D100 and N80 Compatibility with AI lenses

I know this questions has been asked before but a search led to an

amzaing number of inconsistent answers. I'm considering buying a D100

but in addition to my newer lenseshave a few older classic AI lenses

that it would be nice to be able to use until I can replace them

with AF's

 

The N80 specifications in the Nikon Product Guide (vol 7) says "AI

lenses provide manual focus w/electronic rangefinder, Aperture

priority and Manual exposure mode, C/W and Spot Metering operation"

 

Most people on PN make the blanket statement that "metering doesn't

work on the N80/D100 with AI lenses". Nikon's literature indicats to

me that Matrix metering, P and S modes will not work, but A and M

(with Spot and C/W) will.

 

One poster said his meter shuts off when an AI lens is mounted.

 

Short of taking an AI lens into my nearest dealer, does anyone KNOW

for sure?

 

Thanks

On a D100 with any lens that does not have an IC (AI, AIS, telescopes, etc)

you do not have any metering. The shutter will not fire unless the camera is

set to manual (M) mode. The focus rangefinder does work with lenses that

have an aperture of f/5.6 or faster (in bright light it may work with slower

aperture lenses).

 

If you accurately know the aperture of your lens (a problem with some

telescopes) you can use an external meter to set the shutter speed.

Otherwise, with slow moving or stationary subjects, you can always

experiment to find the correct exposure. The camera's histogram feature is

generally adequate for judging correct exposure. If you know the

approximate exposure, you can use the bracketting features of the D100 to

cover a range of exposures. You can always delete frames with incorrect

exposures.

Dale,

 

Excuse me if I sound stupid as I have neither an N80 or D100 yet, but according to documentation in Manual mode isn't the meter still active

- responding to shutter speed and stopped down aperture with the display showing +/- exposure indication?

<<meter active in manual mode>>

 

Yes with AF lenses and manual lenses that have the CPU installed (the 500mm and 45mm "P" lenses plus any that you arrange to modify by installation of a chip, the latter being an aftermarket process available for some but not all manual focus lenses).

 

No metering even in manual mode with garden-variety AI and AIS Nikkors. The absence of metering is WHY you have to be in manual mode, by the way, because all the other modes assume some imput from the exposure meter.

 

The N80/F80 and the D100 just won't provide exposure meter readings (matrix, center or spot) with AI and AIS lenses.

 

Some other Nikon AF bodies (the F5, F100, N90s, N8008s and N6006 among others) will give you metering with manual lenses but you lose matrix exposure mode. The F4 and FA will give you all metering modes including matrix, with manual or autofocus lenses. But you're asking about the N80 and D100, and those bodies (plus the N55 and N65) just don't meter at all when manual, non-CPU lenses are affixed.

 

Have fun,

Thanks,

 

My confusion arises from the the fact that your answers are 180 degrees opposite from Nikon's documentation. If you've got one, you must know!

 

Dave

I too have a D100, and Nikon's documentation clearly specifies that the D100 cannot meter with any (AI/AI-S) lens without a CPU. So unless you have one of those P lenses or have a CPU chip added to it, all MF lenses are not going to meter, matrix or center weighted.

 

With the D100, the situation is slightly different from film bodies. In addition to a handheld meter, you can always use the "trial and error" approach. Just estimate the exposure, shot one, review it on the LCD, adjust the exposure and reshoot until you are happy with it.

The D100 can only be used in manual exposure mode with an AI(S) lens. The metering is not functional.

 

Have you considered a used D1. The current price is equivalent to a new D100, and the D1 is compatible with AI(S) lenses in Aperture Priority. For another $800-1000, you could get a new D1H which has a better interface and works much better with flash than the D1. The prices should drop once the Kodak 14N hits the streets.

 

The difference between a 6M and 3M (2.74)is not as great as you may think. The ratio follows the square-root law, so 6M is only 1.4 times the resolution of 3M. Either one will produce a good 8x10" print.

I am getting a bit off topic, but Edward, what makes you feel that the introduction of the Kodak DCS-14n would drive the price for the D1h down?

 

The D1h is a lower resolution, fast AF, fast frame rate and large buffer (or more precisely, the buffer can hold more of those smaller, lower resolution files) camera for news and sports photography. Its body is more rugged like the F5/F100.

 

I saw a non-working model of the 14n over the weekend. It is based on the less rugged N80 (but definitely not poorly made) with its slower AF. It has a slow 1.7 frames/sec rate but much higher 14M resolution. The 14n is intended to be a studio camera that perhaps competes with/replaces medium format (whether that objective will be met remains to be seen).

 

If the Kodak DCS 14n competes with an existing Nikon body, it is more like the D1x or D100 rather than the D1h. However, Nikon itself needs a D1h replacement badly as the Canon EOS 1D (not 1Ds) is seriously beating the D1h.

I have here in my hand my N80 and a 50mm f1.8 Series E AI-S lens. In <B>M</B>anual mode, the top LCD says <B>F--</b> (not "FEE" as is so often misrepeated). The shutterspeed <i>is</i> also shown. <I>No</I> aperture information is shown. The aperture may (must) be set on the lens itself. In <B>A</B>perture priority mode, there is no shutterspeed shown. There is no meter readout in the LCD or viewfinder. The meter is NOT dead, it is just not coupled to the lens. The shutter <I>will</I> fire in Manual mode, but will <I>not</I> fire in Aperture priority. (Thanks, Scott, for wasting a frame of your film to answer this question, since most people who offer an answer have never even handled a N80 with an attached non-CPU lens.)<P> A little known fact, that I have verified myself on many occasions with both my N80 and N60, is that flash is still TTL exposure contro11ed with a non-CPU lens. <P>BTW, to whoever is in charge of the word filtering here, what is the past tense of "control"? Isn't this nannying going a little too far now?

I'll answer both discussions.

 

F80 with manual lenses (the D100 is after all just an F80) - Manual lenses will only work in manual mode with no metering. Unless they have a chip put in then (500mm P - 45mm P etc).

 

The D1H is a great camera, and as someone else said, the difference between 3 Mpix and 6Mpix isn't that great. The new sigma SD9 despite other limitations clearly resolves as well as all the 6Mpix cameras. Just goes to show that there are pixels and pixels. For me, and the kind of work I would be doing on digital (Not art landscape - more stock type work) - 2.7 Mpix would be fine - the cropping factor is an issue for me, cause I like wides, but for PJ work (which the camera is designed) it is fine. Yeah the 1D is a bit faster, and has a little bit more resolution - but for PJs that just = more full memory cards. If you can't capture action at 5 frames per second, I doubt that another 3 will really help you.

From the D100 <A HREF="http://www.nikonusa.com/specs/25206.pdf">

product brochure</A> under "Compatible Lenses":

<dd>"Non-CPU: Usable in [M] mode (camera�s built-in exposure meter does

not work), Electronic Rangefinder usable with lens with maximum

aperture of f/5.6 or faster"</dd><br>

From the F80/N80 <A HREF="http://www.nikon-image.com/eng/35mm/

f80(3p).pdf">product brochure </A>

under "Lens":<dd>"Non-CPU: Usable in Manual exposure mode (exposure

meter cannot be used); Electronic Rangefinder usable

with lens with maximum aperture of f/5.6 or faster"</dd>

<p>

The D100 manual repeats essentially the same information.

James, I am not an expert in sports photography, but as far as I know, the problem with the D1h is not the frame rate but the resolution. The original D1 was introduced 3 years ago. Back then 2.74MP was fine; it is still more than sufficient for newspaper and web sites. However, for high-quality sports magazines, the 4MP Canon EOS 1D is superior. What I read about is that some sports photographers are forced to switch (back) to Canon because of magazine requirements.

 

In any case, the D1h/x are 1.5 years old and replacements are overdue. The Kodak DCS 14n is a different animal and is intended for a different market.

 

Finally, the trend is that Nikon will introduce more and more AF-S and G lenses. More and more new bodies will require electronic coupling to fully utalize new features. Rather than getting bodies to accomodate your old MF lenses as a temporary compromise, I would rather modernize the lenses and leave the MF lenses to those who are still using MF bodies.