Ai lens on nikkormat ftn?

[pryan9]

I have a few ai lenses and an ai'd 50 1.4 ... Will I be able to use these properly with my nikkormat ftn?

 

[bdial]

As long as they have the coupling prong on the f/stop ring, they will work fine.

 

[blockend]

The metering won't work without the prong but they'll still fit, virtually every Nikon lens ever made will. I use pre-AI through to AF lenses on my 'Mats.

 

[pryan9]

ok yea, they all have the prong on them. I just wasn't sure if the ridge on the AI lenses would throw anything off or damage something

 

[fschifano]

No problem at all with the AI ridge milled into the aperture ring. The other way around (non-AI lens on an AI body) can sometimes be a problem. Here is everything you need to know about Nikon lens compatibility. Ken Rockwell has a guide here too. If you poke around the 'net, I'm sure you'll find more.

And actually, the metering will work in "stop down" mode with your Nikkormat if you don't have the meter coupling prong on the lens. Slide the meter coupling pin on the body clockwise until you hear it click, just as if you were mounting a non-AI lens and leave it there. Then mount the lens. To meter, you'll need to hold down the DOF preview button on top of the camera while you adjust the settings to center the needle. Done.

 

[pryan9]

Thanks for the nikonians link fschifano, Lots of great info there but it leads me to another question. Where it says 'No' for mounting a pre-ai lens to any Nikon DSLR does that mean it physically wont attach or it just wont meter? I am considering picking up a d5000 or d90.

 

[Ihmemies]

Well, I have a 5cm f/2 Nikkor-S which has too wide aperture ring. It physically won't fit to the body (be it Nikon F3, F4, F5, D80 or whatever) unless I remove the aperture ring. I've noticed the same with some other pre-ai lenses too. So it depends...

And of course lenses without cpu do not meter with consumer bodies like D5000 or D90. Nikon digital bodies meter only if the lens has a CPU or if the lens is Ai compatible and camera body has an Ai tab.

 

[pryan9]

hmm, thanks for the info. Have you tried any other lenses?

 

[fschifano]

Thanks for the nikonians link fschifano, Lots of great info there but it leads me to another question. Where it says 'No' for mounting a pre-ai lens to any Nikon DSLR does that mean it physically wont attach or it just wont meter? I am considering picking up a d5000 or d90.

Where it says no, it means NO, don't do it. Because the non-AI lens doesn't have the aperture ring milled out for the AI ridge, it doesn't clear the AI coupling ring on the body and you'd have to force it on. In the process of forcing it, you'll likely break something. Some of the AI bodies, notably the F3, the F4, and modified F5 and F6 cameras have a flip up tab instead of a fixed tab on the AI coupling ring that you can swing out of the way to mount pre-AI lenses. Then you are stuck with stop down metering again and you lose matrix metering and at least some TTL flash functions with the F4, F5, and F6.

 

[j-dogg]

depends on what year Nikkormat, the later FT3's accept AI lenses no problem.

 

[CGW]

Thanks for the nikonians link fschifano, Lots of great info there but it leads me to another question. Where it says 'No' for mounting a pre-ai lens to any Nikon DSLR does that mean it physically wont attach or it just wont meter? I am considering picking up a d5000 or d90.

AFS lens only bodies like the D40 can take NAI lenses since there's no Ai tab to scrunch. No metering, though, but very useable.

 

[fschifano]

The OP states that he has an FTN. The FT, FTN, and FT2 all have the meter coupling pin on the body.

 

[Leigh Youdale]

Ai Conversions

You can get lenses converted by John White <jwhite@aiconversions.com> at a very reasonable cost. His website <www.aiconversions.com> has all the info.

 

[pryan9]

i don't mind the non metering, thats fine by me. If I don't have them converted they will still attach correct?

 

[CGW]

I'm not a huge fan of Dremel job Ai conversions. If you're using film exclusively, it's easier and cheaper just to get an FE or F3 body with their flip-up Ai tabs.

 

[John_Nikon_F]

The AI lenses will fit a non-AI body just fine. Currently, my Nikomat FTn has a factory AI'd 85/1.8 Nikkor mounted to it. Works as it did when the lens was in its original non-AI state.

With respect to AI conversions, ideally, a factory conversion ring should be sourced. That said, if one cannot be sourced and the lens is in good condition, a good quality mill job will do the trick. And, in the case of the 35/1.4, that's the only way to go unless you want to sacrifice f/22. Granted, if you mount the lens with the ring set to f/22, it will hit the AI coupling tab on a body so equipped. That's why the factory rings omit f/22 and why the AI and AIS lenses don't have it either.

-J

 

[j-dogg]

No problem at all with the AI ridge milled into the aperture ring. The other way around (non-AI lens on an AI body) can sometimes be a problem. Here is everything you need to know about Nikon lens compatibility. Ken Rockwell has a guide here too. If you poke around the 'net, I'm sure you'll find more.

And actually, the metering will work in "stop down" mode with your Nikkormat if you don't have the meter coupling prong on the lens. Slide the meter coupling pin on the body clockwise until you hear it click, just as if you were mounting a non-AI lens and leave it there. Then mount the lens. To meter, you'll need to hold down the DOF preview button on top of the camera while you adjust the settings to center the needle. Done.

really......this works for a Series E 50 1.8? I may not be able to get a 50 non-AI before my trip and was hoping I could do this.

 

[Ihmemies]

I can count times I've shot at f11 with my fingers... f16... probably never on film at least. f22? I don't buy f1.4 glass to shoot at f22

 

[fschifano]

really......this works for a Series E 50 1.8? I may not be able to get a 50 non-AI before my trip and was hoping I could do this.

Series E lenses are not equipped with the prong to engage the metering pin on the FTN. Stop down metering is still possible and the lens will fit perfectly. A regular Ai lens will have the prong and the milled aperture ring.

 

[j-dogg]

Series E lenses are not equipped with the prong to engage the metering pin on the FTN. Stop down metering is still possible and the lens will fit perfectly. A regular Ai lens will have the prong and the milled aperture ring.

Yep, that prong is missing on my 50, I may be able to snag a 50 before my trip it got delayed another week and I have a local with a mint 50 1.4 for 50 dollars that comes with a free Nikkormat FTN attached to it I might slap one of my 28's to it and flip it and make some cash.