Mount old MF lens on Nikon d3300

[Sagandh]

Hi
I own a d3300. Recently I learned about MF lens and bought a pre owned Panagor 75-205 f3.5 lens for F mount.
Could you please help me out step by step on how this lens can mount on to my d3300.
I dont see any markings on the lens to find the mounting point.
Some forums say you can mount non cpu lens and some say you cannot. I have been searching youtube but no luck.
Looking forward to your experienced insights.

 

[BF Hammer]

An F-mount lens will attach like any other. The top will be where you see the aperture ring indication. Align that about where the indicator is on the body then it will fit. Does the D3300 have non-CPU lens entry in the setup menu? If it does not, you won't be able to use the camera's metering.

If there is a menu entry for non-CPU lens, then you can enter the minimum f-stop and focal length there. The metering then will work, but you will be operating in manual mode. You must set ISO manually, rotate the ring on the lens to set f-stop, and you adjust shutter speed the regular way with the dial on the back. If no menu entry, you buy a handheld light meter and learn to operate that.

 

[bluzman]

An F-mount lens will attach like any other. The top will be where you see the aperture ring indication. Align that about where the indicator is on the body then it will fit. Does the D3300 have non-CPU lens entry in the setup menu? If it does not, you won't be able to use the camera's metering.

If there is a menu entry for non-CPU lens, then you can enter the minimum f-stop and focal length there. The metering then will work, but you will be operating in manual mode. You must set ISO manually, rotate the ring on the lens to set f-stop, and you adjust shutter speed the regular way with the dial on the back. If no menu entry, you buy a handheld light meter and learn to operate that.

I checked both the Setup and Shooting menus on my D3300. There are no entries for non-CPU lenses.

 

[BF Hammer]

OK, no help from the camera body for you here. I looked up the lens, it is about 45 years old, pre-AI vintage without any intelligence built-in.

You will not get a focus confirmation assist in the viewfinder of your D3300. You will not get accurate exposure metering in the viewfinder. You can adjust focus by how clear it looks to your eye, just be sure the diopter adjuster of the viewfinder is set right. It is possible to guess exposure settings on a scene, but it takes years of experience to develop that skill. That is why handheld light meters exist though.

Now a SLR from that time would have a split-ring focusing screen to assist focus on the center of the viewfinder at least. And the light meter in camera body would at least recommend more or less exposure. But your D3300 was built with using modern autofocus lenses as an assumed thing. You can do it, but you are really doing it the hard way.

 

[tonye]

D3xxx, D5xxx, FM2, FE2) are outright incompatible and will break the internal follower.
When it works (with limitations):

• Nikon Df: Designed to accept non-AI lenses, often with the lever flipped out of the way, but you lose meter coupling (need stop-down metering).
• D7xxx (e.g., D7500): Can mount non-AI lenses but without metering, as they lack the lever but have a press-in feeler.
• D3xxx/D5xxx Series: Some lower-end DSLRs without the lever can physically mount them, but metering is lost, and some rare non-AI lenses (like intrusive fisheyes) still won't fit.

 

[tonye]

Hi, be very careful, you might trash your camera. If it mounts ok just shoot in manual, try a few shots at about f8 at 1/60 iso100 to start and adjust accordingly as you go. Best of luck and be careful mounting it.

 

[Clovishound]

Don't forget the old F/16 rule. In bright daylight F/16 with the shutter speed of the reciprocal of the ASA (ISO in digital cameras). That means full sun daylight with F/16 and 1/100 sec at ISO 100. You can change settings as needed as long as you keep the equation balanced. As an example, raise the shutter to 1/200 by opening the aperture to F/8, or increasing ISO to 200.

 

[Sagandh]

OK, no help from the camera body for you here. I looked up the lens, it is about 45 years old, pre-AI vintage without any intelligence built-in.

You will not get a focus confirmation assist in the viewfinder of your D3300. You will not get accurate exposure metering in the viewfinder. You can adjust focus by how clear it looks to your eye, just be sure the diopter adjuster of the viewfinder is set right. It is possible to guess exposure settings on a scene, but it takes years of experience to develop that skill. That is why handheld light meters exist though.

Now a SLR from that time would have a split-ring focusing screen to assist focus on the center of the viewfinder at least. And the light meter in camera body would at least recommend more or less exposure. But your D3300 was built with using modern autofocus lenses as an assumed thing. You can do it, but you are really doing it the hard way.

Thank you so much Hammer.
After your initial reply I tried to match to aperture indicator on the lens to mounting indicator on camera body. Yes the lens sat well immediately but, when I tried to rotate it into the mount to fix the lens, it just wont rotate more than half the distance. Even at that point the aperture ring would stop moving.

I felt applying any more pressure would damage the body so stopped trying further and did some more research.
Yes, as you pointed out, it is pre AI lens.
Then I found the below sheet on nikonians portol which confirmed I should not mount pre AI lens on my d3300.

Nikon Camera and Lens Compatibility Chart

The Camera to Lens Compatibility Chart contains the complete Nikon lineup.

www.nikonians.org

This sheet is actually quite helpful.

Thank you again for all the findings.

 

[Sagandh]

Hi, be very careful, you might trash your camera. If it mounts ok just shoot in manual, try a few shots at about f8 at 1/60 iso100 to start and adjust accordingly as you go. Best of luck and be careful mounting it.

Thank you Tonye.
Yes the lens wont fit completely into the mount. I was afraid I might break the camera if I apply any pressure.
Looks like pre AI lens cannot be mounted on to d3xxx bodies.