Old AF micro Nikkor 55mm on a D3100

Ironwood

Senior Member
Hi all, my first post, hope I am in the right place.

I recently purchased a D3100 with the twin lens kit, I also have an older 55mm AF micro Nikkor
It is this one here---- Nikon 55mm f2.8 AF Review

I tried this lens on my camera for the first time today, but I am having some problems.
Should I be trying to adjust the aperture with the manual ring on the lens, or should I set it on the smallest aperture, which is f32 on the ring, and adjust it using the camera ?
If I do change the ring on the lens to anything other than f32, i get a message on the display saying that the aperture is wide open.

I took a couple of photos to see if it was working, with the camera on aperture priority , I seem to be getting a very shallow depth of field at all aperture settings. I am just not sure if its working.

Any help here is much appreciated.

I am wanting to use this lens to take photos of smallish objects for a website, and I want to have all of the object in focus.
 

pedroj

Senior Member
Welcome to the forum..

yes the smallest aperture then you adjust the aperture as you would with your kit lens in camera...
 

Ironwood

Senior Member
Thanks Pedroj.
OK, so I know I am on the right track now.
I will do some more test shots tomorrow. I am still a bit puzzled about my lack of DOF. When I change the aperture on the camera, I think it was changing the shutter speed, and the exposure was about right.
I deleted my photos this afternoon, so cannot recheck them, so will have to take a new batch tomorrow.
 

stmv

Senior Member
well,, this is a pure manual lens, and if you set it to the max aperature, then that is what you are going to get. Set the camera in Manual mode, you change the aperature by the lens, and the ISO/Speed on the camera

No,, it won't meter, take a test shot, and check historygram and change until in bounds,

OR, change to Liveview, I am not sure, but on my d800, it shows how much exposure there is (by the view on the screen), you might have to read your owner's manual to see if that works.

minus the light meter, you can get some very nice shots with that lens.

SO,, Manual mode, Change aperature on lens, speed on camera. that should work.
 

eurotrash

Senior Member
some older af-d lenses actually LOCK in the aperture on the lens barrel with a little tiny tab that turns red when it's locked. My 50mm 1.8AFD does it. I lock it on f22, and the camera handles the rest on my 5100.
 

Nikon Photographer

Senior Member
well,, this is a pure manual lens, and if you set it to the max aperature, then that is what you are going to get. Set the camera in Manual mode, you change the aperature by the lens, and the ISO/Speed on the camera

How did you come to that conclusion ?? the OP has already put AF into the subject title, although the lens won't AF on the D3100, the meter will still work, and the lens should put put onto it's smallest aperture (Largest Number) and locked into place, there is a small button on the side, you need to put the small white line next to the orange line,you can use the lens in all modes but you won't get the 3D metering, but it will work in all other metering modes.
 

Ironwood

Senior Member
Thanks Guys, I think I have it sorted.
I took a series of shots of a printed page ( on an angle to the camera) on aperture priority, going from minimum aperture to maximum aperture. The depth of field definitely changes. Thought I had focused on 9/32, but the focus is obviously just in front of that. I am finding it a bit vague trying to focus using liveview.
DSC_0001.jpg DSC_0002.jpg DSC_0004.jpg DSC_0006.jpg
I didnt upload all photos, 1st is 1/60 at f5.6, 2nd is 1/40 at f8, 3rd is 1/6 at f20, 4th is 1/1.3 at f40.
I think I got the order right, but you get the idea.

One thing that is puzzling me is, on the camera display, the aperture readout doesnt seem to match what the lens should be.
For example, on the lenses aperture ring, settings go from f2.8 to f32, while on the camera display it goes from f5.6 to f40.
Is this the same thing as the lens focal length (?) changing on these dslr's compared to 35mm film cameras ?
 

Nikon Photographer

Senior Member
Not sure why the camera and lens are out by 2 stops, I use the older 28-105 AF-D on my D70 & D90 and haven't had no problems, looking at the Exif data on the last shot you posted, I noticed you have the exposure compensation set to + 0.3, but can't see this being the reason ....
 

Ironwood

Senior Member
Not sure why the camera and lens are out by 2 stops, I use the older 28-105 AF-D on my D70 & D90 and haven't had no problems, looking at the Exif data on the last shot you posted, I noticed you have the exposure compensation set to + 0.3, but can't see this being the reason ....

Not sure why the exp. comp. was different, I was playing around with it the other day so maybe I didn't return it to 0 , and the camera has retained that setting. This stuff is fairly new to me.
I noticed the first photo was more exposed than the rest for some reason. Anyway I will check the setting on the camera before I use it next time.

So you are saying the f stops line up on your gear ? I wonder why mine doesn't .

If I can get better closeup photos with this lens than my 18 -55 kit lens, I will be using it for my website photos, so I will just have to get used to the way it is I guess.

Edit;- I just checked, every photo I took yesterday had 0.3 on it. So I will have to reset the camera.
 
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Nikon Photographer

Senior Member
So you are saying the f stops line up on your gear ? I wonder why mine doesn't

Had a play around with the 28-105 f3.5-4.5 AF-D on the D90 today, and yes, the f stops line up with whats on the camera, fully open at f3.5 on 28mm and goes to f4.5 when zoomed to 105mm, so I really can't work out why your is 2 stops out ...
 

Ironwood

Senior Member
I have used this lens a few times now, its still reading the same as it was.
The photos dont seem to be suffering because of it ( well, not to my untrained eye anyhow ), so I will just use it like it is.
 

Sandpatch

Senior Member
I have a very old Nikkor 55mm f/3.5 Macro Lens with the M2 Ring that dates from the 70's. It mounts up fine on my D5100 and I guess it'd mount on the D3100 too. The lens offers no AF nor any Auto aperature with my D5100 -- it's all manual set all the way. However, with it set at f/32 and an exposure of about 30 Seconds, most shots are fine. Here's one of some small bolts removed from my truck and it's not been enlarged in any way:

Nissan Exhaust Manifold Heat Shield Screws - For Upload.jpg

I don't mind the manual settings at all because with a DSLR I get instant feedback and it's not as if my subject matter is going to run off. :D This lens was my fathers and it has worn the years extremely well. I think it's very cool that Nikon hasn't obsoleted its lens mounting system and that 40 year old Nikkor lenses can still be used.
 
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Ironwood

Senior Member
Hey Sandpatch, its good to hear that lens is still taking good photos.

Looks like its held up a bit better than those bolts from out of your truck :D
 

Sandpatch

Senior Member
Yep, true! I was very fortunate to remove them without them breaking. Except for the macro lens, I sold off all of my father's old "glass" as being too cumbersome to use with the DSLR. As someone told me, "Yes, you can use the old lenses, but you probably won't want to." The good news is that old Nikkor lenses are still in good demand.
 

Ironwood

Senior Member
Thanks @Sandpatch for bringing this old thread to my attention. It was my very first post on Nikonites.
I still have this lens, and its one of my favourites. I prefer to use this lens for my macro work than my much newer Nikon 105g VR macro lens.
 

Blacktop

Senior Member
I have used this lens a few times now, its still reading the same as it was.
The photos dont seem to be suffering because of it ( well, not to my untrained eye anyhow ), so I will just use it like it is.

I wouldn't worry too much. Besides, I predict that by 2017 you'll be taking some awesome jumping spider shots.:cheerful:
 

Ironwood

Senior Member
I wouldn't worry too much. Besides, I predict that by 2017 you'll be taking some awesome jumping spider shots.:cheerful:

Don't worry about the Jumping Spiders, can you predict the Lotto numbers for this Saturday night for me, I need some cash to buy some new lenses and a D500 :encouragement:
 

Ironwood

Senior Member
Yes, it was a nostalgic read for me today. I am a bit surprised that no one picked up on why I was confused about the aperture not corresponding with the range on the dial.
It is because I had the lens focussed right in close, and I couldn't achieve f2.8, I think it was noted that the aperture range was shifting 2 stops. I now know that this is a characteristic of all macro lenses.
 
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