Older Nikkor lenses for the D7100

Revet

Senior Member
Now that I have a new d7100, I want to slowly add some good glass to use with it. I did get the Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 because it has a great rep and it is cheap. I have an all purpose zoom lens but I feel the need to have better lenses when I am doing something other than shooting family event photos (ie. birthdays, Christmas, etc). I see lots of posts on using older lenses on this camera because it has an internal motor. I tried to do a search on Google and came away more confused. I don't want to buy a lens on Amazon that doesn't work on my camera. Any help on this matter would be greatly appreciated. Any favorite older lenses to recommend would be great also. Currently I have the Nikkor 35mm f/1.8, a Tamron 18-270mm , and a Tamron 60 mm Macro lens which is nice for portraits and bugs. I am starting to become a Nikon snob so I want more Nikkor lenses. and Yes I have serious GAS!!
 

mikew_RIP

Senior Member
There are two types of AF lenses with and with out motors they will both work,well there are three but you will not see many of the third type they where early versions for the F3,if you go to manual focus i think AIS are the best option for metering but i could be wrong.
 

Revet

Senior Member
So Mike, I think for deals on Amazon I would look for AF lenses without motors correct?? What letter does Nikon designate these lenses with??
 

Revet

Senior Member
I think I might need to change this post a little because I just found a wikipedia site on all Nikkor F mount lenses. It is quite extensive and there are all sorts of letters used to designate lenses. So I guess what would be helpful would be a specific older non-AF motor lens has a good reputation and is a fast lens.
 

paul04

Senior Member
My Nikon 50mm 1.8D will not auto focus on my D3200, but works fine on the D7100.

Like Mike said, they come under D lenses.
 

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
If you don't have the Nikon 85mm f/1.8 G for your D7100 yet, you need to drop everything and get one. Possibly two.

They're... Just... That... Good.

....
 

Manna69247

Senior Member
It is the D lenses which don't have a focus motor in the lens and need the focus motor from the body to auto focus. D3x00 and D5x00 bodies don't have a focus motor and can't auto focus with D lenses.
My 50 f1.8D and 80-200 f2.8D are awesome on my D7000.
 
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Eyelight

Senior Member
So Mike, I think for deals on Amazon I would look for AF lenses without motors correct?? What letter does Nikon designate these lenses with??

AF is an autofocus lens without motor
AF-I is an autofocus lens with motor
AF-S is an autofocus lens with a silent wave motor

There are 2 main divisions of lenses, CPU and non-CPU. You can tell a CPU lens by the contacts on the mount.

CPU lenses are D or G.
-D means the lens sends distance info to the body (G lenses do this too).
-G means the lens aperture is controlled by the body and has no aperture ring on the barrel.

More info: https://support.nikonusa.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/14439
 

Eyelight

Senior Member
It is the D lenses which don't have a focus motor in the lens and need the focus motor from the body to auto focus. D3x00 and D5x00 bodies don't have a focus motor and can't auto focus with D lenses.
My 50 f1.8D and 80-200 f2.8D are awesome on my D7000.

There are a few D lenses that are AF-S, so cannot rely on the D to mean a motor-less lens. A couple examples:

[h=1]AF-S Nikkor 300mm f/2.8D IF-ED II[/h][h=1]AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8D IF-ED[/h]
 

lexman59

Senior Member
An AF-S is not a D lens, the S tells you it has a silent wave motor.
D lenses are described like
AF 50mm f1.8 D
 
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Eyelight

Senior Member
An AF-S is not a D lens, the S tells you it has a silent wave motor.
D lenses are described like
AF 50mm f1.8 D

There is some timeline correlation between lens types and autofocus drives, but the D and G have nothing to do with how the lens AF works.

While many AF-S lenses are G's and many AF lenses are D's, there are AF-S D lenses and there are AF G lenses.
 

Eyelight

Senior Member
Just to confirm I haven't lost my senses. Not sure how many of these are still in production.

AF G Lenses
AF DX Fisheye-Nikkor 10.5mm f/2.8G ED
AF Zoom-Nikkor 28-100mm f/3.5-5.6G
AF Zoom-Nikkor 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED
AF Zoom-Nikkor 28-80mm F3.3-5.6G
AF Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4-5.6G

AF-S D Lenses
AF-S Nikkor 300mm f/2.8D ED-lF
AF-S Nikkor 300mm f/2.8D II ED-lF
AF-S Nikkor 300mm f/4D ED-lF
AF-S Nikkor 400mm f/2.8D ED-lF
AF-S Nikkor 400mm f/2.8D II ED-lF
AF-S Nikkor 500mm f/4D IF-ED
AF-S Nikkor 500mm f/4D II IF-ED
AF-S Nikkor 600mm f/4D IF-ED
AF-S Nikkor 600mm f/4D II IF-ED
AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8D IF-ED
AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 28-70mm f/2.8D IF-ED
AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D IF-ED
 

Revet

Senior Member
If you don't have the Nikon 85mm f/1.8 G for your D7100 yet, you need to drop everything and get one. Possibly two.

They're... Just... That... Good.

....

I looked at both lenses mentioned (the 85mm and the 80-200mm) and the 85 is just what I am looking for. That would give me a prime fast lens with a 127.5 equivalent using the cropped sensor D7100. That would give me 3 fast prime lens (35, 60 macro, 85mm) plus my 18-270 Tamron which is a good lens for everyday family picture use. Thanks for the advice. Now I have to implement my restraint rule which is never buy any new camera gear for something I really want for at least 3 months. It is how I control GAS.
 

Fortkentdad

Senior Member
Old - legacy - vintage - call them what you like, but cheaper glass is a serious option for the 'frugal photographer'. Been looking to add to my lens collection too and there is a plethora of opinion out there on using these older lenses on current cameras. I have a few. My 28-80 AFD is from my old F60 - it was the kit lens and while not stellar it is a Nikkor and nifty. The "D" gets you distance - helpful apparently for TTL flash systems but I'm no expert. Besides Amazon KEH has nice used section (not for Canadian's as their shipping is sadly prohibitive - I bought from them before they tripled their shipping to Canada costs and when I'm in the USA). B&H has nice used section (and bonus FREE shipping to Canada now if over $99 which lenses will be). And of course evilBay. I'm sure there are others but these are those I've used. Still trying to figure out which lens will be my next addition. Just browsing and saving at the moment until the deal I cannot pass up comes to me.
 

coolbus18

Senior Member
and one of the main reasons i dig my 7100 is because I can use these marvelous "vintage" lenses. Now if I can find an Ai 1000mm tele for under $10 .......uh huh, sure.
 
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