Hello,

I have a couple of question regarding the compatibility of older and current Nikon equipment. I haven't been able to find this information anywhere and hope you folks might be willing to help. Specifically:

1. Can I mount a recent Nikon AFD lens on a FG body without damaging the lens? If so, will the lens behave like an AI lens? Can I mount it on a PB-4 bellows without damage? While I understand conceptually the difference between non-AI, AI, AIS, AFD lenses, I haven't found much that addresses the actual coupling mechanism in relationship to bodies (pointers?). I really don't want to tear up my 180 2.8D AF EDIF trying to put in on my FG or PB-4.

2. I have read that the FG apparently supports TTL flash (I've never owned a TTL compatible flash or the manual for my used FG). Can I assume a SB-28 would work with a FG, TTL?

Background: I've been studying John Shaw's Closeups in Nature and want to try some macro work. I'm trying to put together some old equipment with some new for a trial macro setup. (Old: Nikon FTn (w/working meter), non-AI 24mmf2.8, 55mmf3.5 Micro, 200mmf4 and a PB-4 bellows; Not-as-old: FG, 2 Vivitar Series 1 zooms to-be-dumped; New-ish: N60, Tamaron 28-105 f3.5-5.6 (baby shooting camera with an interface my wife could stand) and recently: 85mm f1.8 AFD and 180mm f2.8 AFD EDIF primes. I plan to buy a SB-28 real soon. (Even though the N60 doesn't make very good use of it, its got to be better than the on-board speedlight.)

Given all this, I was thinking about a FG/PB-4/55 or 200 or 180 or 24 reversed with a SB-28 (as needed) as a trial macro combo. (I can't use my stupid N60 body because the meter apparently shuts down with non-AF/AFD lenses.) Seems I could get rid of the 200 if the 180 will mount without harm. It might also be nice to use the FG as a backup body if these newer lenses will work OK.

Thank for any help you can provide.

-pete

-- Pete Percival (percival@indiana.edu), June 24, 1999

Answers

Hi Pete, for your two questions:

1) The FG will take AFD lenses with no problem. AF/AFD lenses are essentially AIS lenses with autofocus and other electronic capabilities.

2) The SB28 will provide Standard TTL Flash operation on the FG when the camera is set to aperture-priority exposure mode and uses an AIS or AF/AFD lens. However, I would suggest a smaller Nikon Speedlight model for your FG; the SB28 is too big and heavy to balance well on the diminutive FG. I find the SB28 too ungainly for my FE2 (which is bigger and heavier than the FG) and bought a very light and compact Metz 34 AF-3 N (an all-auto TTL flash) with the recommendation of participants in this forum. I think the Metz will go well with your FG.

Have fun!

-- Hoyin Lee (leehoyin@hutchcity.com), June 24, 1999.

More info:

For question 1, scroll to the bottom of this webpage:

http://mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardwares/classics/emfgfg20/fg/fg4.ht m

and for question 2, try this:

http://mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardwares/classics/emfgfg20/fg/fg3.ht m

Cheers.

-- Hoyin Lee (leehoyin@hutchcity.com), June 24, 1999.

All lenses mount on the PB-4 as far as I know. I use the AF-D 85/1.8 on it all the time.

Don't worry about the N60 on the PB-4; you need a big extension tube to mount motordriven Nikons to the bellows, and the camera position gets fixed to the back of the rail if you do. No fun.

You might want to consider keeping the 200 if the 180 is too wide up front to fit on the bellows at smaller extensions. It's not a big limitation, but it might matter later.

My macro setup is an F3/PB-4 with a 28/2.8, a 50/1.4, the 85/1.8, and the short mount 105/4 (has f/32, otherwise I'd lose it). The only limiting factors for me are working distance and my tripod. Let us know how the 180/2.8 works out on bellows at 1:2.

-- John O'Connell (oconnell@siam.org), June 25, 1999.

Thanks VERY much to both of you. I once saw a thread that talked about flipping up some metering connection in a Nikon body before mounting some lens (or teleconverter) and I was just a little paranoid about proceeding without some advice. Again, thanks very much. Happy shooting.

-pete

-- Pete Percival (percival@indiana.edu), June 26, 1999.

Pete, what you were referring to in your last posting is the method of mounting non-AI lenses (and certain bellows and extension tubes) onto SOME early nikon bodies. For example, non-AI lenses can be used on such cameras as the FT3 and FE which have a movable coupling lever (located at the 1 o'clock position on the lens mounting flange as you face the camera) that must be locked up (unlockable by pressing and twisting the coupling lever release button, which is located at the 2 o'clock position on the lens mounting flange) before the lens can be safely mounted. Like the FE2 (and all AF bodies) I have, your FG does not have the locking mechanism for the coupling lever, and therefore cannot be used with non-AI lenses, bellows and extension tubes that don't couple to the camera body.

-- Hoyin Lee (leehoyin@hutchcity.com), June 27, 1999.