Gift lens too new for my FT2?

Donald Qualls

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My chiropractor remembered me when his family was clearing out stuff that had belonged to his uncle (who had worked as a private investigator), and gave me a Quantaray 75-200 f/4.5-5.6 zoom. It's a Nikon mount and latches onto my Nikkormat FT2, but it lacks the "rabbit ears" that tell the camera what the aperture is set for while metering with a wide open aperture. The lens is 100% manual and has no electrical contacts on the mount.

I've heard/read that the "rabbit ears" can be added to (AI? AIS?) lenses made for several years after Nikon and compatibles quit putting them on new lenses, to make them compatible with the older cameras like the FT2; this requires drilling and tapping two small holes in the aperture ring, presumably at just the right place. I don't have the tools to do this job myself, and I'm not sure how good this lens is (i.e. is it worth paying someone to mount the linkage?). Any opinions? Obviously, I could use it in stop-down metering mode, but one of the things I like most about my FT2 is not having to remember to hit the "preview" to meter (I'm a long time M42 user, and the preview button has been part of my 35 mm life).
 

BradS

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To me, it's definitely not worth it. Opinions will vary but to me the lens is, at best, ..."kinda, meh" (the lens caps are probably worth more than the lens) but you can discover that for yourself. Mount it on your Nikkormat and make photos (you could use a hand-held meter). For what it would cost you to have someone mount rabbit ears on this, you could buy a much better Nikkor lens - even a zoom if that's what you want.
 

Chan Tran

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All AI and AI-S lenses have the rabbit ear on them. Only the series E lenses don't. Third party lenses that are design to work with AI cameras may not have it. Nikon AF lenses don't have the ear.
 

images39

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I agree with the previous comment, that it's probably not worth spending money on that lens. Ai or Ais lenses are plentiful and of nice quality, in my experience.


Dale
 

Paul Howell

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Quantaray 75-200 f/4.5-5.6 zoom was made by Sigma and was bottom level kit lens. Finding a donor lens with no Ai clip or rabbit ears would likely cost more than just buying a different lens.
 

xkaes

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Unless you already have a similar lens, and have a use for this one (given the variable aperture, I assume it is pretty compact and light), it's pretty easy to convert it to AI functioning. You mainly just have to glue a tab in the right spot. I've done a similar modification with Rokkor MC lenses to make them MD lenses. No problem at all. Who knows? You might like the lens.

I'm sure there are instructions in the REPAIR & MODIFICATION sub-FORUM.
 

ic-racer

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The rabbit ears are only a few bucks and would be easy to install on an inexpensive lens like you have. Line up the slot with the "5.6"
It is an inexpensive lens; glue it on (as mentioned above) if you don't have access to drill and tap.
 
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Chan Tran

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images39 said:
I agree with the previous comment, that it's probably not worth spending money on that lens. Ai or Ais lenses are plentiful and of nice quality, in my experience.


Dale
Click to expand...

But it's even better to get the Pre-AI lenses to go with the FT2 as they are of the same period as the FT2. Something like this one

Nikon 80-200mm f/4.5 Zoom-NIKKOR.C Non AI Manual Lens {52}

This non-AI lens was manufactured between 1973 and 1975. It has a fixed, constant aperture of f/4.5 throughout the entire zoom range of 80-200mm and stops all the way down to f/32. It accepts Nikon's most common filter size of 52mm.
www.keh.com
 
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Donald Qualls

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Okay, I can get a Nikkor that was made to work with the older F series and FT2 for only a few dollars (less than ten!) more than a rabbit ear to glue onto the aperture ring. I'll go that way.

At present, I've got a 50/1.4 and a 500 mm mirror lens, something in between would be welcome and a zoom is nice to cut down on swapping when I don't have a lot of kit for Nikon yet.
 

Don_ih

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You could very quickly mock up a set of plastic ears and tape them onto the lens, take a few photos, see if it's any good. That would likely be about as far as you'd go with it.
 
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Donald Qualls

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Okay, I did it -- got a Nikkor 80-200 f/4.5 on the way. Cost a little more than linked above, and they say it has a "loose zoom ring" -- but all the examples they had on hand had that note, even at significantly higher price. I may post over on "Repair" for how to improve that if it's bothersome...

That said, I might make up a plastic rabbit ear (might be a good excuse to get my 3D printer back in operation) and see what I can get out of the Quantaray...
 

hsandler

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I had two copies of the Zoom-Nikkor 80-200 f4.5N, and they both had the zoom creep problem. A simple fix is a strip of electrical tape along the barrel to thicken the barrel slightly and tighten the fit for the soom ring. Sometimes two overlapping strips.
 
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Donald Qualls

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I'll keep that in mind for when the lens gets here. Of course, I'm so backlogged on film processing that it might be a long time before I can process any images from either one...
 

xkaes

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Just a note. I'm no Nikon expert, but I think we have been using the wrong terms for Nikon lenses. The "rabbit ears" are PRE-AI and used on early Nikon cameras. AI lenses had the rabbit ears to be backward compatible with older cameras, but did not use the rabbit ears on newer cameras.

Am I wrong?
 

Paul Howell

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That's right. I had my Non AI lens modified by Nikon to AI, but they could not be modified to AIS.

The Sigma Zoom is 4.5 to 5.6, so getting a Nikon zoom will give you an additional stop at the long end. Other option is a Vivitar S1 first generation 70 to 200 3.5 just as sharp as the Nikon.
 

Chan Tran

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Correct! you don't need the rabbit ear on AI cameras. The rabbit ear on AI lenses also got cut out so that you can see the secondary f stop in the viewfinder at f/5.6.
 

Chan Tran

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AI-S lens for the most part is the same as AI and it works the same for most camera except the FA. On the FA when you are in P or S mode the aperture stop down level doesn't go down all the way like other cameras but go as far as needed to stop the lens down to the correct f stop. On the AI-S lens the movement of this level and the aperture is linear and the AI lens isn't. Newer cameras won't do P and S mode with manual focus lenses so it makes no difference. To use P and S mode on newer Nikon SLR you need AF lenses which have linear motion of this level.
 

Tomwlkr

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Chan Tran said:
All AI and AI-S lenses have the rabbit ear on them. Only the series E lenses don't. Third party lenses that are design to work with AI cameras may not have it. Nikon AF lenses don't have the ear.
Click to expand...
Early AIS had rabbit ears, later models did not. I don't think I have an AIS lens at the moment but I remember late ones had two little dimples right about the 5.6 on the aperture ring to show you where to drill if you wanted to add them
 

Chan Tran

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Tomwlkr said:
Early AIS had rabbit ears, later models did not. I don't think I have an AIS lens at the moment but I remember late ones had two little dimples right about the 5.6 on the aperture ring to show you where to drill if you wanted to add them
Click to expand...
I have never seen one like that. Of course I know that people remove the rabbit ear as doing so you can see the number 5.6 better in the viewfinder via the ADR.
 
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