Ins and Outs of the Nikon Lens Mount.

[Joe]

fantastic thread. Read through it with facination. It's only when you see them here you realise the potential massive pitfalls of, for example, a new owner of one of nikon latest digi bodies, then searching through secondhand listings for lenses.

Of enormous help, and a great resource here

[Don Hoey]

Its taken ages for me to find this to link it in a post so this is a bit of a bump.

Don

[Joe]

Thanks Don. This is a great thread.
Now shooting Digi Nikon, I've tried several film bodies since the switch, was difficult to justify F5 anymore, but tried some inexpensive alternatives, just for curiuosity really (for occasional use).
Two examples, The Russian Kiev19 with the Nikon F mount, and a very early Nikkorex F (the poor mans Nikon F !)......
I've had some good shots with both.

Now settled for the very inexpensive and commonly found F301. suprised I over-looked it really.

[Don Hoey]

Both of those look interesting Joe. Ahh the 301. Stevie had one for years before it dissapeared in a burglary.

Burglers were not into photography as the passed up on Nikkormats, F2S and AS, and my SQ outfit. Insurance money for the bits they did take though, Stevie had me spend on a F3 for her.

Don

PS : Re poor mans Nikon F. In 1966 I bought a Miranda G. Full system job with interchangeable finders/screens etc. Interesting camera in its day and shed loads cheaper than the F.

[Joe]

I got the Kiev with a box full of other junk too. An interesting camera for the collector I guess, but has the usual Ukranian quality control issues. lots more plasticky than it actually looks.
Miranda had a great name in photography. I remember some older kit in one of the labs when I worked for 3M. Miranda (and Cosina for that matter) pretty much sold their name to anything in more recent times.

RE the F301. I'm off to Holland this weekend to a camera fair, but the journey will be a good excuse to stick a 28mm lens on it and put a few rolls of Delta400 through it. small lightweight and inexpensive if it gets some sea salt spray on the ferry! lol

[sigmasd14]

Many Nikon lenses can be converted to other mounts quite easily...I have converted my Nikon 35mm f1.4 Ai-S and 105mm f2.5 Ai-S to Sigma SA mount. Both are excellent lenses and they work even better with the really sharp Foveon X3 sensor behind them.
I have'nt converted my 55mm and 200mm Micro Nikkors because I can gain a macro magnification advantage by using them via Roxsen Nikon-M42 adapter plus an M42-SA adapter.

[Don Hoey]

So far in this thread I have only discussed lens to camera body issues. However on my catch up reading of what has been happening here I have found two threads discussing extension tubes and they raised the issue of aperture control specifically with 'G' type lenses. Threads referred to
http://www.worldphotographyforum.com...ead.php?t=5930
http://www.worldphotographyforum.com...ead.php?t=5936

So the whole issue of lens/extension tube compatibility is worth adding to this thread.

The 'G' Type len has only electronic control of aperture. No doubt doing away with the aperture ring simplified design and shaved cost, but is something older Nikon users moan about as it seriously limits the options for adding some form of lens extension, be it tubes or bellows as very few have the necessary electronic links to control aperture. Nikon did however go some way to keeping a lot of people happy with their AFS range of micro lenses as these do go to 1:1 unlike the AI/AIs variants 1:2, that required extension tubes to get to 1:1.

Currently Nikon do not have a tube or bellows that is compatible with 'G' type lenses, and so as far as I am aware users are limited to the newer Kenko DG Auto Extension Tubes, as they are listed as auto focus compatible with Nikon AF lenses including Nikon AF-S (silent Wave) lenses. Earlier versions are said to have problems with AFS.

With a 'G' type lens mounted on a basic tube with no aperture linkage, the aperture will be constantly at minimum. With tubes with an aperture linkage, athough you will get open aperture for manual focusing the aperture will close to minimum when the shutter is depressed. On the net I have seen a couple of hacks but you do need some workshop kit to get involved in that, and even so the aperture setting is more approximate than actual.

AFD lenses are usable on most bellows/tubes as the aperture can be manually set. However it is still important to consult your lens manual to ensure compatibility. I'll example that with Nikon's thinnest tube the earlier PK11. This was modified and released as PK11A with extra clearance milled for the CPU contact block of AFD lenses, but that relief is not large enough to accommodate the larger contact block of AFS lenses. So do not attempt to mount an AFS lens on one.

Note: When using Nikon's PK series of tubes, or any similar mechanical auto tubes, there is NO electrical communication between the body and lens. The lens must be manually focused, and of the digital cameras to date, metering will only be available on D1-D3 series and D200, D300 and D300s. All other cameras will have to be set to manual and exposure arrived at by trial and error.

Pic to show the difference between 'G' Type and AFD attached.

Don

[Joe]

Great posting, as usual, Don. An alert to your post actually prompted me to log on here and catch up. I'm guilty of not having been on here for quite some time!

The 'G' Type len has only electronic control of aperture. No doubt doing away with the aperture ring simplified design and shaved cost, but is something older Nikon users moan about as it seriously limits the options for adding some form of lens extension, be it tubes or bellows as very few have the necessary electronic links to control aperture.

By coincidence, I was taking to SRB the other day for a customer wanting to bring manual aperture control to his collection of rather nice G-type lens collection. The arrival of a batch of fresh catalogues confirms that these guys can make an adapter containing an aperture ring to bring control for G-lenses whilst 'off' the camera body/ fitted to an earlier non CPU compatable body. It's a bit pricey though, and if the optic installed to enable infinity focus is the same as the ones I've tried from the far east, it's a bit .....erm...nasty (to say the least). However, SRB seem to offer this same technology in extension tubes and lens reversal adapters options. Seems a nice idea to me, though I can't help but think it's probably a more economical option to buy another lens non-G lens ie with an aperture ring.

[Don Hoey]

I see Nikon has announced the D7000, so I thought I ought to update this thread as far as lens compatibility is concerned.

This camera now joins the D series, D200 and D300 in having a meter coupling tab for AI and AI-s manual focus lenses.

From info on DPR it will meter with AI and AI-s lenses in 'Center-weighted' or 'Spot', and available exposure modes are A or M. The camera can be programmed for up to 9 of these lenses.

Don

[Don Hoey]

A tread bump for Jim and maybe even Mark.

Check images in posts 2 & 3.

Don