My brain hurts.

I've been searching for a 24mm 2.8 Nikkor manual focus lens and find myself a bit confused as to which model to purchase.I'd like to use the lens on my F3hp & FE2 but which one?
There's a Nikkor-N,Nikkor-N-C,Nikkor AId and non AId.
Solutions please.

To use the auto (aperture) exposure on either the F3 or the FE you will need AI (Aperture Indexing) lenses. They have a small ridge on the aperture ring near the lens mount that allows a spring loaded pin on the lens throat on the body to tell the meter which aperture has been selected.

If you don't use (or care about) using auto exposure, then any of them will fit.

Much obliged for the information mpirie.

Auto exposure isn't the only thing you loose. Non-AI lenses require stop-down metering.

Also: the earlier lenses have a much longer throw on the focus than the 24/2.8 AI and AIS. I like it, but many prefer the short throw lens.

Not to mention that the non AI lenses will be a bit older and subject to more wear and tear. I have an Ai version of the lens and it is a wonderful piece of glass. The few pictures I have developed with it have been wonderful to my eyes.

As has been mentioned by others, the F3 and FE2 require AI lenses for open aperture metering in both manual and autoexposure modes. AIs lenses also work (they're a newer version of the AI designed for Nikon bodies that offer program auto modes), as do the AF-Nikkor lenses and AF-D Nikkor lenses, except the G and DX series lenses (G lack an aperture ring, needed by older Nikons, and DX are for crop-sensor digital cameras and won't cover the full 35mm frame). The regular AF and AF-D lenses work as AIs lenses on manual focus Nikons.

AI'd lenses are older non-AI lenses that have had their aperture ring replaced with an AI aperture ring, making them compatible with bodies that need AI lenses....so AI'd lenses also work on the F3 and FE2. Non-AI lenses require stop-down metering on the F3, I don't think they can be mounted at all on the FE2.

Confused yet? Nikon has too many lens types that use the basic F-Mount but with different methods of interfacing with the exposure meter in the camera depending on the age of the camera it was made for. On top of that are lenses made for the last film Nikons like the F5 and F6 that control the aperture setting from a wheel on the body instead of using the aperture control on the lens...that's why G-series Nikkors lack an aperture ring! Then there's digital lenses (DX) made for Nikon's crop-sensor cameras like the D70 and D300. Ughhh!