Old Nikkor lenses on Digital SLR

[pdflat]

Hi
These may be a foolish questions but....
I want to switch from film to digital. I have an old F3 from the 1980s and several nikkor lenses for it. My question is, can I use these lenses with a D50 or D70 body (I am very happy to focus manually)? If not are the current lense focal length values the same as those for 35mm film? If not then what would be equivalent to a 24mm, or a 105mm for instance
Thanks
Paul

[Franglais]

Hi
These may be a foolish questions but....
I want to switch from film to digital. I have an old F3 from the 1980s and several nikkor lenses for it. My question is, can I use these lenses with a D50 or D70 body (I am very happy to focus manually)? If not are the current lense focal length values the same as those for 35mm film? If not then what would be equivalent to a 24mm, or a 105mm for instance
Thanks
Paul

I had to look this up in my D70 owners manual because none of my Nikon lenses are older than 1999.

Yes you can use your older lenses (assuming they are AI-S) on your D70. But you can't meter with them. You will have to set the shutter speed and aperture manually.

When you use a lens with a D70 the focal length doesn't change but the view does because you're effectively cropping off the edges of the image. The view you will get through any lens will be the same as a lens with a focal length 1.5x the marked focal length if it were fitted on a film camera. i.e. your 24mm looks like a 36mm and your 105mm looks like a 157.5mm.

Charles

[another view]

All of what Charles said, but you won't have a split-image focusing screen either. There should be an electronic rangefinder that works (a dot shows up at the bottom of the viewfinder when the subject is in focus). This is true of most cameras that don't meter with AI-S lenses, but check it out with the D50 or D70s before you buy it. You'll probably find that AF lenses will be something you'll want to get.

There's a lot of mis-information out there about the 1.5 factor you'll see with your lenses. Charles has it right - it is not a magnification factor. Your 24mm lens doesn't magically become a 36mm lens; it becomes a 24mm lens with a smaller angle of coverage. If you've ever shot any format other than 35mm, you're probably familiar with this. For example, an 80mm lens on a 6x6 medium format camera is pretty close to the angle of view of a 50mm on a 35mm camera.