SANParks.org Forums

I am looking for old Nikon Nikkor manual focus lenses 'cos the new AF ones are just too expensive - does anyone have any that are just sitting in the back of the cupboard that they are willing to part with?

Welcome to the forums!

It might be handy if you state where you live? Country and things like that?

I saw plenty MF Nikkors in a shop near us, going for as good as nothing, while the lenses are in topshape. But that's in Holland...

And do those lenses fit your camera? If I remember correctly the fitting is different?

Thanks for the response - I didnt realize this site was not limited beyond South Africa. I am currently in Jhb, Gauteng, SA.

As far as the compatibility of the lenses goes - I'm looking for any old Nikon lenses as they will all fit my camera. Even the pre-AI lenses will do as i convert them myself.

I also prefer them in some respects as the build quality is certainly better than most of the newer options, and the price is usually more viable compared to the new AF lenses.

hello and welcome minim, i am in the same boat as you are and have been trying for the past week to find a place in the joburg area that sells old nikon film, manual focus lenses but have come up short in finding a place that does just that. i need a good zoom for the kruger because i don't think my 70-300mm is going to cut it and there is no way that i am going to be able to afford something like new nikkor or sigma zoom.
i know in the states because the economy a lot of people are using old film lenses so they are hard to come by even in the states, so i am not sure how the market is here for the old ones. i did find some old nikon mount vivatars on the b&hphoto site but i am not so keen on ordering second hand without having a try at it before purchasing it. if you are keen in doing that then check them out they have tons of old film nikon mount lenses and the prices are cheap.
i am curious minim on what you mean by "self conversion" though.

@ DuQues, the nikon d40-d60 (not sure about the d5000) can handle old nikkor film lenses, of course you lose auto focus, light metering, etc when you use them, bit of work to get used to but when you get it right, it is breeze to use. doesn't bother me though, i used an old pentex film for years and still after about a year of going digital when i am in a hurry i find myself reaching up to focus my lens and then realize, "hey i've got auto focus"

@Binkybozo

It is a bit of a pain to try and track these things down. Occasionally an individual might have a few bits and pieces for sale on a local classifieds site or similar, but then the prices asked are simply ridiculous.

By 'self-conversion' - i mean to buy a pre-1977 nikon f mount lens and disassemble it and then clean it and physically create a coupling ridge to work on newer cameras. I have a 1976 50mm f1.4 that i converted and its sharper than my new AF 50mm f1.8, which is fantastic in its own right. Iv done a few conversions on these old lenses, and they tend to be excellent if the glass is still good. On my D200, i get full metering and exif data, and the colours and contrast are brilliant.

Ive seen 200mm f4 Nikkor-Q lenses out there for R500. I also tried an old soligor 180-400mm with a T2 mount adapter, but everything was a bit soft, but with my 2x converter, i had an 800mm lens for R600.

Nikon AF Zoom-NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4-5.6D ED
Asking Price R2,000.00 Excellent Condition

link

i hear you on the prices minim! by the way i am very impressed with the self conversion that you are doing.
i was looking seriously at a nikkor 500mm on b&h but it was a mirror reflex and everything that i read said that it did doughnuts on photos when attached to a digital nikon so i canceled that one out. i've got 18 days to maybe find something, so i am holding thumbs for something to come up. i've also read that off brands like sigma, tokina, soliger and others do tend to be soft when attached to a digital do you find with conversion that it takes away some of the softness or do you just stay away from off brands of that era?

i hear you on the prices minim! by the way i am very impressed with the self conversion that you are doing.
i was looking seriously at a nikkor 500mm on b&h but it was a mirror reflex and everything that i read said that it did doughnuts on photos when attached to a digital nikon so i canceled that one out. i've got 18 days to maybe find something, so i am holding thumbs for something to come up. i've also read that off brands like sigma, tokina, soliger and others do tend to be soft when attached to a digital do you find with conversion that it takes away some of the softness or do you just stay away from off brands of that era?[/quote]

The conversion is actually quite fun to do, and its amazing to see the amount of mud and dirt i scrape out of the focus threads.

I picked up a T2 adapter quite cheaply, and had a bit of a go at these older lenses. Back in the day, they didnt have great coatings if at all, so apart from the softness of the lenses, they lack contrast and had horrid colour fringing.

I've had some experiences pointing the 500mm f8 mirror at some elephants - wasnt great, though i do think i wasnt set up properly (poor supports).

The old Tamron LD 300m f2.8 stopped down to f5.6 is pretty good - not too far from the Nikon, from what ive read. I am not too familiar with the off brands, though i do have some faith in Tokina.

hey minim, it is impressive what you do. are you a former camera tech or was this something that you learned on your own?

i found out that kameraz in rosebank carries some old nikkor lenses, i called them and they said that there is a guy that comes around often and purchases all of their old nikkor lenses and that the only thing that have at the moment is a 70-210mm f/4 for R850. the sales person there said that every year it is getting harder and harder to come by old film lenses so i guess i am just going to have to save for a few years and get a new or second hand digital lens but i will still keep a look out for the nikkor film lenses.

if you have any that you would consider selling at some point just send me a pm on the forum and i will get back to you.