I’m looking at buying the Nikon D100 digital SLR. I presently have two Nikon N70 35mm SLRs with a variety of AF lenses. Can these lenses be used on the digital camera, or is this just wishful thinking?
Oh, and I’m looking to sell all the 35mm equipment, if anyone is interested.
Check on http://www.dcresource.com but I think the answer is yes, assuming they are recent lenses. My Canon lenses will work on the Canon Digital SLRs, Nikon would in be insane to make people with money invested in Nikon lenses throw them away.
Auto Focus feature not likely to be compatabile with digital body. Ask the dealer. The might be “hacked” to work it the threads fit.
Yeah I’m camera poor too with too many I don’t use often to justify their taking up space.
“Beware of the Cog”
On thing, for the Canon cameras, the lenses are an effective different focal length on the digital SLRs due to the CCD being smaller than a 35mm film negative. I think it’s a multiplier of around 1.4, so a 100mm lens would act like a 140mm lens.
here is the nikon site - scroll down to compatable lenses.
BE AWARE that the focal length of the lenses go up because the imaging area is smaller then the film area. The image will be magnified if not using the new lenses. This page has the conversion angles for 35mm lenses to digital format.
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/nikon/d100-review/index.html
Yes, you should be all set.
Sweet camera. I’ve decided this will be the year that I get a digital camera, and I was thinking about one like this.
According to their company brochure (big PDF file, beware), the D100 is compatible with the full range of AF Nikkor optics. As for lenses by other makers, your guess is as good as mine, but if they work on your 35mm Nikon SLR, I would think they’d work on the D100.
Yes, they will work. There’s generally* no special lenses for the professional series of Nikon digital cameras (D1, D2, D100). Nikon hasn’t changed its mounts ever, for all practical purposes, so lenses from even as far back as the 60s will work on your digital SLR.
Just remember to multiply by 1.5 to get the equivalent 35mm focal length. (A 50 becomes, in effect, a 75, a 24 becomes a 36, etc.)The multiplier effect is really annoying at the wide angles. You need to get a 14mm to get a decent wide.
*Nikon is working on/has completed work on a special wide angle digital zoom which only focuses the image at the size of the CCD screen. In other words, it will work on a non-digital Nikon SLR, but you won’t have full-frame coverage.
Oh, two more notes. Yes your Tamarons and Sigmas and third-party lenses will work on the D100.
Flash is the only item I could think of at the moment which doesn’t have the full range of features if you use a film-camera flash. The SB-28 will not work in TTL mode on the digital SLRs. You need the SB-28DX if you want to take advantage of TTL mode. Otherwise, I use the SB-28 in A (automatic) mode, and it’s generally fine.
Wow, five replies between reading the OP and sending my response. I guess I shouldn’t have gotten up to go make coffee before hitting submit.
Hmm, I’ve always seen 1.6x as the quoted multiplier. ??
One caveat: on many newer Nikon cameras, on-camera metering does not work with manual focus lenses. That means manual exposure only, with no meter to help you. The D100 has this limitation, but not the D1.
Autofocus lenses work fine on both.
Have you also looked at the Fuji Finepix S2? This is based on the Nikon F80 body, just like the D100 is, so it can use the full line of Nikon lenses (with the same limitations). Its image quality is arguably better, and it has a couple of nice features like a FireWire port, AA batteries (D100 uses expensive propriatory Li-Ion batteries) and, IIRC, ability to do TTL flash with older flash units.
[QUOTE]
On thing, for the Canon cameras, the lenses are an effective different focal length on the digital SLRs due to the CCD being smaller than a 35mm film negative. I think it’s a multiplier of around 1.4, so a 100mm lens would act like a 140mm lens.[\QUOTE]
Just a nit but, the 1.6 multiplier is not really a focal legth multiplier. It’s only the field of view that is affected. So a 50mm lens still has a focal length of 50mm, but it has the same field of view as a 80mm lens on 35mm film. This is because the CMOS sensor is smaller than 35mm film.
The multiplier 1.6 is for Canon’s, I don’t know what it is for Nikon’s. It would be different if they use a different sized sensor.
[QUOTE]
On thing, for the Canon cameras, the lenses are an effective different focal length on the digital SLRs due to the CCD being smaller than a 35mm film negative. I think it’s a multiplier of around 1.4, so a 100mm lens would act like a 140mm lens.[\QUOTE]
Just a nit but, the 1.6 multiplier is not really a focal legth multiplier. It’s only the field of view that is affected. So a 50mm lens still has a focal length of 50mm, but it has the same field of view as a 80mm lens on 35mm film. This is because the CMOS sensor is smaller than 35mm film.
The multiplier 1.6 is for Canon’s, I don’t know what it is for Nikon’s. It would be different if they use a different sized sensor.
My two cents (LONG)
I use the D100 professionally all the time, and the answer to the OP is a qualified yes. All AF Nikkor (and most Nikon style AF third party) lenses work quite well. There are some issues with older manual lenses - they also work, but you lose some if not all TTL metering. That’s not as bad as it sounds - I use an old Nikkor 28-120 constant 2.8 MF all the time, and I just make sure that I check the histogram for proper exposure and shoot in RAW mode.
And yes, beware the focal length multiplier (yes, 1.5 for Nikons, 1.6 for Canon) - it’s wonderful if you tend to go with longer lengths anyway, but my gorgeous and extremely pricey Nikkor AF 18 MM 1.4 is now the functional equivalent of a mid-range 27 MM, albeit with significantly nicer optics.
As for the S2 - yes, quite a decent camera as well, but I MUCH prefer the D100. I’ve logged a fair amount of time with both, as well as with the Canon 10D (which is also quite nice), and the D100 seems to hold up better, and just feels a bit more there.
Not to knock the S2 - but the Firewire connection, while nice, isn’t the be all and end all of camera-PC connections. If you’re shooting RAW (which you really should be if you want to maintain full control once the pic is downloaded) you’ll be using multiple cards anyway. A dedicated card reader, to my mind, is actually quicker than plugging in the camera, unloading pics, unmounting the device, swapping cards, etc. but YMMV.
The biggest advantage of the S2, IMO, is the on-camera PC connector. Doesn’t bother me overly much, as I use IR triggers instead of cables for studio work, but it would be nice to have one. That said, the SB-80DX DOES have a PC connector on it.
Speaking of flashes, the -28DX is nice, but if you can possibly afford it, go for the 80DX - the additional features and much faster recharge time make it well worth it. Plus, it’s got a really cool stroboscopic flash function for some pretty cool motion capture effects.
And lastly, if you go D100, you MUST get the MB-100 battery grip. It holds two of the LI batteries and I’ve NEVER even used up the juice in one. I’m currently in the midst of a battery life experiment where I’ve got both batteries in the grip until I run out of power. (I’ve got a couple spares stashed in case that happens during a shoot). I haven’t even gone beyond the battery full indicator on ONE battery yet (checked by pulling the other battery out of the compartment) and it’s been two months of moderate to heavy professional shooting (300-800 shots/week), although I must admit, I never use the flip up on camera flash. So battery life is not an issue. Plus, it comes with a AA holder for emergency use (and the SB-80DX takes AAs, so you’ll probably have them in your bag)
But the better feature of the MB-100 is the vertical grip, shutter release and command dials. They give the camera some real heft (like an F100 or F5) and once you start using a vert grip you’ll never go back. Of the bad side of the mb-100, I don’t know a single pro who actually uses the stupid voice recording feature. I suppose it might be useful in the field where I didn’t have a pen, but heck, I’m a concert photographer. The music would drown out whatever I tried to say anyway…
Sorry to ramble, but hey, I’m a photographer…we tend to have a bit of the techno-weenie in us.
KTM
PS Chefguy - what lenses are you selling?
Wow, great info all! My lenses are all 3rd party, since I never had the bread to invest in Nikkor lenses, but it’s still a large investment, especially the big zooms, so I’m happy to hear they’ll work. I wish I had the nerve to plunge into photography full time, as much of my stuff generates comments like “you should be working for National Geographic” and the like. But I like to eat regular, as they say.