D700 useable with medical nikkor C 200mm f5.6 ?

<p>I don't own any Nikon digital cam, but now with the release of the D700 I'm considering one.</p>

<p>1) Would I be able to use the medical nikkor C 200mm f5.6 with the Nikon D700? I'm not sure about that, and it would be a factor in deciding for or against this camera.<br>

2) What about Nikon cameras with DX factor? Would the lens above work e.g. with a D90 too?</p>

<p>Thanks and best wishes<br>

w.</p>

<p>As far as I know, all versions of the 200mm/f5.6 medical lens are pre-AI, i.e. introduced before 1977. You cannot mount any pre-AI lens on most Nikon DSLRs except for the D40, D40x, and D60, but most of those lenses can be AI modified. After the modification, you can mount them onto the D90 or D700.</p>

<p>Needless to say, all copies of the 200mm 5.6 medical lens are over 30 years old and so is the built-in flash on those lenses. Today, you are probably better off using a modern macro lens with current iTTL flash technology.</p>

<p>Try this.<br>

http://www.aiconversions.com/</p>

<p>This lens is "pre-AI" but it does not have a normal aperture ring so cannot be "AI converted" in the normal sense. In fact the lens can be mounted safely on AI cameras including the D700 since the lower edge of the barrel stops short of the mount (see http://www.photosynthesis.co.nz/nikon/c20056.jpg) so will clear the AI follower on the camera. It will fit non-AI digital cameras such as the D90 also.<br>

I doubt the image quality is great compared to modern macro lenses though. You would probably be better off with an AF 105/2.8 macro lens.</p>

<p>I don't think too many people still use the 200/5.6 Medical Nikkor's flash. If you need the working distance of a lens this long you might consider a later 200/4 Micro Nikkor, an old Vivitar 90-180mm f/4.5 Series 1 Flat Field or a 200mm f/3 Vivitar with extension tubes. A less expensive alternative would be a bellows with a 150mm or 180mm enlarging lens attached. Some really excellent enlarging lenses are selling for very little today. There was a later 120mm Medical Nikkor but your working distance would not be nearly as good. </p>

<p>I've used the Medical 200 on all recent Nikon DSLR, no issues as such with mounting the lens since the lip of the rear flange clears the AI-follower (on pro-calibre models) or the max.aperture tab (on the lower-end models). You do get a long working distance because the 200/5.6 Medical has no focal shortening tricks up its sleeve. While image quality is no match for a modern Micro-Nikkor, it's not that bad either and the built-in flash can be useful on occasion. I'm using my 200 Medical mainly for shooting skittish bugs and ants.</p>

<p>The 120 mm f/4 Medical has much better image quality, but the built-in coupling between image magnification and aperture setting is awkward when using the lens for general close-up work. I modified my 120 Medical with a "G"-type CPU and this has the advantage that the enforced aperture linkage is broken. So you now can dial in the aperture you want irrespective of the focused distance (which in itself sets magnification and in the stock lens, also locks the aperture), which makes the lens much more useful.</p>

<p>Roland and Bjorn, thanks for the correction on the 200mm medical Nikkor lens. I have only seen that lens at camera stores when I was a kid in the early 1970's.</p>

<p>Thanks a lot for replying and sorting that out for me! Thanks also for comparing the image quality to more recent lenses, I was of course expecting that to some extent. I'll give the combo a try with some DSLR and see afterwards if I need better quality or not.<br>

<br /> Best wishes<br>

Wolfgang</p>

<p>About the quality of the medical 200 f 5,6 please take a look at the following link.I know it's in italian but pics can explain better than any words.It seems that at f 16 that lens it's much better than actual mp-e (canon) and many others like luminar zeiss.More resistent to diffraction (it's a tessar type) even built over 40 years ago it's still a top quality macro and comparable if not better of actual nikon production<br />Regards<br />Maurizio<br /><a href="http://www.luciolepri.it/lc2/marcocavina/articoli_fotografici/TEST_macro_3x/00_pag.htm">http://www.luciolepri.it/lc2/marcocavina/articoli_fotografici/TEST_macro_3x/00_pag.htm</a></p>