Why DOESN'T the D70, and most new Nikon AF bodies work with older AI/AIS lenses?

[scott_cullen]

Happy New Year. I'm a newbie here. I have a 25 year old Nikon F2A and some great Nikkor F mount AI, fully manual lenses. Bought new, my first and only SLR. I use photography to document my consulting work. I have been perfectly happy with my old manual stuff and film. When I need digital files I have them burned to CD by the processor. A few recent exceptions when I needed digital files sooner than I could get the CD. So I'm looking at digital.

 

I also understand that once I invest in digital equipment and a new learning curve, I am likley to find workflow advantages.

 

But I searched on this topic specifically becuase I wanted to know if I could use my great old MF AI lenses particularly the 55/2.8 micro. A very interesting set of responses. Quite informative.

 

I have two remaining questions.

 

1. I have some trouble with the explanation that it simply is too expensive to add metering for MF AI lenses below the D200 price point. The Ken Rockwell site and others reveal that with an appropraite adapter ring, Nikkor MF AI and AI/S lenses will mount on Canon EOS bodies and they will meter and they will focus properly on the film/sensor plane. I ordered a consumer grade adapter and tried it on a friend's Canon Digital Rebel. It metered just fine. Tried it at closest focus (about 4-5" with the 1.6x factor). The image was a bit fuzzy in low light probably becuase it needed a very slow shuter speed. Sharp as can be in good light. (And easy to focus with the matte screen BTW). No fussy analysis of exact focus, exposure or color so maybe it could have been better. We only looked at the LCD on the camera. But then again we did not bracket or otherwise work at best results. So the query is: if metering with MF AI lenses is a native ability in the Canon do we think it really is a manufacturing cost issue for Nikon?

 

This certainly points to one of the posts which suggests the two edged sword if Nikon skipped this ability as a marketing ploy. Here I'm considering a Canon body to use my old Nikkor lenses.

 

2. Anybody have actual experience with this sort of set up?

 

Scott Cullen

[ShunCheung]

Scott, if you search the archives, your question has already been answered quite a few times.

 

Now that the Nikon D200 is reality, although supply may remain tight for a couple more months, I think the argument to mount old Nikon lenses onto Canon DSLRs is even weaker. The D200 has a very nice viewfinder, can meter with AI/AI-S lenses (wide open metering, not stop down) and can provide electronic rangefinder for focus confirmation, but the most important point is that the $1700 initial price tag is quite reasonable, and that will likely come down soon.

[ky2]

Scott, feel free to contact me if you want to continue this off thread. I'm shooting with Nikkors on my 20D, as well as on my Fm3a.

 

The $1700 price tag (if you can get it) for the D200 is still quite high, since the camera is still bearing the "new and shiny" tag... A 20D (with rebates) can be had for $1000, and that saving is considerable; I had my 20D fitted with a split prism screen and it's more than adequate to focus manually (albeit, not as good as my Fm3a)... Then again, you could wait for Canon to release their 15D(???) in 2 months, and wait for the D200 prices to plummet.