Nikon AF lens help

[Dman]

Up until yesterday I've owned a D60 so have always looked for AF-S lenses, other than the 50mm AF D I had which I had to manual focus.

Now I have a D90 and therefore have the motor body, I'm looking to extend my range of lenses and maybe buy some older glass as I'm on a budget. However, I'm not sure which ones will work well and which won't. There's D and G lenses from what I can see, some are ridiculously cheap but then they must be that cheap for a reason.

Is there anything I should be looking for when buying these lenses? Will some AF but not meter? Any recommendations of lenses to look out for would be appreciated.

Cheers

 

[dan_yorkshire]

Up until yesterday I've owned a D60 so have always looked for AF-S lenses, other than the 50mm AF D I had which I had to manual focus.

Now I have a D90 and therefore have the motor body, I'm looking to extend my range of lenses and maybe buy some older glass as I'm on a budget. However, I'm not sure which ones will work well and which won't. There's D and G lenses from what I can see, some are ridiculously cheap but then they must be that cheap for a reason.

Is there anything I should be looking for when buying these lenses? Will some AF but not meter? Any recommendations of lenses to look out for would be appreciated.

Cheers

Replying to this thread from a purely selfish point of view as will be in a similar position soon and using it as a bookmark.

Be interested to see what is recommended

Cheers

 

[Icee]

The D's and G's will both work with your D90

 

[Davec223]

Any lens that is autofocus for nikon will work on the d90 and meter. I am not sure if you can use ai/ais lenses and still have metering or not, it will s the manual on the lens compatability chart. ai/ais lenses are manual focus and are god lenses if the d90 will meter and some are very cheap with excelent optics.

 

[Dman]

The D's and G's will both work with your D90

Thanks. What are the cons to buying newer glass? Is it just from a VR point of view, or is the older glass generally of a lesser quality than their newer counterparts? That may seem an odd thing to ask but I've read lots of posts where people prefer older glass.

 

[retired]

Hi Dave, don't let (There's D and G lenses from what I can see, some are ridiculously cheap but then they must be that cheap for a reason.)
put you off. I am selling all my DX G ED lenses because I have gone FF and of no use to me now. I still have my D300 and will use that with my 50m 1.4 D and my long reach stuff 70-200 2.8 and 300 f4. The rest are on ebay, I sold my 17-55 on here (£550) which as you say, ridiculously cheap. That would of been fine for you. Depends what you are into but there's some really good glass out there for the DX range and at ridiculously cheap prices. Mine are mint and I have a few bids already so I'm a happy bunny. I need to sell to fund a new lens for my 700.
There are a lot of bods on here doing what I am doing so start looking out in the for sale threads and get yourself a bargain.
If you can get a 70-200 and a 50, these are very good starters.

 

[Davec223]

older lenses tend to be made of metal rather than the newer lenses that are a plastic body and optics tended to be very good and work well still. made to a quality and not a price.

 

[bemcsa]

The AF & AF-D will auto focus and meter
The P will meter only
The AI & AI-s will do neither (you need a D200 or D300 to get them to meter)

 

[Mud]

The AF & AF-D will auto focus and meter
The P will meter only
The AI & AI-s will do neither (you need a D200 or D300 to get them to meter)

With the minor exception of the recent Voigtlander 20/40/58mm SLII lenses which are labelled AI-S but should really be labelled P as they meter but are MF. Of course this isn't Nikon/Nikkor, so we're off-brand here...

 

[Zilog]

Can you not manually input the lens in to the D90 and so use any Nikon lens?

 

[bemcsa]

Can you not manually input the lens in to the D90 and so use any Nikon lens?

If you mean enter the lens data into the camera's menu so that it will meter, then no. You need a D200, D300, D700 to do that

 

[fracster]

Some of the older lenses are optically very good and were reasonably affordable.However, they are fetching daft money at the moment.

 

[Zilog]

If you mean enter the lens data into the camera's menu so that it will meter, then no. You need a D200, D300, D700 to do that

Thanks bemcsa my bad, I knew it was some of the more expensive ones

Some of the older lenses are optically very good and were reasonably affordable.However, they are fetching daft money at the moment.

There was a very old Nikon 85mm f1.2 on ebay just the other day for over 2000 :bonk:

 

[danbroad]

Got my eyes on the Voigtlanders [although I'm hanging fire to see whether I get a 40mm f/1.4 in M-Mount to accompany either a GF1 or an M8..]

Anyway, perfect answer earlier. Pre-Ai is a no-go - these might damage your camera. Ai-S and Ai will be entirely manual, but won't screw up the mount. You can use these with exposure bracketing, and generally get a decent shot as long as you're in the ballpark, exposure-wise. Ai-P will meter but be manual focus. Anything with an AF in the title will work just fine.

Heading slightly off-topic, don't be put off by screw driven lenses. My Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 focuses faster than any of my AF-S lenses, and my 35mm f/1.8 AF-S is the slowest focusing lens I own. Focus servo is not the same as focus lock.

Time to initial focus [and most of the time, that's what we're interested in] is a feature of your body, moreso than your lens. Cross-type sensors are quicker and more accurate. [Of course, the lens helps - faster maximum apertures open up more light for the sensors, and the speed of the motor helps get to focus lock. But anyway..]

 

[bemcsa]

Thanks bemcsa my bad, I knew it was some of the more expensive ones

I was suitably disappointed when I tried my old AI lenses on my D90 after buying it. I don't mind the lack of AF, but no metering is too much of pain to make it worthwhile.