Nikon F or F2 lens compatibility

[jultou]

I would like to purchase a Nikon F or F2 but I am kind of confused with the lens compatibility.

I do have three Ai lenses, the 28/2.8, 50/1.4 and 135/2.8.

Would I be able to use these lenses on a Nikon F of F2?
Would the meter work properly?

 

[Vics]

Yes. 10 characters.

 

[sevo]

Short version: Yes. AI and AI-S lenses are backward compatible to the earlier "rabbit ears" aperture coupler system used by Nikon (unless that coupler has been unscrewed).

E and AF lenses have AI couplers only, so they will not couple to any metered F, nor to the F2 Photomic, S and SB (the F2A and AS have AI finders). G lenses won't do on any manual focus Nikon (besides not being coupled, they also lack a mechanical aperture control).

 

[a.noctilux]

You can use all Nikon AI lenses on an F or F2.

As the meter is in the finder you chose for your F or F2, you can
use with full AI (auto indexing) or not.

Only with Nikon F2 + DP11 or DP12 full feature's AI lenses (like yours) could be used without keying manually (turning the F-stop ring right/left twice).

Arnaud

 

[Dwig]

...
E and AF lenses have AI couplers only, so they will not couple to any metered F, nor to the F2 Photomic, S and SB ...

True, but they will meter properly in stop down mode. You have to set the finder correctly and then press the DOF preview while metering.

The F Photomic FTn and the F2 Photomic, Photomic S, & Photomic Sb finders are set for stop down metering by pressing up on the meter coupling print until the finder resets. With the early manual indexing F Photomics (TN and T) you set f/5.6 as the maximum aperture when doing stop down metering

 

[jultou]

Merci Arnaud.

So with a F2A or F2AS the lens would work the same as on a Nikon FM?

You can use all Nikon AI lenses on an F or F2.

As the meter is in the finder you chose for your F or F2, you can
use with full AI (auto indexing) or not.

Only with Nikon F2 + DP11 or DP12 full feature's AI lenses (like yours) could be used without keying manually (turning the F-stop ring right/left twice).

Arnaud

 

[Robert Lai]

"So with a F2A or F2AS the lens would work the same as on a Nikon FM?"

Yes.