon did this? I know everything happens for a reason...
 
That doesn't make much sense to me really, since having a Canon you indeed need to be concerned with this.

Fact is, 99% of the lenses Nikon has ever produced will fit and work on any Nikon DSLR. Some may not meter or autofocus on certain bodies, but they will mount up and work.
 
PhotoXopher said:
That doesn't make much sense to me really, since having a Canon you indeed need to be concerned with this.

Fact is, 99% of the lenses Nikon has ever produced will fit and work on any Nikon DSLR. Some may not meter or autofocus on certain bodies, but they will mount up and work.
Click to expand...

I wasn't talking about the physical mount. The fact that some may not meter or autofocus on certain bodies is exactly what I meant.
You are talking as if not being able to use autofocus is not a big deal.
Would you buy a lens for your camera knowing that it will not be able to use AF function because of some incompatibility? Well, maybe some pros like to use manual focus all the time and you maybe one of them but I don't think leaving the technology out has any benefit.

Does Canon have this problem? I really didn't think it does...
 
Here's why, if you're interested.

Back in the early 80s, and for some time prior to that, manual focus 35mm SLR cameras were the camera of choice for pros and hobbyists alike. Then, in the mid to late 80s, it became feasible to introduce auto focus into this market. Canon decided to put the AF motors into the lenses and this required a larger/different mounting system than what they were using in their current cameras & lenses....(the FD mount). So they changed it and came up with the EF mounting system. This meant that their new line of cameras (EOS) and their new line of lenses (EF) would not be compatible with their older gear.
This really pissed off a fair number of people, especially those who had invested a lot of money into FD lenses. Canon did make an adapter for them (not sold to the public). But that was a long time ago, and it's been smooth sailing since then.

Nikon, on the other hand, didn't change their mount. They just put an AF motor into their new bodies and made their new lenses capable of using that motor for focusing. This kept most of it's users happy (I'd assume). That was all well and good for many years, until recently when all the companies were making these small, light DSLR cameras. They had an advantage over Nikon because of the motor....so Nikon ditched the in-camera motor on it's smaller models....thus confusing and pissing off some people. They do have new lenses with motors in them, which work perfectly with these cameras, it's just some of the AF lenses that won't be able to AF with the new small cameras. But the advantage that Nikon still has, is that even the newest cameras cans still mount to lenses that were made in the 60s.
 
Thank you Mike... That's excatly what I thought happened. Though you added a few more details that I didn't know.
I knew that Canon's Autofocus lenses wouldn't fit the earlier (Manual focus) camera bodies. That's why I said in my original post

(talking about the EOS line).
Click to expand...

So Canon opened up a new page for the new era and called them EOS and adopted new EF mount lenses for EOS line cameras. (Yes, there are EF-S lenses which are not compatible with some EOS cameras but that's a different issue.)
On the other hand, Nikon did not want to forget it's old custmers and kept their standard mount by just manufacturing the new AF lenses with same the mount and adding the AF motor inside the camera body. This way you buy a new Nikon, you get the full advantage of the new AF system. On the other hand, you have the old Nikon, then you can still use the new lenses; you just can't autofocus which you never did because your camera didn't have that function from the get go.
It is really perfect up to this point and I can say that Nikon was more loyal to it's customers by doing this. However, you are saying that Now!.. to be able to compete with other smaller DLSR on the market, Nikon manufactured a few cameras that has NO AF motor inside the body (I can see D40, D60 are one of them). And of course Nikon had to come up with new lenses with AF motor in lens body for these small cameras that do not have AF motor in them.
So clearly both companies transitioned to new era. Canon just did it abruptly and Nikon dragged it and gave in (thus created a mess IMPO).

This is absolutely a personal preference to say which one is better than the other one. But personally I like what Canon did. Why??? Because I have a Canon? No, but Nikon people will say so anyways. NO reason to argue on that.
So it comes down to (again IMPO)...
-You buy a Canon EOS and you are good to go with all the EF lenses;
-You buy a Nikon, you have to memorize a little chart that tells you which lenses are 100% compatible with your camera and which are not.
 
Not really... if you have a body without an AF motor in it (D40, D60, D3000 or D5000) you just look for AF-S lenses, not that difficult really. I'm not trying to argue, but you make it sound more difficult than it is. :)
 
PhotoXopher said:
Not really... if you have a body without an AF motor in it (D40, D60, D3000 or D5000) you just look for AF-S lenses, not that difficult really. I'm not trying to argue, but you make it sound more difficult than it is. :)
Click to expand...
AF-S is not the only option.

Nikon's D40/D40x/D60/D3000/D5000 will AF with both AF-S and AF-I Nikon lenses, not to mention lenses from Sigma, Tamron, Tokina, Kenco.

In fact, here's a list of about 127 lenses, including a few extention tubes, that will all AF on the 'baby' Nikon's:

From Wikipedia.org: List of Nikon compatible lenses with integrated autofocus-motor - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nikon Nikkor: 54 lenses



Wide-Angle
Mid-Range
Super-Zoom
Telephoto
Super-Telephoto
  • AF-S 200-400mm 1:4G VR IF-ED
  • AF-I 400mm 1:2.8D IF-ED
  • AF-S 400mm 1:2.8D IF-ED
  • AF-S 400mm 1:2.8D IF-ED II
  • AF-S 400mm 1:2.8G VR IF-ED
  • AF-I 500mm 1:4D IF-ED
  • AF-S 500mm 1:4D IF-ED
  • AF-S 500mm 1:4D IF-ED II
  • AF-S 500mm 1:4G VR IF-ED
  • AF-I 600mm 1:4D IF-ED
  • AF-S 600mm 1:4D IF-ED
  • AF-S 600mm 1:4D IF-ED II
  • AF-S 600mm 1:4G VR IF-ED
Macro
Teleconverter
  • AF-S Teleconverter TC-20E III
  • AF-S Teleconverter TC-14E II
  • AF-S Teleconverter TC-17E II
  • AF-S Teleconverter TC-20E II
  • AF-I Teleconverter TC-14E
  • AF-I Teleconverter TC-20E
Sigma: 46 lenses



Fisheye
Wide-Angle
Mid-Range
Super-Zoom
  • 18-125mm 1:3.8-5.6 DC OS HSM
  • 18-200mm 1:3.5-6.3 DC
  • 18-200mm 1:3.5-6.3 DC OS
  • 18-200mm 1:3.5-6.3 DC OS HSM
  • 18-250mm 1:3.5-6.3 DC OS HSM
Telephoto
  • 50-150mm 1:2.8 APO EX DC HSM
  • 50-150mm 1:2.8 APO II EX DC HSM
  • 50-200mm 1:4-5.6 DC OS HSM
  • 55-200mm 1:4-5.6 DC HSM
  • 70-200mm 1:2.8 APO EX DG HSM MACRO
  • 70-300mm 1:4.0-5.6 DG
  • 70-300mm 1:4-5.6 DG MACRO "With Built-in Motor"
  • 70-300mm 1:4.0-5.6 DG APO Macro
  • 70-300mm 1:4-5.6 DG OS
  • 100-300mm 1:4 APO EX DG HSM
  • 120-300mm 1:2.8 APO EX DG HSM
  • 300mm 1:2.8 EX DG APO HSM
Super-Telephoto
  • 50-500mm 1:4-6.3 APO EX DG HSM
  • 80-400mm 1:4-5.6 EX OS
  • 80-400mm 1:4.5-5.6 EX DG APO OS
  • 120-400mm 1:4.5-5.6 DG OS APO HSM
  • 150-500mm 1:5-6.3 DG OS APO HSM
  • 300-800 1:5.6 APO EX DG HSM
  • 500mm 1:4.5 EX DG HSM APO
  • 800mm 1:5.6 EX DG APO
Macro
Teleconverter
  • TELE CONVERTER APO EX DG 1.4x
  • TELE CONVERTER APO EX DG 2.0x
Tamron: 14 lenses



Wide-Angle
  • 10-24mm 1:3.5-4.5 AF Di-II LD
.



Mid-Range
  • 17-50mm 1:2.8 SP AF XR Di-II LD Aspherical [IF] (A16NII)
  • 17-50mm 1:2.8 SP AF XR Di II VC LD Aspherical [IF]
  • 28-75mm 1:2.8 SP AF XR Di LD Aspherical (IF)(A09NII)
Super-Zoom
  • 18-200mm AF XR Di-II (A14NII)
  • 18-250mm 1:3.5-6.3 AF Di-II LD Aspherical Macro NII
  • 18-270mm 1:3.5-6.3 AF Di-II VC LD Aspherical [IF] Macro
  • 28-300mm 1:3.5-6.3 AF XR Di VC
Telephoto
  • 70-200mm 1:2.8 AF Di LD MACRO
  • 70-300mm 1:4-5.6 AF Di LD Macro (A17NII, with built-in motor)
Macro
  • 60mm 1:2 SP AF DiII LD (IF) Macro
  • 90mm 1:2.8 SP AF Di MACRO Model 272E
Teleconverter
  • Tamron SP Pro 1.4x
  • Tamron SP Pro 2x
Tokina: 1 lens



Wide Angle
  • 12-24 1:4 AT-X 124 PRO DX II
] Kenko: 9 lenses + 3 lens extension tubes



Teleconverter
  • Teleplus Pro 300 1.4x
  • Teleplus Pro 300 DG 1.4x
  • Teleplus Pro 300 2x
  • Teleplus Pro 300 DG 2x
  • Teleplus Pro 300 3x
  • Teleplus Pro 300 DG 3x
  • Teleplus MC4 AF DG 2x
  • Teleplus MC7 AF DG 2x
  • Teleplus K1.5 AF DG 1.5x
Lens extension tube
  • AUTO EXTENSION TUBE SET DG 12, 20 and 36mm
  • EXTENSION RING UNIPLUS TUBE DG 12
  • EXTENSION RING UNIPLUS TUBE DG 25
 
Last edited:
PhotoXopher said:
Not really... if you have a body without an AF motor in it (D40, D60, D3000 or D5000) you just look for AF-S lenses, not that difficult really. I'm not trying to argue, but you make it sound more difficult than it is. :)
Click to expand...

Nope, no intention to argue at all... Yeah I maybe making it sound a bit more complicated but when you look at Nikon's website, it doesn't seem that simple.
It is true that AF-S lenses will work (with all functions) for the above mentioned cameras but there are many other type lenses that will partially work as well.:)

Anyways, I got my anwers... Thanks...
 
Basically Nikon's thing is backwards compatibility function be damned. This is good and bad. It means that a D40 will work perfectly well with a 40 year old AI lens. It also means autofocus will NOT work with lenses that lack an in lens AF motor (basically everything except AF-S and AF-I). It complicates the system but it's also great knowing that pretty much every camera out there will in some way work with an ancient lens, despite some giving up ability to meter, or autofocus. The alternative was chosen by Canon, who have a system that is incredibly simple but from what I understand there's no 1970s era lenses that will work with current Canon bodies. Chose your poison in my opinion.

There's lists and matricies everywhere but it can be broken down quite simply to AF-S works with everything, AF works %100 with slighly better bodies, AI works %100 with the prosumer and better bodies.

Start complicating further when you look at specific lenses.
 
Garbz said:
The alternative was chosen by Canon, who have a system that is incredibly simple but from what I understand there's no 1970s era lenses that will work with current Canon bodies.
Click to expand...

I believe the year is 1987. It is when the EOS was introduced. So anything made before 1987 won't work with the EOS bodies.
 
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