Hi,
Stick with the 50mm f2. I bought two recently at $35 each. Beautiful
old lenses that need to be seen to be believed.
If it is not AI, you can have the aperture ring machined to work with
AI. Henry Paine (147 E. Alpine Ave., Stockton, Ca. 95204, (209)942-2821)
did a fine job on one of old 50mm f2's and a 105mm f3.5 last week for
$40 Yankee dollars each. The 105mm lens had been attacked by a fellow
with a file, in attempt to convert it to AI. Henry turned it from a mess
into a beautiful jewel with a pinned nylon boss to actuate the AI, and
did it for the same price as machining the unmodified lens. I have early
'60s examples of fine Nikkor glass, a 28mm and 135mm, that are at his
shop now and will have them back in a week. The second 50mm f2 is now
reversed on a bellows, and for what I paid, it can live there a very
long time.
You can find people to do it for more (a sucker born every minute!),
and people who butcher with a horseshoe rasp. A tool and die man who
also works on leaf shutters, and is prompt to boot, is rare. That he is
a nice guy makes him someone we should patronize.
Adios,
Bill Hilburn Jr.
>
> > I have a Nikon F2. I have 2 questions:
> > Do these lenses (non AF) work on any of
> > the newer Nikon cameras in manual mode?
>
> If they're AI they'll work on most, but not all modern
> cameras.
>
> If they're not AI, then they won't fit on most of the
> later cameras, and won't meter on the ones that they
> do fit. The F5 can be modified to accept them for about
> $100 (US).
>
