Using Vintage Nikon Lens on D800

phill22cv

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I shoot with a Nikon D800 DSLR body. I recently purchased a vintage Nikkor 300 mm f/2.8 ed -vr lens.

I've never attempted to use a vintage lens on this camera body. How do I go about using this lens to shoot at full frame on my Nikon D800? Do I need to get a lens adapter and if so, can someone tell me what adapter will work for my needs?
 
If you say vintage then generally to mount on a D800 just need to be sure it is an AI model, or if pre-AI check that it has been AI'd. I expect you are asking about the manual focus 300mm f/2.8 ED-IE, an AI lens. This will mount just fine on the D800 and only have to put in the focal length and f-stop to have metering.
 
If it has VR then it isn't "vintage." Mount it to the camera body and enjoy.
 
I think "-VR" stands for "I'm used to lenses having VR in the name but this one doesnt ?"



Basically Nikon has consistently used the same mount ever since they started creating SLRs in the 1950s.

If its a really old lens and doesnt have one of these shortcuts at the beginning of its name:

AI (auto-indexed) or AI-S or very rarely AI-P [these are manual focus; AI-S is the same as AI for modern cameras; AI-P means it has a chip like a modern lens]
AF (autofocus) [these will use the motor in the camera, i.e. make some noise when focusing. They also all have a chip already]
AF-S (silent autofocus), also most recently sometimes AF-P [these have a motor in the lens for focusing, i.e. will be mostly silent. The AF-P lenses are further optimized for better operation with video and lifeview focusing]

Then its a socalled "Pre-AI" lens, from before 1977, and cannot be mounted without damagnig the camera (unless you have an entry level DSLR or a Nikon Df; the entry level DSLRs lack any AI controls on the mount and the Df allows to put it saftely away), unless it has been converted (aka "ai'ed"). Nikon has long stopped offering this conversion themselves, so you'll need to find somebody else to do that (or do it yourself, but that needs some technical skill).
 
This will mount just fine on the D800 and only have to put in the focal length and f-stop to have metering.
See page 212 of the D800 User's Manual.

How do I go about using this lens to shoot at full frame on my Nikon D800?
See page 372 of the D800 User's Manual

A comprehensive review of the entire D800 User's Manual may be helpful to you in ways you're unaware of.
 
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