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    • ben_hutcherson posted a nice summary of how the non-AI, AI, and AI-s lenses couple to their respective generations of camera body. I would only add that the "upgrade" to AI-s ended up being a wet firecracker during the film camera era. Pretty much no Nikon cameras that anyone cared (or still cares) about actually utilized the AI-s features fully.  Other than the fussy, flaky, ill-fated FA camera that AI-s was invented to accommodate, there aren't any classic-era film bodies that strictly require the AI-s linear aperture lever for full practical functionality. The FG and 301-401-501 don't often fall into the category of beloved sought-after cult classic Nikon models, but they are perhaps the only ones that make any use of the AI-s focal length lug (mounting a tele lens will shift their AE metering to favor faster shutter speeds). The EM (and some of the above) are the only bodies that read the fixed max aperture lug near the rear element of both AI and AI-s lenses (it affects their autoflash metering, and program mode of the models that have program exposure). Many film and digital Nikon SLRs do "detect" an AI-s lens via the depression ground into their silver bayonet mounts, but then don't do anything much with that information. The convoluted FA design with its linear aperture requirement for program mode was simplified almost immediately into the FG system of "instant stop down" program metering. So unless you're a masochist babysitting a ticking-time-bomb Nikon FA, or a heavy user of auto flash metering with the two or three film bodies that couple with rear element lugs, you can safely ignore AI vs AI-s: just buy whichever version you can find at the best combination of condition and price. For 95% of Nikon film bodies, the most significant factor is pre-AI/non-AI vs AI/AI-s. if you have an AI body, you'll need AI or AI-s lenses for broadly compatible mounting and meter coupling. If you have a pre-AI camera model, you don't need to even think about it: all manual focus Nikkor lenses have the "rabbit ears" that couple with pre-AI meters. The big gray area of "gotcha" territory comes into play only with pre-AI lenses that have been hacked with aftermarket (non-Nikon) modifications for "AI compatibility". Nikon itself once provided a conversion service that swapped the old aperture rings for a genuine new AI aperture ring (as seen with the 28mm lens pictured earlier). Older pre-AI lenses updated with this genuine Nikon AI ring are safe to use on any Nikon film or digital camera body. Unfortunately Nikon's supply of genuine AI conversion rings was depleted decades ago, so a great many pre-AI lenses have been "unofficially" hacked by their owners or independent techs. The majority of these Frankensteined lenses omit a crucial modification to make them safely mount on many of Nikons DSLRs, because its a lot of extra work and wasn't even on the radar during the film era when most were hacked. These very common "partial AI" lenses are fine to use on most Nikon film cameras, but should be avoided if you plan to also use on Nikon DSLR (unless the seller explicitly states and shows the lens has a "EE-Minimum Aperture" post carved on its aperture ring). If unsure, stick to later AI/AI-s lenses, or lenses that have the genuine Nikon aperture ring update (two engraved sets of aperture numbers, and perforated rabbit ears). Other potential considerations would be the handful of lenses which were optically changed in the migration to AI-s, differences in operational feel, and the AF-D lens paradox. Some lenses like the 28mm f/2.8 got completely revised optics when they moved from AI to AI-s, others (mostly teles) were put in somewhat smaller barrels and/or got built-in lens hoods. The AI-s lenses all have much shorter focus ring travel (from close to far) than the AI or pre-AI: some photographers prefer this, others do not. The screw-drive AF and AF-D lenses can be an interesting alternative if you want to share lenses between manual focus and (some) autofocus Nikon cameras. They are all AI-s by nature, coupling mechanically to manual AI bodies and electronically to AF bodies. However:, they lack the old rabbit ears that couple to the old pre-AI film camera meters. Nikon provides dimples on the aperture ring showing where rabbit ears can be optionally installed if desired, but I've never actually seen an AF lens that was modified that way. You can still mount an AF-D lens on a pre-AI camera, but you'll need to use less convenient stopped down uncoupled meter mode. Same applies to the small handful of manual focus Nikon Series E lenses sold for the EM/FG: these are AI-s but have no rabbit ears.
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