Old lenses on a D40 ?

[Dave Wilkinson]

I have an opportunity to buy a Nikon D40 at a good price, from a relative ( in another town ). Niether of us know if I can use my old Nikkor lenses on it ( AI and pre AI ), If I can, I'll take it,-as I don't want to buy any new Nikkors now.
Obviously, metering would be affected, or non existant, but I think I once heard someone say the camera would 'think' that no lens was fitted, and not fire the shutter?, - or perhaps the electrics could be damaged?, BTW I used my old Nikkors on a Fuji S3, that I no longer have, and had good results, advice appreciated, thanks.
Cheers, Dave.

 

[venchka]

Find the Nikonians web page. They have charts and you can ask your questions there. I think Nikon USA has charts too. As I recall, the D40 is more limited than the bigger, full featured cameras.

 

[BillBingham2]

I was hoping the same thing but found that for me the limitations are too much for me to live with. I bet you could find a few great primes (AF) that would go well on her, but the old stuff is limited in functionality.

Take a look over at www.nikonians.org for more specifics. Another alternative is look at the Nikon web site and down load a non printable version of the manual.

B2 (;->

 

[wray]

Here's a shot I did with my D40 and a 50mm e lens (ais). It'll work with no metering or auto focus.

 

[NIKON KIU]

If you go by Nikon Rangefinder standards---->It works!

Kiu

 

[1948nikon]

When you mount either a non Ai or an Ai lens on a D40,D40x or D60 while it is in Auto, P ,A or S setting the readout will tell that there is no lens fitted and the camera will not fire.
Simply put in on the manual setting and away you go. No meter reading of course simply guess and you can check your results immediately and compensate where required .

A bit of a drag but you get to use all that fine N.K. Glass from the 60's.

 

[1948nikon]

When you mount either a non Ai or an Ai lens on a D40,D40x or D60 while it is in Auto, P ,A or S setting the readout will tell that there is no lens fitted and the camera will not fire.
Simply put in on the manual setting and away you go. No meter reading of course, simply guess and you can check your results immediately and compensate where required .

A bit of a drag but you get to use all that fine N.K. Glass from the 60's.

 

[Leighgion]

I was riding the classic-Nikkor-on-D40 wave for months. With only a few freak exceptions, pretty much everything in Nikon F-mount will mount up just fine with no danger to your camera and be optically perfectly mated. You just got to dial to "M" for manual and live without camera metering like the old days. The only dangerous lenses I'm aware of are the old fisheyes that had their own viewfinders and required dedicated mirror-lockup because they projected back into the mirrorbox.

I've since moved onto a D300, which does provide metering support with old lenses with a little data input, but I had great times with my D40 and my bargain AIS lenses.

 

[peterm1]

Sorry I cannot speak specifically about the D40 but I was regularly shooting AI and AI converted lenses on my D70s without any metering. (Pre AI lenses were not allowed apparently according to Nikon but the others work well.) I like manual focussing too as it allows me to more carefully decide what is the point of focus and to shoot accordingly. I found it was not too problematic as I could apply the sunny sixteen rule then check results on the LCD screen and shoot again if necessary after making further adjustments to exposure. This works with static subjects but is not always so great for more dynamic photos in all lighting situations. I liked shooting old primes so much (and found the quality of shots from them to be so good ) that I eventually used this as my excuse to buy a low mileage D200 which provides metering with older lenses. I am now a very happy chappy! The D200 allows you to input the focal length and maximum aperture of the manual focus lens being used and it is then able to give you accurate f stop read outs in the viewfinder - it must have the same mechanical linkages used by these older lenses. Wow that is impressive. (I think it even provides the correct exif data on any shots taken.) Sorry this is off topic a little but I thought it might interest you. My point, I suppose, if I have one is that shooting older primes on a Nikon digital is damn fun and produces good photos.

The example in this link here was shot with a 50mm f1.4 lens from memory and I am pretty happy as none of my later auto focus zooms would have been able to do this.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/80702381@N00/3127376209/sizes/l/in/set-72157610362797162/

 

[splitimageview]

I use old Nikkors on my Panasonic G1. Better viewfinder by far, very easy to focus, and aperture priority metering. A bit smaller than a D40.

 

[wray]

I use old Nikkors on my Panasonic G1. Better viewfinder by far, very easy to focus, and aperture priority metering. A bit smaller than a D40.

I'm seriously thinking of replacing my D40 with a G1 but I would miss the high iso of the D40. Here's a 3200 iso shot with the D40 and a 50mm afd lens and on board flash:

 

[splitimageview]

The D40 is better for action, too. My daughter uses a D40x and I really like it, but I also like my old Nikkors and don't want to carry the D700 around all the time. The smaller cameras become invisible or nearly so, in social situations. The D700 is subtle like OJ retrieving old memorabilia.

 

[GeneW]

Add a little VC meter to the top, set the D40 to M, and you're in business.

 

[Pablito]

you'll need good eyesight to focus manually. D40 viewfinder is small and dark compared to Nikon film SLR's

 

[antiquark]

you'll need good eyesight to focus manually. D40 viewfinder is small and dark compared to Nikon film SLR's

Actually, the D40 has a focus indicator dot that lights when it's properly focused. You can focus by just looking at the dot and ignoring the image, if you want. It works with old AI lenses too.

Here's a flickr group you might be interested in:

No metering lenses on Nikon DSLRs

 

[Ronald M]

Except for mirror lock up lenses, the mount,focus, and take pics as they would on a non metered nikon body.

 

[benkelley]

They do work on a D50. Perfectly. At least the old AI lenses.

 

[pvdhaar]

you'll need good eyesight to focus manually. D40 viewfinder is small and dark compared to Nikon film SLR's

But the D40 finder is noticably bigger than the finder on the D50..

Between them, I find that I can accurately manually focus the D40 using the finder area, but not the D50..

Of course, if you go by the electronic focus confirmation dots, both do fine..

 

[Ronald_H]

Nearly everything works in M mode. This goes for pre-Ai and AI(S).

Only exception are lenses that would require mirror lock up.

No metering, but guestimating and checking the histogram works well for most. You can of course also use a hand held meter.

Focus indicator is a great help and works well.

Tried an old pre-Ai and some Ai lenses on a D60, works great. Manual focusing with AF Nikon lenses without builtin motor also works surprisingly well.

 

[VinceC]

Here's a shot taken with my D40 mounting a late 1960s-era 50/1.4

Works just fine unmetered but, as noted, focusing is a bit of a challenge.