Nikon -t mount on D200?

I have a Vivitar 400 mm and a 800mm t-mount lenses and would like to put them on my D200. B&H

lists three kinds for Nikon but they all say they are for Nikon F.

 

Nikon F lenses being pre Ai can not be put on the D200.

 

Anybody have a brand of t-mount they know will not damage my D200?

 

Or can I just use any they list?

All Nikon lenses made since the F mount came out in 1959 can be used on all Nikon cameras ever made, with a very few exceptions (some of the ultra-ultra wides like the 6mm and 8mm had big rear elements, and a few other oddball lenses). You obviously won't get AF with a non-AF lens and whether the metering works depends on the combination of lens and camera, but you can always meter manually and/or judge exposure by the histogram/LCD on their digital cameras. So you can most definitely use an F mount lens, pre-AI or otherwise, on a D200, including acutal Nikon lense and other brands with mounting adaptors like a T mount. A T mount won't communicate any information at all to the metering system as far as I know, so your exposure would be entirely manual. I can't see how there could be any damage. Not sure why B&H would have three kinds but it makes sense that they all says Nikon F because that is the name of Nikon's lens mount and always has been. The Ai and more recent designations refer to meter coupling, AF, etc, not the mount.

> "So you can most definitely use an F mount lens, pre-AI or otherwise, on a D200 ..."

 

Completely false, since a pre-AI (i.e. non-AI) lens *will* damage the meter coupling mechanism on a D200 (and many other modern Nikons).

 

However, back to Ronald's question, an F-mount lens or adapter is not by definition non-AI. Modern AF lenses are F-mount. On non-AI F-mount lenses, it is the rear skirt on the aperture ring that can cause interference with the meter coupling mechanism on the D200, not the mount itself. So since a T-mount adapter has no aperture ring, any T-mount to Nikon F adapter should be safe, including the Kalt and General Brand adapters listed at B&H.

The T-Mounts themselves provide plenty of clearance for that pesky aperture indexing tab on Nikons that have 'em, or don't have hinged tabs like the F3. It won't even touch that tab. No problem there.

 

A few oddball T-Mount lenses might not clear the prism overhang but as far as I can recall those are few. Maybe one of the Vivitar "solid cat" types with a large diameter barrel? Someone else has mentioned that on the Nikon Forum within the past year.

 

I've used lots of T-Mount lenses on my D2H, FM2N and F3HP over the years without problem.

Heed the warning that pre-AI lenses cannot be used on a D200. I made that mistake once, and only once.

While that's generally true there are enough exceptions to make matters unclear.

 

The M2 extension tube that came with my pre-AI (but AI'd) 55/3.5 Micro-Nikkor is not, technically, AI or AI'd. Like a T-Mount, it clears the aperture indexing tab so there's no risk of damage. Unlike a T-Mount it provides diaphragm linkage for stop-down metering and automatic diaphragm operation.

 

I've seen a Soligor 200mm f/3.5 that's similarly designed. Not AI, per se, but completely clears the tab. Linkage for stop-down metering and automatic diaphragm operation.

 

Because of the design of the M2 extension tube I can use it to safely mount non-AI'd Nikkors on my D2H, as long as I'm willing to sacrifice infinity focus.

Thank you all. I will feel better about ordering one.

 

I thought that was true about pre Ai.

You asked ONLY about T-Mount lenses, so there is no point to confuse you with other types...or give you advice that does not apply...

 

I use T_Mount mirror lens 500/8, and a preset lens 400/5.6 also mounted via the T-Mount adapter on D200. They work great. D200 camera meters OK. Of course you need to focus manually. All you need to do is to set the lense as non-CPU lens, and enter the aperture value (actually used for metering), and focal length (used only for lens identification).

 

For the mirror lens 500/8 there is only one aperture, so no problem there, as one configuration data entry is used all the time with it.

 

The other lens has an aperture ring, an sometimes I use f=8 or f=11, due to low quality of that cheap lens. In each case, when I change aperture on the lens, I go to D200 configuration for non-CPU lenses and enter actual aperture for that lens, the same that is set on the lens aperture ring.

 

I would not say that ALL T-Mounts are safe, as perhaps there could be something out there as others already explained. You just visibly inspect your T-Mount and see if anything could spoil your fun? or just get right one for about $5.

There's one other issue, aside from AI compatability, and that's AF compatability. Some gear presses up against the AF contact block (and I've also heard that some can scrape the contacts). My old BR-2 reversing ring needed a bi of grinding to make it "AF Safe".

 

Fortunately, I've never seen a T-mount adapter that wasn't both AI and AF safe.

 

Lex - "A few oddball T-Mount lenses might not clear the prism overhang but as far as I can recall those are few."

 

I owned one. The 500-800mm f8-12 zoom cat sold under the Vivitar, Starblitz, and Zycor names was fine on my FM2 and FA, but would not mount on modern bodies, even the 8008.