Nikon Digital body for AI AIS lenses

I apologise in advance for posting a question that has been addressed before but having read some old threads I'm still in need of advice. I was and still am a 35mm film shooter who loved his Nikon FE2 so much that I never switched to digital. I have the following nikon lenses that I (and now my daughters) love using

 

50mm F/1.8 AI

50mm F/1.4 AIs

105mm F/2.5 AI

 

I'm still using these on my FE2 but wondered if there was a relatively cheap second hand Nikon digital bodies that could be easily used with these lenses ? I'm over 50 and wear glasses. I loved the FE2 viewfinder. I'm looking for something that's easy to use. After reading some threads I'm not sure if I need to go full frame, if a could live with cropping, how easily I could manually focus.

 

Your thoughts, tips and experience would be appreciated.

Any Nikon FX DSLR is fully compatible with those lenses. Which one to buy depends on how much money you want to spend. Used D600 and D750 are below $1000 now. The older D700 is even cheaper. However, some older folks prefer the retro Df, which is kind of expensive for the features or offers.

 

Some prefer manual focus via live view with the camera on a tripod. It doesn’t have to be using the viewfinder.

You can get the Z6 or Z7. Although I think Nikon stops having the discount for buying the FTZ with the body.

Any Nikon FX DSLR is fully compatible with those lenses. Which one to buy depends on how much money you want to spend. Used D600 and D750 are below $1000 now. The older D700 is even cheaper. However, some older folks prefer the retro Df, which is kind of expensive for the features or offers.

 

Some prefer manual focus via live view with the camera on a tripod. It doesn’t have to be using the viewfinder.

Thanks a lot ! Well I'm talking as cheap as possible ! I'm basically happy shooting film but am finding it increasingly difficult to find a decent lab here in Germany.

I was hoping in 2019 there might be some older digital bodies I could use. FX is full frame right ? So D600 and 750 would be like 35mm without cropping ? With the lenses I have is it better to go full format ?

You can get the Z6 or Z7. Although I think Nikon stops having the discount for buying the FTZ with the body.

Thanks but I'm afraid these are way outside my price range which would be a maximum 250-300 Euros.

Correct, FX is "full frame", or a 24x36mm image sensor-the same size as 35mm film.

 

To each their own, but I'd find 50mm uncomfortably long as my shortest lens on a crop sensor(DX) body.

 

I paid $600 for a nice and relatively low mileage D600, while $1000 buys you a a decent condition D800 these days. I've seen D700s under $500, but they tend to have a lot of shutter actuations and/or be a bit rough around the edges at that price.

 

To get the most out of manual focus lenses, you need to go into the menu system and enter "non-CPU lens data" on every lens you plan on using. This consists of just entering the focal length and maximum aperture. The setting banks for non-CPU lenses are number 1-9, and I have all of my cameras set so that I can select them by holding down the Fn button on the front of the camera and turning the command dial(this is set through the custom functions menu).

 

One caution I would offer is that it's best not to try and focus by eye on the focusing screen, especially with your f/1.4 and f/1.8 lenses. The screens are very finely ground to give a bright image, but as a consequence don't "pop" when in focus like manual focus cameras. The most reliable way to focus through the viewfinder, in my experience, is to use the electronic rangefinder. You put the selected AF point over what you want to be in focus, and then turn the focusing ring while watching the >o< array in the lower left of the viewfinder-the arrows tell you which direction to turn the focusing ring, and the o illuminates when in focus. Of course, live view with magnification can give even better results, but is a lot slower.

. FX is full frame right ? So D600 and 750 would be like 35mm without cropping ? With the lenses I have is it better to go full format ?

Yes. Yes. Yes.

The "cheapest" FX Nikon DSLR at this point might well be the D700 - but that's a decade's old technology by now.

Another option would be to adapt the lenses to a Sony A7 - or more preferable (because of the build-in image stabilization) A7II. The advantage of these mirrorless cameras when using manual focus lenses are the option of instant magnification and focus peaking. "Dumb" adapters (all you need for the lenses you have) can be had cheaply.

 

Your budget may still be too low though the get any of the cameras mentioned so far.

Actually, you might do just as well going with a D 7100 or D 7200 - that would convert (1.5 factor) your 50mm lenses to nice portrait length and your 105 to mid range tele. Then you could pick up an inexpensive 24 or 28 to cover the wide end of things. I use my old Nikon lenses on both FX and DX with most satisfactory results. The D 750 is an excellent choice for straight FX as prices new are down quite a lot and prices used will tumble as well. I have the D 7200 and D 750 programmed for 9 favorite older lenses - works perfectly.

but I'd find 50mm uncomfortably long as my shortest lens on a crop sensor(DX) body

Same here. To take this even further - I never found a good use for a 50mm on a DX body - aside from:

convert (1.5 factor) your 50mm lenses to nice portrait length

and even that I considered often too short for a head shot.

The FX sensor is 24x36mm, same as 35mm film.

DX is 16x24mm. On a DX body, your 50mm and 105mm lenses will work quite differently, similar to 75mm and 150mm on FX, respectively. Not sure you'll like those telephoto lenses.

 

Please keep in mind that the D3 and D700 are the oldest Nikon FX DSLRs. The D700 uses the old EN-EL3e battery and CF cards. More current bodies such as the D600, D610, and D750 use dual SD cards and the EN-EL15 battery.

Edited January 3, 2019 by ShunCheung

If money is no issue, the best body for using manual focus Nikon lenses is the Nikon Df. It's the only Nikon DSLR that will allow you to mount a pre-AI (prong) lens and meter couple with it. There are rumors of a Df2 coming soon.

There are so many possibilities, full frame being inevitably expensive. If like most users you can manage with DX, and don't want to spend the earth, I think the ten year old D300 is a good option It has excellent support for older non-CPU lenses. You can enter the focal length and maximum apertures of several lenses and choose the one you are using. I recently bought a nice D300 from the auction site for £180. The newer and costlier D300S is basically the same camera but with video - which I somehow don't think you want.

 

The earlier and cheaper D200 is also a very good choice, I've used mine with many AI / AIs lenses..The D200 and D300 have excellent build quality with metal bodies.

If money is no issue, the best body for using manual focus Nikon lenses is the Nikon Df. It's the only Nikon DSLR that will allow you to mount a pre-AI (prong) lens and meter couple with it. There are rumors of a Df2 coming soon.

 

I would argue against a blanket "the best" statement. It's a polarizing camera, and we just had a fairly long thread here not too long ago about it.

 

It has some ergonomic quirks. It also is the only DSLR with physical dials to control everything, which many folks do like. It works as well with AI and AI-S lenses as any other mid to high end Nikon DSLR, though, with its only real advantage in that department being that you can mount non-AI lenses(something that the OP doesn't seem to have, especially considering that the FE2 can't mount non-AI).

 

I would not be holding my breath for an updated version of the Df...

Thanks but I'm afraid these are way outside my price range which would be a maximum 250-300 Euros.

Sorry I missed the price range posted earlier. I think that budget immediately eliminates a lot of options. Adding a couple of memory cards or batteries can easily increase the cost by 20%.

About manual focusing - they aren't designed for it. The Nikon DSLR's I use all have an "in focus" indicator, a small dot to the left bottom of the finder, which lights when the subject is in focus. I find it hard to keep my eye on it while watching the subject at the same time. I wish Nikon would implement a beeping focus indicator like my little Pentax KM, which makes MF much easier for those with less than perfect eyesight.

 

I have an old D1X which I fitted with a split image screen. I don't know if these are available for later bodies.

The Nikon DSLR's I use all have an "in focus" indicator, a small dot to the left bottom of the finder, which lights when the subject is in focus. I find it hard to keep my eye on it while watching the subject at the same time.

Ditto. I also find it to be too inaccurate for critical focus.

With this tiny budget you might well bump into a miserable camera that you will have to throw away after a week or 2.

 

Either you multiply your budget by at least 2.5 or you keep shooting with your fabulous FE2, sorry. Life is crual sometimes.

Edited January 3, 2019 by ShunCheung

With this tiny budget you might well bump into a miserable camera that you will have to throw away after a week or 2.

 

Either you multiply your budget by at least 2.5 or you keep shooting with your fabulous FE2, sorry. Life is crual sometimes.

You know I think you hit the nail on the head. I thought that in the intervening years prices had fallen and there may have been a camera I could use.

It might be simpler to keep shooting film and continue to enjoy that great viewfinder. The camera I've enjoyed most this year is a Rollei 35 with a broken

light meter so everything I shot was manually metered. Most shots turned out really well. In the same way that I U turned from CDs back to vinyl, I can't

seem to find the same joy in digital photography. Perhaps I'm just getting old !!

No, not old, just wise;)

I like digital and I like DX but I'd have to agree, first of all that you're probably better off sticking with a really good film camera than a troublesome old digital one, and second that if you like the lenses you have now, they'll be disappointingly narrow, and harder to focus than you're used to.

 

If you really like the idea of digital and don't mind manually metering, one option might be to get one of the lower end models of recent vintage. You can get quite decent performance out of, say, a D3200. A decent used one of these might be more in the price range, and though it does not meter with manual lenses, it will accept them and shoot with them. It's DX and has a pretty cheesy little viewfinder, but you can magnify it and use the focus confirmation dot, and get it right most of the time. For normal shooting, you can get a useable kit lens for something around 50 bucks too. The image quality of a D3200 or D3300 might surprise you.

My own experience (with adequate eyesight) was that by age 50, my autofocus Nikon was more consistently accurate in focus execution with 50 mm and wider lenses. When I got a 24 meg digital full frame camera, the results were as good as my typical results with my medium format equipment. A D700 and a 50mm 1.8 af would give you results that would surprise you.

The D200 and D300 work fine with AI lenses, and are reasonably priced used.

 

But also, many AI and even AF lenses are very reasonably priced used.

 

My most recent lens as the AF 24-120 (the older one) for about $50, which I have been

using on a D700. It might also be a nice lens on a D200 or D300.

 

Used AI lenses are even cheaper.

Two or three hundred Euros isn't a lot to play with. However, I managed to pick up a Sony a6000 for less than that, and an older Nex-6 would be even cheaper.

 

The beauty of these slim mirrorless cameras is that they can be adapted to take lenses from almost any system. A Sony-to-Nikon adapter costs around €30.

 

The above cameras have APS-C sensors, which would turn your 50mm lenses into short telephotos, and the 105 into a medium tele. You'd also be limited to manual or aperture-prority exposure modes, so no change from the FE2 way of working. As far as focussing is concerned, both cameras support what's called 'focus-peaking', where in-focus areas are outlined in a bright colour, and of course they offer magnified viewing.

 

If you really want to stick with a Nikon, then I think a used D700 is about the only sensible option that you're likely to find anywhere near your price range. A DX Nikon body will have the same cropping issue as the Sony's, but will cost you more and offer less.

I'm going to speak sacrilege: If the OP really wants a cost effective and useful DSLR alternative, then he might well consider a used DX body with a DX and AFS kit lens. A D3200/3300 with an 18-55mm should be obtainable for his budget, and will solve his concerns about manual focus accuracy. That 18-55 is renowned as performing well above its price point, particularly for non-critical amateur photography. Even the 18-105 kit lens will make very acceptable images (unless one is an inveterate pixel peeper). If he wants more accessible controls, then the next step up will be a D7XXX, with the same lens choices, and capacity to meter with his manual lenses. I'm not familiar with the Euro marketplace, but in the US the D3200/3300 kits are available used from private parties in the $300-$500 range. This would provide a very low-impact entree to digital, and could be sold for very near the same price if needed. The threshold of cost required to accommodate the existing lenses seems disproportionate to the benefit. Edited January 4, 2019 by DavidTriplett

I also have found the focus dot indicator to be an unreliable indicator of sharp focus. I use an old manual focus Nikon 55mm f2.8 macro lens on my d 810. It produces very sharp images. I think it is the sharpest lens I own. And I paid less than $100 for it on eBay a long time ago.