Interchangeable lenses?

[Mango17]

So I heard that all nikon lenses are interchangeable. I have a nikon d40 and a nikon film camera with tons of lenses that I could be using if they worked for my digital camera. So will they work? It will just be manual but it will still work right?

 

[KmH]

They will mount.

Nikon has not changed their lens mount since 1959. Electronic technology has changed a lot since then though.

 

[D-B-J]

^^yup, they will mount, but be manual of course.

 

[Dwig]

So I heard that all nikon lenses are interchangeable. ...

Not quite. There are a few combinations that won't work, but there are very few Nikkors that won't mount and function on your D40. The ones that won't mount are the few that required that you lock the mirror up to mount (early fisheyes and the original 21mm) and the very earliest lenses from 1959-60 or '61 which have a large overhang on the f/stop ring that served as a dust shield and are rare enough to be rather collectable.

The D40 has no provision for metering with non-electronically coupled lenses. The old manual focus lenses will not meter, even in manual. They will also, of course, not autofocus.