35mm Lenses with use of Modern Digital Nikon Cameras

sasquatch357

New member
I have really never gotten into photography beside the use of compact digital cameras. My father has a old nikon 35mm camera, serial number FE 3944534 if that helps, that does not work anymore, since he dropped it in years past. He has the stock nikon 30 mm lenses and a Tokina 50mm to 200mm lenses that he purchased not to long after the camera was purchase in the late 70s. So my question is if I would purchase a modern Nikon D3200 lets say, would I be able to use this Tokina lenses and get quality photos or would it be a complete waste of time. I have been thinking about getting a higher quality camera and especially if I would be able to use his old lenses.
 

STM

Senior Member
Nikon never made a 30mm lens, did you mean 35mm lens?

All of my lenses are AI/AIS, from 16mm fisheye to 600mm telephoto and work flawlessly with my D700
 
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sasquatch357

New member
I have two lenses, standard 50mm Nikon lenses that came with the camera and the Tokina 50mm to 200mm lenses. I believe I meant to say 50mm originally and must of have missed a key stroke.
 

Sandpatch

Senior Member
I can't speak about the Tokina, but if the Nikkor 50mm lens was made with or converted to AI, you'll be able to use it. It won't auto-focus with a D3200, but I think it will meter. Using these old lenses is kind of fun if the shot allows the time needed to make the settings right. Here are two links that will help:

https://support.nikonusa.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5366/~/what-is-the-difference-between-an-ai-lens%2C-an-ai-s-lens%2C-and-non-ai-lens%3F

http://www.bythom.com/lensacronyms.htm

Remember that these lenses were designed for use with a 35mm sensor (FX size in the Nikon world). If you mount them to a D3x00 or D5x00 or D7x00 series, they have smaller sensors (DX size in the Nikon world) with the resulting effect that you'll be looking through an area toward the center of the lens and missing the periphery. The view and clarity will be excellent, but you may find that with a DX camera, you may have to take several steps back to get your subject in the shot. I sometimes use my old 50mm lens at car shows because it's short and compact, but have to step waaay back to get the entire car in the shot with my D5100.
 
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Bob Blaylock

Senior Member
I can't speak about the Tokina, but if the Nikkor 50mm lens was made with or converted to AI, you'll be able to use it. It won't auto-focus with a D3200, but I think it will meter. Using these old lenses is kind of fun if the shot allows the time needed to make the settings right. Here are two links that will help:

https://support.nikonusa.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5366/~/what-is-the-difference-between-an-ai-lens%2C-an-ai-s-lens%2C-and-non-ai-lens%3F

Nikkor Lens Information by Thom Hogan

Contrary to what Nikon claims, even old non-AI lenses work just fine on the D3200, albeit with the same obvious and expected limitations as with early AI and AI-converted lenses. They won't autofocus, of course, and no, there's no exposure metering either with them.

In fact, as far as I can tell, there is no way at all for it to possibly make any difference to a D3200 whether a lens is AI or non-AI. I'm given to understand that with some cameras, that have the mechanism to detect aperture settings via the AI linkage, that a non-AI lens can damage that camera, but there is no such linkage to damage on the D3200.

I have three old non-AI lenses that go with my equally-ancient F2, that I occasionally use on my D3200.


Remember that these lenses were designed for use with a 35mm sensor (FX size in the Nikon world). If you mount them to a D3x00 or D5x00 or D7x00 series, they have smaller sensors (DX size in the Nikon world) with the resulting effect that you'll be looking through an area toward the center of the lens and missing the periphery. The view and clarity will be excellent, but you may find that with a DX camera, you may have to take several steps back to get your subject in the shot. I sometimes use my old 50mm lens at car shows because it's short and compact, but have to step waaay back to get the entire car in the shot with my D5100.

It's probably easiest to just realize that because of the smaller sensor in DX-format cameras, that the lens has an effective magnification about the same as a lens with a focal length about 1.55 times longer on a 35MM or FX-format camera. While a 50mm lens is considered the “standard” focal length on a 35mm/FX camera, a 32mm to 35mm lens gives about the same field of view on a DX camera, and a 50mm lens mounted on a DX camera has about the same field of view as an 80mm lens on a 35mm or FX camera.
 

Sandpatch

Senior Member
For some reason when I post from my desktop with IE it drops letters and I do not always catch it, as in that case. It does not happen when I use Firefox. It is really weird

In the upper left of the box where you type are two boxes marked aA and aXA. I use IE and first click on the aA box and it seems to stop the tiresome letter dropping routine.
 
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