The Legandery Nikon F Mount has been around for around 40 years. Mainly i want to answer about the frequently asked question that will any Nikkor Lens from any era fits on Your Latest DSLR. Here is a news Article to explain a History of Nikon F Mounts, Common Misunderstanding, Compatibility Table and how to modify. This news might ended up as a very long news, but you can always bookmark & + it for future reference. i do not wish to see debate of Nikon and Canon in comments!

Brief History of The Nikon F Mount
Nikon F-mount refers to a lens mount developed by Nikon for its 35 mm SLR cameras. The F-mount was first introduced on the Nikon F camera in 1959, and features a three lug bayonet mount with a 44 mm throat and a flange to focal plane distance of 46.5 mm.The large variety of F-mount compatible lenses makes it the largest system of interchangeable flange-mount photographic lenses in history.Over 400 different Nikkor lenses are compatible with the system. The F-mount is also popular in scientific and industrial applications, most notably machine vision.

The Nikon F-mount is one of only two photographic lens mounts (the other being the Pentax K mount) that were not abandoned by their associated manufacturer upon the introduction of autofocus, but rather extended to meet new requirements. This has resulted in the continued development of F-mount lenses and cameras to progressively higher levels of sophistication and automation. F-mount photographic lenses are currently made by Nikon, Zeiss, Voigtländer, Schneider, Sigma, Tokina, Tamron, Hartblei, Kiev-Arsenal, Lensbaby, Vivitar, and others. F-mount photographic cameras include current models from Nikon, Sinar, Fujifilm, and Kodak.

Numerous other manufacturers employ the F-mount in non-photographic imaging applications.The F-mount has a significant degree of both backward and forward compatibility. Many current autofocus F-mount lenses can be used on the Nikon F, and the earliest manual-focus F-mount lenses of the 1960s and early 1970s can, with some modification, still be used to their fullest on all professional-class Nikon cameras. Incompatibilities do exist, however, and adventurous F-mount users should consult product documentation in order to avoid problems. In particular, many electronic camera bodies cannot meter without a "CPU" enabled lens, the aperture of G designated lenses cannot be controlled without an electronic camera body, and non-AI lenses manufactured prior to 1977 can cause mechanical damage to later model bodies unless they are modified to the AI specification.

The Nikon F of 1959 embodies the original F-mount.
The Nikon D50 reveals a current revision of the F-mount.

Most Nikon F-mount lenses cover the standard 36x24 mm area of 135 film, while "DX" designated lenses cover the 23.7x15.7 mm area of the Nikon DX format, and industrial F-mount lenses have varying, often small, coverage. "DX" lenses produce vignetting when used on film cameras. However, Nikon lenses designed for film cameras will work on Nikon digital system cameras with some limitations.

What is Nikkor?

Nikkor is the brand of lenses produced by Nikon Corporation, including camera lenses for the Nikon F-mount.

The Nikkor brand was introduced by Nippon Kogaku K.K. (Nikon's original corporate name, Nippon = Japan, Kogaku = Optics) in 1937. Nikon originally reserved the Nikkor designation for its highest-quality imaging optics, but in recent history almost all Nikon lenses are so branded.

A Brief History of Nikon's Meter Coupling Systems

When the first meters for the Nikon F were introduced in the early 1960s, they used a "pin and yoke" arrangement for coupling the lens to the meter. This technique was simple and effective but required additional effort to "index" the combination. In 1977, Nikon came out with a line of
cameras that retained their traditional lens mount but incorporated a new method for meter coupling. It consisted of a spring-loaded ring around the lens mount with a protruding tab that engaged the end of a corresponding recess in the aperture ring of the lens. This new system provided for proper meter coupling immediately upon mounting a lens. It was known as Automatic Indexing (AI).

The aperture rings on their new lenses continued to be equipped with the familiar coupling shoe in addition to the recessed section. These were known as AI lenses, and later AI-s. The new bodies, on the other hand, were not fully compatible with the old lenses since the metering tab could interfere with the aperture ring. Nikon addressed that problem by using a hinge on the metering tab that allowed the tab to drop out of the way.

To counter this inconvenience, Nikon instituted their AI Conversion service. For most of their more recent non-AI lenses, they replaced the existing aperture ring with a new one that was fitted with both AI and non-AI connections. Beginning with the E series lenses in 1979 and continuing through the Autofocus models of today, the familiar meter coupling shoe was no longer installed. The Nikon EM, also introduced in 1979, was the first body that had a fixed, rather than hinged, metering tab. That meant that older, unconverted lenses could not be used at all. Nikon discontinued their AI Conversion service in 1991 due to waning demand and a lack of parts. In

Nikon's present product line, the F5 is sold with a fixed tab but a factory retrofit to a hinged one is available. All other bodies either have the fixed tab or couple by electronic connections only.

In 1987, the N4004 began a new line of bodies that relied on the microprocessor in the autofocus lenses to support their metering functions. The lens mount did not include a metering tab since all the connections were made electronically. The most recent models in this line are the N60, N65, N80 and the D100. The Fuji S1 and S2 digital bodies also fall in this category. Use of autofocus lenses on these bodies is recommended since ambient light cannot be measured when manual lenses are used. To further compound the issue of compatibility, Nikon has recently begun to issue a line of lenses known as Series G. These lenses have no aperture ring at all. They will mount safely on all bodies but must be used wide open(f) on models that have no electronic couplings.

Basic Compatibility of Nikon DSLR Bodies and Lenses

No, Don't Just put any Nikkor on Any Nikons, READ

D40 and D40x

Good news! Virtually any Nikon-mount lens will fit safely on the camera with no need for conversion. You will have no TTL metering with manual focus lenses but you can set the body to M (Manual) mode and make the shutter speed and aperture settings by guessing or using a handheld meter. Your exposure can be checked in the LCD almost immediately, of course.

Special note on the D40 series: Although this new body has lots of great features, it does not have the autofocus motor. Thus, it needs the lenses that contain the motor(AF-S / Silent Wave Motor) in order to use the autofocus. These lenses are marked as AF-S or AF-I. Other AF lenses can
be used as-is. They will have metering but focusing will be only manual.

D80, D70s & D50 (and bodies with similar lens mounting/coupling systems such as the D100, D70, N80, N65, N60, N5005, N4004, Fuji Digital SLRs and recent Kodak DCS Pro models):

Lenses that are AF, AI-s, AI, Series E and older ones that were converted to AI by Nikon can be used as-is on these bodies. You will have no TTL metering with manual focus lenses but you can set the body to M (Manual) mode and make the shutter speed and aperture settings manually. Your exposure can be checked in the LCD almost immediately, of course.

Non-AI (Prior to 1977) / Unconverted lenses should NOT be mounted on these bodies because of the

interference between the aperture ring and the minimum aperture sensing switch (at about the 8 o’clock position outside the lens mount as you face into the mirror box). Although in my experience, i can Mount a Nikkor Q 200mm f4 (1972) on a D70s with no problem but i cant Mount on my D80 because of the minimum aperture sensing switch. But this can be fixed either by yourself (do at your own risk) or send it out to have someone else done it professionally, it will only cost you about 40 bucks shipping included. [link] . To Do it Yourself or the half ass way as i would call it, basically all you need to do is take the aperture ring out, and file the ring down by about 2mm - clearance for the minimum aperture sensing switch.

D200, D1 and D2 series (which includes the D1, D1H, D1X, D2H, D2Hs, D2X and D2Xs)

Lenses that are AF, AI-s, AI, Series E and older ones that were converted to AI by Nikon can be used as-is on these bodies. You will have TTL center-weighted metering at full aperture in the M (Manual) and A (Aperture-preferred priority) with manual focus lenses but not in P (Program) or S (Shutter-priority) mode. TTL flash metering is supported if you have the appropriate flash.

Pre-AI Nikon lenses (ones made before 1978) need conversion in order to be used on these bodies in the manner described above. (about $25-30 bucks to have someone else do it)

Unconverted lenses should not be mounted on these bodies because of the interference between the aperture ring and the sliding aperture sensing tab (at about the 2 o’clock position outside the lens mount as you face into the mirror box).

Backward Compatibility

All newer lens (AF-I etc) lens should be able to mount on any older Nikon Film cameras, but AF-S lens lack aperture ring, you have to shoot it wide open. Common problem is you will lose metering among all the differe type of lens. but, who cares.

F3AF
F3AF lens can only be mounted on F3AF Bodies, Vice Versa.

In Conclusion
Take Advantage of Your Nikon F Mount, use them old lens and save money. Dont be afraid to use it in full Manual and Manual Aperture. I used a self converted Non AI lens on my D80, it beats the hell out on some of my new lens, judge the sharpness for yourself, its a Nikkor Q 200mm f4 for $40 USD on my D80. Sample = [link] and [link]

Even if you dont want to convert youself, you can buy one of them lens under $100 USD and throw $40 dollars in for conversion, whats better than that, and after all, In Nikkor We Trust


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Have Fun Shooting

=dehk