Use of lenses on other camera

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Gerrit 't Hart - 23 Aug 2006 16:27 GMT

I have a Nikon F50 with a Tamron 28-200mm AF lens. It has served me well.
The lens is still in good shape.
I also still have a manual (ie no inbuilt lightmeter even) Praktica with
three lenses all screw mounts. A 50mm Zeiss Pancolar F1.8, a 35mm wide
angle, and a 135mm tele. The latter two are pretty much useless and I have
only rarely used them (didn't cost anything either so nothing lost). But the
Zeiss lens is a very good lens.

My question(s) relate to the use of these two lenses on a Nikon D50 or D70.

1 Will the Tamron 28-200 run seamlessly on a DSLR?
2 Someone wrote in an ebay ad that the Zeiss (same as mine) would fit on a
Nikon DSLR with an adapter ring and work perfectly albeit with manual
focussing of course. My question is this: Is this possible and has anyone
done this and can advise whether it is worth it? Otherwise I may as well
sell the Praktica with all the lenses and other bits and pieces as a job
lot.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Gerrit - Perth

Note: This is NOT a bit of spam trying to get anyone here to buy my old
Praktica, nor my F50, as you can see the email address is non existent. I am
quite capable of organising a sale myself through Ebay or somesuch.

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Ben Thomas - 23 Aug 2006 21:25 GMT

> I have a Nikon F50 with a Tamron 28-200mm AF lens. It has served me well.
> The lens is still in good shape.
[quoted text clipped - 21 lines]
> Praktica, nor my F50, as you can see the email address is non existent. I am
> quite capable of organising a sale myself through Ebay or somesuch.

Non-digital lenses won't meter on a D50/70. Not a problem if you're
experienced with a light meter, or are happy to take a few test shots
and use the histogram to evaluate the settings required. I did exactly
that with a Nikon F4 200mm AIS lens on my D70 at the Melbourne F1 GP
this year and got some great shots.

Ben

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kosh - 24 Aug 2006 13:03 GMT

>> I have a Nikon F50 with a Tamron 28-200mm AF lens. It has served me well.
>> The lens is still in good shape.
[quoted text clipped - 34 lines]
>
> Ben

actually, any auto focus lens will work!.... -kosh

Reply to this Message

Noons - 24 Aug 2006 13:15 GMT

> Non-digital lenses won't meter on a D50/70. Not a problem if you're

Actually, that is incorrect. "Non-digital" lenses - I presume you
refer to non-DX? - will meter in a D50/70 *if* they have the
electrical contacts of most of the D-series and AF lenses.
AIS lenses don't have such, so your 200mm would have
needed manual metering intervention. As well as, of course,
manual focus.

Reply to this Message

Noons - 24 Aug 2006 13:24 GMT

> 1 Will the Tamron 28-200 run seamlessly on a DSLR?

If it's an AF Nikon mount lens, it should. Aspect ratio
and image size will be off as the sensor in the DSLRs is
smaller than the 35mm film frame size where that lens
was originally designed.

> 2 Someone wrote in an ebay ad that the Zeiss (same as mine) would fit on a
> Nikon DSLR with an adapter ring and work perfectly albeit with manual
> focussing of course. My question is this: Is this possible and has anyone
> done this and can advise whether it is worth it? Otherwise I may as well
> sell the Praktica with all the lenses and other bits and pieces as a job
> lot.

IMHO, you're better off selling the Praktica lot. Yes, it's possible
to mount lenses to just about anything. But that doesn't mean
it would be practical. The D50/70 cameras won't meter with
any lens without the "D" electrical contacts - also known as
"non-chipped" lenses. Which rather defeats the purpose of
having such elaborate meters onboard the camera.

So, rather than try to make it work in a "sort of" fashion, much
better to just replace the gear. You'd have trouble making it work
with your film Nikon anyway. For the same reasons: the F55
doesn't react that well to non-chipped lenses.

You need an F4, F5 or F6 to meter properly with these lenses,
or in the case of DSLRs a D1 or D2 series camera, or a D200.

Reply to this Message

Gerrit 't Hart - 24 Aug 2006 14:49 GMT

> > 1 Will the Tamron 28-200 run seamlessly on a DSLR?
>
[quoted text clipped - 24 lines]
> You need an F4, F5 or F6 to meter properly with these lenses,
> or in the case of DSLRs a D1 or D2 series camera, or a D200.

Thanks for that.

I wasn't too worried about the Tamron 28-200 AF (except for the steady hand
bit at the higher end) but as far as the Zeiss 50mm is concerned I doubted
whether it would work and thought the guy on Ebay was just trying to get
more money for his lens. I never even enquired about trying to get an
adapter for my F50 to see if it would mount.
Mind you a 50mm prime of that quality on a DSLR would be great. :-)

Thanks again

Gerrit

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Pete D - 25 Aug 2006 22:16 GMT

> Mind you a 50mm prime of that quality on a DSLR would be great. :-)
>
> Thanks again
>
> Gerrit

The modern 50mm AF Nikon lenses are cheap and sharp and a lot easier to use
(and not quite as useful as they once were of course but still pretty
useable).

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