Both impressed and disappointed by Nikon

[Malcolm M]

Friday afternoon, and a minor disaster. D300 fell off tripod from workbench height and landed pentaprism down on a concrete floor. Damage to camera- exactly nothing whatsoever. The same couldn't be said of the cheapo G series lens- one of the plastic flanges on the bayonet mount broke off. I was able to source a replacement the next day, but on the camera it didn't want to work at all.

The reason, courtesy of Ken Rockwell...

The problem is that the new AF-P autofocus motor system only works on camera models originally introduced since about 2013. If your camera is too old, the focus system, even in manual mode, won't work at all, making the lens completely useless with no workaround.


So the camera is quite happy with a 50+ year old AI converted manual lens, but Nikon can't provide back compatibility from a current lens to a 12(?) year old camera. And when did they start using 55mm filters?

 

[olakiril]

Sorry to hear about your fallen lens.

Can't really blame Nikon though for not supporting a 12 year old camera. Without knowing the exact reason for the incompatibility, I can assume it is not just a firmware-enable-lens kind of change, otherwise they would have done it. More like not meeting the power/processing requirements needed by the newer AF-P lenses. The fact that you had this expectation though, tells me that Nikon has already done quite a lot to maintain this belief 😉

 

[Nitroplait]

I hear you. I gave up around when Nikon changed from screwdriver AF to whatever followed. Matching bodies and compatible lenses seemed a bit more complex than where I wanted to go. Not that I cried too much, I prefer the manual focus metal lenses anyway - I only have to ask if a given camera can take an MF Ai lens or not.
But, maybe you should also be a little disappointed in your own research ability? Mr. Rockwell could have saved you the pain if you did the homework before you bought a new lens, not after?

 

[Dogman]

I still like the screwdriver based AF Nikkor lenses best. They probably wouldn't handle a crash any better but they feel solid when compared to the lightweight G series. I also like how they handle B&W.

 

[Malcolm M]

I will be honest- compatibility problems never entered my head. Nikon have a very conservative, and good record on that. They have retained the same basic mount since 1959, still fitted rabbit ears to AI lenses, and I believe even pre-drilled pilot holes in the early autofocus days. My mistake was not to apply rule 1 of spare/replacement part buying. Take the old part to the shop, plonk it on the counter and say "Gimme one of those."

 

[farlymac]

The lens chip probably got damaged too and is no longer communicating with the camera. When that happens the fail safe program on the camera kicks in so you don't waste time trying to use a crippled lens. I've got a DX 12-24 that quit working in AF one day, and even when I switch it to MF the camera will not allow an image so I replaced the lens. Someday I'll get another chip for it, but that's a low priority for now.

PF

 

[Nitroplait]

I will be honest- compatibility problems never entered my head. Nikon have a very conservative, and good record on that. They have retained the same basic mount since 1959, still fitted rabbit ears to AI lenses, and I believe even pre-drilled pilot holes in the early autofocus days. My mistake was not to apply rule 1 of spare/replacement part buying. Take the old part to the shop, plonk it on the counter and say "Gimme one of those."

Nikon stopped being conservative already in the early 1990's with the F50/N50 that wouldn't meter with non-cpu lenses. From there things started getting complicated unless you bought the top models - but even that got confusing when the aperture ring disappeared.

 

[DownUnder]

Time to think laterally here. I've not looked into D300 lens compatibility, but some years ago my venerable D90 suddenly quit auto-focusing its kit lens, after one of our house cats somehow got into my camera cabinet and knocked that camera to the floor, where it landed lens down. Other lenses work okay on the camera, so I initially made do with a 35/2.0 D which I found was too "standard" for me (given its DX 1.5x magnification with FX lenses, or whatever this phenomenon is called). I changed to a D 28/2.8 and I've been using this lens on that camera ever since.

I'm lucky in that I have two 28s, a good thing for me as my partner makes extensive use of the D90 and the 28 and won't relinquish it to me for my D700 and D800. One of the downsides of shared interests and matrimony...

I did luck into another kit lens in a secondhand shop in Melbourne, but found it didn't work on the same D90. Someone who knew their business told me it was the case of a newer lens than the camera - this is probably the same situation you find yourself in.

I later discovered my D90 still worked well with the older (film era) Series E Nikon lenses. A 28/2.8 worked well, and the 100/2.8 also gave beautiful results. This may be another option for you, if you can live with manual focusing. I can't, but my partner enjoys it, so we are fine in this regard.

So there is hope for your D300, if the fall hasn't damaged its "innards".

One can understand why Nikon has opted to not repair the more ancient cameras in its line, but there are always independent repair centers and secondhand camera shops to play around in.

 

[Pál_K]

These are the best charts on the internet showing compatibility between all Nikon lens types and both digital and film bodies. Scroll down a bit to see the charts - they’re extensive and detailed:

https://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/co...ility-lens.htm

As Ken says (somewhere), there’s a sliding window of compatibility among Nikon lenses and bodies as time goes on. Overall, Nikon has done well keeping the F mount alive for 60 years.

But I also have to give credit to Canon and their long-lived EF mount from 1987, because any EOS body from 1987 (650) onward to 2021 (1DxIII) will work with any EF lens.

Though perhaps the winning lens mount for longevity, for cameras still made today, is the Leica M mount.