Nikon F Lens Compatibility

[Tom Harrell]

I purchased a Nikon F with the FTn meter. My question is, can I use a Nikon auto focus lens on this camera? I know it would have to be used in stop down metering mode but I am afraid of trying to mount the lens for fear of damaging the pins on it's mount. Has anyone tried using an auto focus lens on their F or F2 before?
Thanks,
Tom

 

[Tom Harrell]

Thanks! I never thought of pushing up on that pin. The lens I want to use is a 24mm and has an aperture ring.

 

[Dwig]

I purchased a Nikon F with the FTn meter. My question is, can I use a Nikon auto focus lens on this camera? I know it would have to be used in stop down metering mode but I am afraid of trying to mount the lens for fear of damaging the pins on it's mount. Has anyone tried using an auto focus lens on their F or F2 before?
Thanks,
Tom

The AF & AF-S lenses will mount with no difficulty. The "G-series", and similar, that lack f/stop rings aren't practical to use, though.

Metering will be by the stopdown method which requires that you "release" the finder's coupling by pressing upward on the coupling pin prior to mounting the lens. When done properly, you will hear the mechanism release and the red indicator at the bottom front of the finder will be positioned to the left under the red "5.6".

 

[Tom Harrell]

I could also leave the meter off and use the sunny 16 rule to guess the exposure I suppose.
Thanks for your responses!

 

[Dwig]

I could also leave the meter off and use the sunny 16 rule to guess the exposure I suppose.
Thanks for your responses!

You could, but stopdown metering works well.

The only real gotchas are the stray light in the eyepiece can have a serious effect when the lens is stopped down a large amount or when the eyepiece is totally uncovered (e.g. you use the needle on the top of the finder) and that the Cds meter cells used in the FTn finder have a slight memory. You'll find that it takes a second or three for the needle to stop drifting when you meter at more that 2-3 stops smaller than maximum and up to 5-10 seconds when stopping down 5-6 stops (e.g. metering at f/16 with an f/1.4 lens...).

 

[texchappy]

As mentioned, I would avoid the G series. Any other lens can be used. You can even add the prong to catch the pin to the lenses (so I've read). The caveat being I haven't tried adding the prong so I can't tell you how it works from personal experience.

 

[Tom Harrell]

I don't have any "G" series lenses so I am safe in that regards. I'll look into what is required to add a prong to the lens. Thanks for all of the info!

 

[DNG]

As mentioned, I would avoid the G series. Any other lens can be used. You can even add the prong to catch the pin to the lenses (so I've read). The caveat being I haven't tried adding the prong so I can't tell you how it works from personal experience.

The prong must be at f/5.6 and attached to the aperture ring so it rotates when changing the f/stop... On the Non-Ai bodies, I believe the lenses needs to be on f/5.6 to mount it, so it keys properly, then a twist to f/16 or whatever the smallest stop is, and you are set. I think, it has been a long time since I had a Non-Ai body.

All my Nikkor lenses, non-Ai, and Ai/S have the prong centered on f/5.6

 

[Dwig]

The prong must be at f/5.6 and attached to the aperture ring so it rotates when changing the f/stop...

Correct. Back in the day, I added these to quite a number of lenses including a number of E-series with their plastic f/stop rings. Done correctly, it works out fine.

On the Non-Ai bodies, I believe the lenses needs to be on f/5.6 to mount it...

True ONLY FOR NIKKORMAT bodies that have meters and with those you must also cock the pin on the body to its fully clockwise position. F2 Photomics & F Photomic FTns don't require that the f/stop be set to any particular position when mounting. You still have to do the "Nikon dance" of shifting to minimum aperture and then maximum to first reset the indexing and then to set it so that the finder knows the lens' maximum aperture.