Existing Nikon Lenses for D40x

Hello:

 

New to <u>digital Nikon</u>; very old to Nikon (Nikon F Photomic was my first SLR).

 

Apart from all my older lenses pre AF days, mostly Ai but not all, I have three Nikon lenses AF, and I need

to know from good authority if they will work 'fully' with the D40X and/or the D200. (And if anyone has

used them so.)

 

They are : <b>Nikon AF Nikkor 35-135mm 3.5-4.5 ; Nikon AF Nikkor 24-50mm 3.3-4.5; and Nikon AF

Micro Nikkor 60mm 2.8D.</b>

 

(I know they will have different focal lengths with the sensor sizes.)

 

Obviously, I would like to use these lenses, but would hope they were full AF and with full metering etc.

 

Most stores I have called 'want' to sell me 'new digital' lenses, and I get 'iffy' answers from them. I'll buy if

these won't work, because I also shoot film with my Fs still.

 

Will either the D40x and or the D200 work these lenses 'fully'.

 

Thanks,

 

Colin

All will work fine on your camera. The AI Nikkors will work fine on the D200.

All of those AF lenses have no internal (inside the lens) AF motor; that is, they are not AF-S lenses. Since the D40x also has no AF motor inside the body, none of those lenses will AF on the D40x.

All of them will meter on the D40x.

 

If you put those lenses on the D200, both AF and metering will work, as the D200 has an AF motor inside the body.

 

AI lenses without a built-in CPU can meter on the D200 but not D40x, for reasons discussed to great details in this recent thread:

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00LgBn

 

Pre-AI lenses without AI modification cannot be mounted on the D200. However, oddly enough, they can be mounted onto the D40x.

 

Otherwise, the main issue is that all Nikon DSLRs have a smaller sensor area than 35mm film. Therefore, even the 24mm is merely a moderately wide lens. If you want to shoot wide angle, you'll need at least one lens to conver the wide end again.

Only AF-S lenses will give you everything on the d40 body, so no, they won't autofocus on the d40. Not 100% sure on the others with the d200 so I will let someone else comment on them.

Thanks, guys.

 

SO, if I understand correctly, if I get a <B>D40X</B>, I basically have to buy at least a

couple of lenses to have full working capacity.

 

But if I buy a D200 <b>Body Only</b>, I can use these three lenses I listed, with <b>full

capacity</b> (plus of course my older lenses as manual etc.)

 

Is that correct thinking?

 

Colin

If you want to use those 3 lenses with autofocus, and don't have the budget (or desire for as big, a feature-laden a camera) for a D200, you should look at the D50, D70s, and D80.

Yes, those 3 AF lenses you listed have "full capacilty" on the D200, in the sense that they can AF and meter. On the D40x, they cannot AF but can meter.

Hi Douglas:

 

Well, I kinda have any budget I want, but I am basically using MF these days.

 

Been using a digital Leica P&S set to manual (instead of polaroids), and thought I might try

a Nikon Digital at 10MP+ for street and travel. I have F, F2 and F4 and 8008s and a swag

of lenses since 1967. My old black F is more brass than paint. I'm keeping them because

I like how they were made!

 

I use one of the early 1.4 50 Nikkor chrome primes I got in 1967, as a loupe !

 

So, if what I read here is correct, a D200 BODY will let me FULLY use the AFs I have, with

full camera capacity, and if I want I can throw on any of the older (and older) Nikon primes

or off brands, and get use from them (even my loupe?).

 

Is that right.

 

Thanks.

One other question:

 

The 2.8 60 Micro AF D, on the D200, becomes about 'portrait' length, right? I checked the

threads, but couldn't find a comment. Maybe it could be a little too sharp?

 

But the speed and focal length would seem to nice.

 

Anyone?

Thank you all - quick and detailed replies !

The least costly Nikon body that will allow you full use of not only the 3 AF lenses you asked about initially, but also your AI and AIS lenses, is the D200. The D50, D70s, and D80 will give you FULL functionality with the three AF lenses in your initial question, and you could mount and use your AI/AIS lenses, but there will be no metering with the AI/AIS glass with those bodies - The D200 adds that metering capability.

 

And yes, the 60mm Micro AF D will give you the field of view on a Nikon digital body that a 90mm lens does on 35mm film. As you mentioned, that 60mm Micro Nikkor might be slightly too razor sharp for ideal portraits, without either a soft-focus filter or some softening in post processing - but, that's rather easy to do.

Excellent. Thanks again. End of thread. :-)

Sorry but You didn't seem to have noticed what shun said about the Pre AI lenses... not being able to mount on the D200 but able to be mounted on the D40x. just wanted to highlight that..

Hello Foong:

 

 

Thank you for pointing that out to me - very kind of you.

 

I have enough Ai or later, to do the job. :-)

 

But good to know. I presume that the 'future' is for focus motor to be in lens?

 

 

Since 1961, my 'focus motor' has been my hand !!!

 

Cheers,

 

Colin