Which nikon dslr?

[TWallace]

You'll need to find out what lens mounts your dad's lenses have. I'm guessing some or all may be AI or AIS. If so, you will not be able to meter with them on a D40/50/60/70/80/90. You will be able to meter them with a D200/300/700 and I think a D2/3 will meter as well.

As someone else mentioned, the D90 does indeed have a focus motor in the body. I have a D90 myself. The lack of a focus motor is why I avoided the D40/60 when I got my first DSLR (I got a used D50 which was great).

Full frame lenses work just fine on a crop sensor. They just look more zoomed. If the lenses are AI or AIS as I suspect, I'd try to find a used D200. If the lenses are really old, they could be pre-AI.

Here's some helpful info on identifying the lens type.

 

[inktomi]

I bought a D60, and, honestly - wish I had spend a little extra on a good used D200.

By the way, www.dpreview.com is a /great/ site for looking at buying DSLRs - and whatever you decide on I'd recommend reading the review for your camera.

 

[tyoberg]

I have a D40 and use all sorts of manual lenses on it. They don't meter, but I just chimp with them (shoot and peek at the LCD, then adjust as necessary). It'll mount anything, but there is absolutely zero that is automatic. I had to modify my really old nonAI lenses to get them onto my D1x--it does meter them all.

Keep in mind that the shortcomings of a lens always show up at the edges. When you shoot on a DX (cropped) sensor, you're using the best part of the lens.

If they aren't really great lenses, I'm not sure I'd really make that a consideration though. Don't get me wrong; some of those 70's lenses are awesome. And some aren't.
http://www.naturfotograf.com/lens_surv.html

 

[AcroSteve]

The D90 is a fine camera but Ken Rockwell is a moron.

What's you beef with Ken? :lol:

I just spent some time on his site looking at D200 information and he does seem to have some good data on his site.

I seem to remember that my dad mentioned that he might be a little full of himself, but I did not really read much more than the D200 review.

 

[BlueCorn]

What's you beef with Ken? :lol:

There's nothing even remotely objective about his reviews. He's just a Nikon fanboy with a web site. He's not even a good photographer. Quite often the result is that he's just dead wrong about stuff and folks take it as gospel.

 

[xtm]

Unless you are a hardcore manual focus enthusiast or still shoot film, I think you should just leave the AIS glasses to your dad and get the new ones. Nothing against AIS glass but that ship has already sailed. Newer lenses are usually optically better due to newer designs and newer coatings, not to mention the AF ability.

I shoot both DX and FX and I can tell you for a fact that the 1.5x "magnification" that is being perpetrated all over the place is bunk. There is no "magnification" whatsoever. 50mm is 50mm on DX or FX-- the only thing that is taken away on DX is the outer frame. FX gives you this "outer frame" and most people think that they've lost the reach after moving to FX but that is clearly not the case.

A good beginner camera for you to grow up with (in my opinion) is probably a used D200 or a D300. Don't put too much money on bodies as they will all be junk in 2 years. These DX bodies will work fine with your dad's AIS glass, but as a beginner, I recommend that you should just go with newer glass.

 

[xtm]

Re: Ken Rockwell

His site is good for a laugh or two, but never take it seriously. He is good with Marketing, however.

If you want to read some decent reviews, look for Bjorn Rorslett or Thom Hogan. But just like anyone with a blog, both of these guys tend to go overboard sometimes. The best reviewers are the actual everyday shooters.

 

[Joce]

thanks for all your opinions!! My dad took those lenses to get them cleaned but I agree that getting a cheaper model makes more sense. I won't be able to use most of the functions initially anyway. This means I can consider canon haha!

 

[TWallace]

Not too long ago Best Buy was selling brand new D200s for $600. You can probably find them used for that price or lower now a day. That's a fantastic price for that camera. I debated between that and a D90 for a while before I settled on the D90.

The biggest thing I miss on the D90 is the ability to meter AIS lenses. I only have 2 AIS lenses, and of those really only use one (a 90mm Tamron 90mm macro lens). The other one (Nikon 24mm) I used for astrophotography, where metering and auto focus are not used anyway. AIS lenses are still perfectly well suited for astrophotography. I haven't tried astrophotography much lately (it's usually cloudy this time of year). I have a Tokina 11-16 that I favor over the 24mm now for the wider field.

 

[tyoberg]

Unless you are a hardcore manual focus enthusiast or still shoot film, I think you should just leave the AIS glasses to your dad and get the new ones. Nothing against AIS glass but that ship has already sailed. Newer lenses are usually optically better due to newer designs and newer coatings, not to mention the AF ability...

That's definitely true about zooms which is where 90+% of the development effort has been since the 1970's. The optical formulas for most of the primes haven't really changed much though. But yeah, they're not for everyone.