I want to buy a film camera with lenses which will attach to a Nikon D40

amber123

New member
Hey, I got into photography properly about 2 years ago when I bought my first DSLR, a Nikon D40 before that I did enjoy photography but never really took it seriously. I've produced some pretty good photos and I would like to have a go at film photography due to the higher resolution and better quality as well as the opportunity to try new things.

I would like to get a film SLR with lenses which will fit onto my D40, I don't mind using an adaptor ring and I realises that they won't focus. Does anyone have any suggestions? I was fancying a Konica XG-M but I don't know if such an adaptor exists.
 

Greywoulf

New member
Why not buy an older Nikon 35mm film SLR, like maybe the Nikon F100? Any older Nikon SLR film camera with an F mount would mean that you could then interchange lenses with your D40.
But be aware that only Nikon lenses designated AF-S and AF-I will autofocus on your D40; the others will work, but you'll have to manually focus... And with the really old lenses you'll have to manually meter with them also....

Also digital DSLRs are so good now your statement about film cameras having better quality no longer holds as true (if at all?), as it did maybe five or six years ago... Almost every pro now, whether journalist, sports shooter, wedding photographer, or even the large frame portrait artists, are into digital..!
Except for one-time throwaway drugstore cameras, and for people who like to experiment with old-timey stuff, film is about as dead as a doorknob now.

You can find older film cameras at KEH or Adorama or eBay on the web, for cheap...
 
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lls-indy

Senior Member
I agree with Greywoulf about film cameras. I held out until about 16 months ago, I had a Nikon N65 film camera with a couple of really nice lenses. The shutter stopped working and I took it in to the camera store and had a real heart to heart with the fellow there. #1, digital is cheaper because you can take 15 shots of the same thing and don't have to get them all developed to see IF you got what you wanted. #2 they are much easier to store than prints and negatives. Depending on the settings on your camera you should be able to produce photos that no one will know are from a digital camera. I have been taking some classes for a certification program and all 6 of my instructors have gone to digital, one of them just recently (she's a B&W film junky) and even she admitted that her digitals were sharper than her film shots. See if you can find a Nikon class on your D40, a lot of the mystery is in the menu, whether you shot jpeg or raw or how you have it set. Instead of investing in a film camera put the money in good glass, I don't think you will be sorry. Just my thoughts -- lls
 

LensWork

Senior Member
To use the lenses from your D40 on a film camera it must be a late model Nikon. Your lenses are most likely "G" series which do not have a mechanical aperture ring, therefore they will only work on electronic film bodies such as the F5, F100, N8008, N90, N75, N65, N55. You can see a complete chart at: Nikon SLR Camera & Lens Compatibility Chart .

Edit: I almost forgot to mention the fact that your lenses for the D40 are also most probably DX lenses so they will not cover the full 35mm format.
 
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the nikon FE film camera is so good I bought two, it is hard to focus manually at f1.4 because this is such a shallow depth of field but the results can be stunning. It is very addictive and rewarding to shoot a good sturdy film SLR and the FE is very well built, a very intuitive, user friendly workhorse camera.
 

D200freak

Senior Member
All Nikon F-mount lenses will mount on all Nikon F-mount cameras. You will be able to at least manually focus any of them. You will be able to control the f-stop if the lens has an f-stop ring. (G lenses don't have that. So they're wide open all the time if attached to a manual camera.)

As for detail and resolution in DSLR vs film cameras, a D810 has a pixel pitch of 4.89 microns, which is smaller than the grain size on many kinds of film.

Once we've reached the point where sensor resolution is higher than film grain size is small, then it's all over but the shouting. And we're there.

At this point in time, any theoretical advantages in resolution of film grain size are history with the best DSLRs on the market, plus the DSLR will feature ISO sensitivity that is simply ludicrous and WAY past any film you can buy. While there are some films that you MIGHT be able to find with ISO ratings of up to 6400, a D810 pushes out to 51,200.

Film no longer offers any advantages but you may still enjoy using it. Which is great. I appreciate retro things. I listen to CDs but I also never stopped listening to vinyl records or playing my reel-to-reel tapes. I own a tube power amp in my stereo system.

But the idea that film is higher resolution is not always true anymore. If it IS true, then you are looking at low ISO fine grained films, usually for B&W photography, but I just heard about a new color film intended for lomography with an ISO rating of 6. yes, SIX. I suspect you could probably pull the film out of the cartridge in broad daylight, inspect it, roll it back into the cartridge, and use it in its intended application in a lomographic camera without affecting the image too much. :D However, it would have extremely fine grain and would be awesome for making super high resolution portraits of things that don't move at all.
 

Blacktop

Senior Member
the nikon FE film camera is so good I bought two, it is hard to focus manually at f1.4 because this is such a shallow depth of field but the results can be stunning. It is very addictive and rewarding to shoot a good sturdy film SLR and the FE is very well built, a very intuitive, user friendly workhorse camera.

Too bad you didn't stick around after your first post, back in 2010. With a moniker like that, you could have went places.
 

480sparky

Senior Member
What is it about those pre-ai lenses that can cause damage? That'd be good information for me to have.

It's from the way the original F-mount lenses were manufactured, and how Ai'd lenses were changed to 'key' the camera as to the lens' maximum aperture.

Originally, Nikon made their F-mount lenses with a solid ring around the mount. Note how the black portion of the barrel in the lower right extends past the silver part of the lens mount... it's a solid ring all the way around the lens.

Ai%20damage%2003.jpg



When they created the Ai system (Automatic Indexing), they needed a way for the lens to 'tell' the camera what the maximum aperture is on the lens. This was done by removing most of that ring, and leaving the end in a position that was related to the lens' maximum aperture.

Ai%20damage%2002.jpg



They added a ring around the camera's lens mount to 'receive' this raised portion of the lens. Take a look at your camera, with the lens removed, and you'll see it at about the 1:30 position. You can take your finger and gently move it.

Ai%20damage%2005.jpg



The Ai lens 'keys' this ring, and how much it moves 'tells' the camera the maximum aperture of the lens.

AI%20damage%2001.jpg


Todays' current crop of G lenses do not have this ridge or key. They communicate their specs electronically through the contacts inside the lens mount of the camera and the little 'BB's' or 'ball bearings' on the lens.

A pre-Ai lens, not having this notch in the mount, will push in on the tab on the camera before you can insert the lens far enough to turn it to mount it. Here's, I've taken my pre-Ai 28mm Nikkor and just set it on the camera, not applying enough pressure to damage the ring on the camera.

Ai%20damage%2004.jpg


This is what will be damaged by forcing a pre-Ai lens onto a modern camera.... the Ai ring around the camera's mount.

Some DSLR bodies do not have the indexing ring, so they can accept pre-Ai lenses without damage.
 
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Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
What is it about those pre-ai lenses that can cause damage? That'd be good information for me to have.
A pre-AI lens will press down on the minimum aperture switch which will damage the electrical contacts and/or chew up the switch itself as you rotate the aperture collar.

The end result will be an un-resolvable "FEE" error (at best).
 

480sparky

Senior Member
A pre-AI lens will press down on the minimum aperture switch which will damage the electrical contacts and/or chew up the switch itself as you rotate the aperture collar.

The end result will be an un-resolvable "FEE" error (at best).

And worst case....... you send the camera & lens (now hopelessy jammed together as one) to a repair facility.
 
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