Reviewing using manual lens (old film camera) on D3400

busaf4

New member
I am getting back into SLR after 35 years and bought a D 3400

In using a manual lens made for film cameras I presume the following is the procedure. Please comment if I am correct or not



Get light meter or light meter app for aperture, iso, speed settings

Mount lens ( I have Nikon chart on compatible Nikon lens)

Turn Camera to manual mode

Set aperture ring to desired setting (EX 1.8)

Manual program camera aperture setting to 1.8 (same as lens ring setting)

Manual program set ISO

Manual program set speed.

Use view finder not LCD and turn lens to focus


Also I have some ol Minolta lens from the 70's. I have seen adapters on Amazon with built in corrections lens. Do they work and is the performance reduced with the adapter

I understand a 50mm lens in a full frame is equal to a 75mm view in a D3400

Appreciate any comments
 

nickt

Senior Member
I think live view will work if you want to focus from there but it will be dark if your lens is stopped down. You can enter live view without a lens being mounted and even snap a totally blurry picture with no lens when in manual mode. It will pretty much be the same with an old lens, the camera won't know its there. You set shutter and iso and control the aperture on the lens.
As for a light meter, you could also just snap a picture and check the histogram in the camera, then make an adjustment.
 
Unless you have a lot of old lenses it would probably be easier and better quality to just but new lenses. Using lenses meant for a different brand is a bad idea and you would lose even more quality.
 

Fred Kingston

Senior Member
You don't need a light meter...the camera has one in it... just adjust the speed/aperture/iso until the little light meter bar is centered
 

pforsell

Senior Member
I have about a dozen manual focus Nikkors, most of them highly sought after rare gems that have no corresponding autofocus replacement. Using them is truly a joy in more ways than one.

Unfortunately your body choice isn't the best possible for four reasons, imho.

First, the D3400 does not meter with non-cpu lenses at all, so external meter is needed.

Second, the camera does not have the AI tab, so it doesn't know which aperture is set. (if your lenses are AI or AI-S)

Third, it has a dim pentamirror viewfinder that makes focusing all but impossible.

Fourth, it is DX sensor which is only half of the size that the lenses were originally designed for.

These 4 points makes the shooting so cumbersome and unnecessarily complex hit and miss guesswork, that I bet there will be no fun left and you'll get bored in less than a week.

If possible, I'd contact the seller and would ask if it was possible to return the camera. If you lenses are AI or AI-S, then a better choice would be something like a used D700 which fixes all the 4 points above, and then some. And the price is the same. If the lenses are pre-AI, then the best camera would be Nikon DF.

And no, Minolta lenses with adapters is not a great idea, though pictorially you'd get interesting results not unlike Holga.
 
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Bob Blaylock

Senior Member
I have about a dozen manual focus Nikkors, most of them highly sought after rare gems that have no corresponding autofocus replacement. Using them is truly a joy in more ways than one.

Unfortunately your body choice isn't the best possible for four reasons, imho.

First, the D3400 does not meter with non-cpu lenses at all, so external meter is needed.

Second, the camera does not have the AI tab, so it doesn't know which aperture is set. (if your lenses are AI or AI-S)

Not at all a problem for someone who is used to old, fully-manual film cameras anyway. In fact, less of a problem than with the old fully-manual film cameras, because at least you can start out with a guess, see the result right away, and make adjustments for the next shot. Can't do that with film.

On the other hand, if @busaf4 has any old non-AI lenses, he can use them with this body, but cannot safely use them with the higher-up bodies that do have an AI tab.


Third, it has a dim pentamirror viewfinder that makes focusing all but impossible.

That's not the issue. It's the focussing screen that is the issue. The stock focussing screen included with the D3x00 cameras is pretty much useless for manual focussing. But it's not a big deal to replace it with an aftermarket focus screen that is much better.


Fourth, it is DX sensor which is only half of the size that the lenses were originally designed for.

I don't see why that's a problem. One just has to be aware of the crop factor, and realize that a lens of a given focal length, on a DX body, will provide approximately the same field of view as a lens with that focal length multiplied by 1.55 on an FX body, or on a standard 35mm film camera.


These 4 points makes the shooting so cumbersome and unnecessarily complex hit and miss guesswork, that I bet there will be no fun left and you'll get bored in less than a week.

If possible, I'd contact the seller and would ask if it was possible to return the camera. If you lenses are AI or AI-S, then a better choice would be something like a used D700 which fixes all the 4 points above, and then some. And the price is the same. If the lenses are pre-AI, then the best camera would be Nikon DF.

As one who routinely uses my ancient 1960s and 1970s vintage non-AI lenses on my D3200, I could not disagree with you more.
 

busaf4

New member
If it has light meter in side then it will be just like using my old Minolta STR 101 which I had no problems which in my film days. I only plan using it for portrait and outside depth of field control purposes and want a good lens quality. I will use the fully automatic lens on all other uses. Manual dies not bother me, I have a car that has a crash box stick shift and a crank to start and it still goes down the road Art
 
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Sandpatch

Senior Member
I enjoy messing around with my old mid-70s Nikkor lenses on my D5100 (my sole camera). Rather than make my self crazy with calculating settings, I start with something typical like 1/125 @ f/8, check the result and make incremental changes if needed.

The only thing that disappoints is focusing. Distant scenic shots work out fine with tack-sharp focus, but close-ups are blurred because I have yet to precisely set my D5100's eyepiece focus. I'm actually not sure how to accomplish this with my aging eyes, other than trial-and-error. Is there a better way?
 
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pforsell

Senior Member
I enjoy messing around with my old mid-70s Nikkor lenses on my D5100 (my sole camera). Rather than make my self crazy with calculating settings, I start with something typical like 1/125 @ f/8, check the result and make incremental changes if needed.

The only thing that disappoints is focusing. Distant scenic shots work out fine with tack-sharp focus, but close-ups are blurred because I have yet to precisely set my D5100's eyepiece focus. I'm actually not sure how to accomplish this with my aging eyes, other than trial-and-error. Is there a better way?

You should set your eyepiece focus so, that shooting data (green numbers in your camera?) in the bottom of the viewfinder are sharp. Then the eyepiece is focused on the viewfinder screen for your eyes.
 

Sandpatch

Senior Member
You should set your eyepiece focus so, that shooting data (green numbers in your camera?) in the bottom of the viewfinder are sharp. Then the eyepiece is focused on the viewfinder screen for your eyes.

I'm embarrassed to admit that I never noticed this. The green numbers were fairly sharp, but moving the adjustment one click more helped make them more so. I'll see what effect it has. Thank you!
 

Sandpatch

Senior Member
Adjusting the focus helped quite a bit, but I can still see some blurriness sometimes. I noticed that the eyepiece focus adjustment is now set to the very last click. What's interesting is that some shots are sharp and others not quite so. The face of my kid's stuffed animal is sharp, but the plant detail is lacking just a bit. I guess I need to be very careful when focusing. Thank you again for helping me with this. The adjustment has definitely helped. Both of these shots are much better than I would have gotten previously.

These are from a Nikkor 50mm f/1.4. This is a heavy little lens! I forget how light my 18-55 kit lens is by comparison. :)

2018-06-03 Junior Face Focus 50mm Experiment.jpg

2018-06-03 Manual Focus 50mm Experiment.jpg
 
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pforsell

Senior Member
If the camera adjustment is not enough, Nikon offers Diopter Correction Eyepieces from -5.0 to +3.0 if I remember correctly. NikonUSA lists them at $16.00. The type is DK-20C. Even a small addition to the current would probably help, since the correction eyepiece adds to the built-in clickable setting and does not replace it. You would gain some latitude and still be able to make the clickable fine tune adjustments.

Just something to keep in mind if the setting proves to be inadequate in the future.

https://www.nikonusa.com/en/nikon-products/product/eyepieces/dk-20c--5.0-correction-eyepiece.html
 

Needa

Senior Member
Challenge Team
Adjusting the focus helped quite a bit, but I can still see some blurriness sometimes. I noticed that the eyepiece focus adjustment is now set to the very last click. What's interesting is that some shots are sharp and others not quite so. The face of my kid's stuffed animal is sharp, but the plant detail is lacking just a bit. I guess I need to be very careful when focusing. Thank you again for helping me with this. The adjustment has definitely helped. Both of these shots are much better than I would have gotten previously.

These are from a Nikkor 50mm f/1.4. This is a heavy little lens! I forget how light my 18-55 kit lens is by comparison. :)

View attachment 288344

View attachment 288345

I've never quite gotten a handle on this lens compatibility thing. So with this lens you don't get a green confirmation dot? Does the D5100 range finder function (custom settings A3) also not work with it?
 

Bob Blaylock

Senior Member
I've never quite gotten a handle on this lens compatibility thing. So with this lens you don't get a green confirmation dot? Does the D5100 range finder function (custom settings A3) also not work with it?

On the D3200, the rangefinder works only in every mode other than M. And M, of coure, is the only mode in which you can actually take a picture.

You can use the rangefinder with a non-CPU lens by setting the mode to one of those adjacent to M, focusing with the rangefinder, then switching to M to take the picture. A bit cumbersome,but it works. Better to have installed a third-party focusing screen.
 
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