Older Nikon lenses on which vintage DSLR?

ikorman

New member
I have stopped using my Nikon film SLRs a while ago, but want to play again, this time with digital SLR. My dilemma is 2-fold:

1. I lost my job recently so my budget is really low
2. I have a couple of lenses but they are older AF type

So, I am trying to find a pre-owned DSLR that will be cheap and will take my lenses and use them without loosing important features such as metering and AF.

Here is my lens line-up:
AF Nikkor 24mm 2.8
AF Nikkor 50mm 1.8
Tamron AF SP 90mm 2.8
Tamron AF XR 28-200mm 3.8-5.6 (Yeah, I know, and I had it paired with a N80, what a crap!)

I should note that the Nikkors aren't the D-variety, but I think the Tamrons are.

Can someone recommend a vintage Nikon DSLR body that will do these lenses justice? I know about the multiplier, and I doubt I can afford anything that's full frame. If I just get to use the 24mm as 36mm length, I will be fine. Megapixels don't get me excited, so even 6MP is OK. Thanks in advance!
 

ikorman

New member
A good used D7000 would suffice.

Thanks, looks great, but I don't see the D7000 for anything less than $400 for a well used example, and that's a bit too much for me. If I was to spend that kind of cash, I would want to get a full frame to keep my primes at what they are.
 

Blacktop

Senior Member
Thanks, looks great, but I don't see the D7000 for anything less than $400 for a well used example, and that's a bit too much for me. If I was to spend that kind of cash, I would want to get a full frame to keep my primes at what they are.

Which FF can we get for $400.00?
 

Dxer

Senior Member
Only thing I can see would be the D200 or D300 assuming the D7000 is to much.

EDIT: Yes and the D70 or D90 would work too. For some reason I thought I saw something about AI lenses.
Blind as a bat moment. :)
 
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mikew_RIP

Senior Member
Welcome to the forum,dont know the prices on your side of the water but a D300 would be a great camera,second choice would be d90
 

Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
Welcome to Nikonites.

I don't think you can find a Full frame (FX) pre-owned Nikon for under $400.00. You might be able to get a D300 or D90 for less, but these are not full frame either. The cheapest (meaning less expensive) FX is probably a pre-owned D700 and they usually start around $800.00.

So my advice is that you might just want to get a point and shoot for now, get yourself another job, save your money and then, buy the camera to go with your lenses.

Sorry, but sometimes life shoots us a curve ball that sends us back to the bench until the next inning.
 

analoguey01

Senior Member
Welcome to nikonites! I'm not that old a member here myself, but do mix and match lenses and bodies.

Older af type should be directly compatible with most of the Post 2007 dslrs - I don't think you should have much issues using them.

One of the things I really like about the Nikon range is that you can pretty much use most lenses on most bodies Post the Ai /Ais gens, barring a couple of features!
If the AF doesn't work (because of lack of inbuilt motor) you could always switch to using manual Focus.with cpu contacts, most of the info will anyways be transmitted to the body!
 

ikorman

New member
Thanks everyone. I am looking at a D70s for $70 but it does not have anything with it, not even a charger. :-( I will keep looking and will post what I find.
 

analoguey01

Senior Member
You might as well use an older film camera than the D70s (if you use bulk film/ develop at home,it'll be cheaper!). It's practically ancient. A better choice might be a d60/40x for a similar / slightly higher price.
You *will* see a difference btw -mostly because of low light performance.

Of course you know your budget best - all the best with whatever you're choosing!


Also -any Dx body means your 24mm becomes 36mm -roughly.
 
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Fortkentdad

Senior Member
You want the best camera with a built in motor for the funds available. Consider local trading sites like Kijiji.

As for your comment about no "D" on your AF Nikkors. Apparently the "D" is nice but not that necessary. From what I've gleaned from my readings on this is that it helps with flash metering. When shooting with a flash you may want to be checking your images until you make the manual adjustments to the flash our your exposure compensation to get the image right. And if you shoot RAW and you'll have a better chance to recover any exposure errors afterwards.

I have a few vintage, legacy or just plain old lenses that I still use. Some I like better than others. Modern DSLR's can give a new lease on life for old glass. Some of those old lenses have lots of life left in them. It was not that long ago that they were the desire of some photographer's eye in a shop window - just a decade or so ago. (the older I get the more i like to measure time in decades).
 

480sparky

Senior Member
............As for your comment about no "D" on your AF Nikkors. Apparently the "D" is nice but not that necessary. From what I've gleaned from my readings on this is that it helps with flash metering. .........


D stands for Distance. It means the lens transmits the focus distance to the camera and it can work with the speedlight to better correctly expose an image.

All G lenses are also D lenses, just they aren't marked as such.
 
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