How to tell the difference between Nikon Pre-AI, AI and AIS lenses and how they work.

An explanation of the difference between Nikon pre or non AI lenses, AI lenses and AIS lenses and what cameras they work on.
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[@emanuelbinder4263]

A masterclass! Also brought me a lot of good nostalgia! Got a new subscriber from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil!

[@julesvuottosphotofocus4696]

Thank you

[@musiqueetmontagne]

Superbly presented information, so helpful, thanks a lot.

[@julesvuottosphotofocus4696]

@@musiqueetmontagne Thank you. I know many people are confused by this, so I’m glad to be of help.

[@tomallen6073]

I’ve grown to appreciate the pre-AI lenses, the scalloped focusing ring must have been costly to make so they cheapened it by switching to rubber withe K types. The pre AI’s, for me at least, bring back a sense of quality and craftsmanship of a bygone era. Much like a machine tool or a car from the 1940’s before cost cutting was business as usual. Contrast that to the plastic crap they produce now.

[@giacomocontepujalt6634]

Hello Jules! EXCELLENT video. I'm from Peru, look I'm a dentist and I have a problem with one of my lenses. As we take pictures of little tooth, we need a macro 100 lens so I bought a vivitar 100 mm macro lens. I have a D5100 nikon camera but I didn't realize that the VIvitar box said Ft nikon AI. When I tried it, it Just didn't fit and I became really worried. I have seen another Vivitar macro lens but this fits IOB nikon, I just don't want to choose it wrong again , so If you could give me some advice or maybe let me know what mount or mount does my camera fit. Thank you very much.

[@filmic1]

Thank-you very much! I have the micro-Nikkor 105 2.8 VR IF, and some blogger said I could use it on my Nikon F90 and N90s bodies but only in aperture priorty.. I think. I haven't tried it yet. I use my 10-5 2.8 VR IF with my Nikon D7100. My cousin't girlfriend gave me her old Nikkormat FT2 and want to find a 35mm f2.8 Ai lens for it.

[@julesvuottosphotofocus4696]

You can use a pre-Ai or Ai on the Ft2. Thanks for watching

[@danielfraga]

Great Jobn, thank you !

[@julesvuottosphotofocus4696]

Thanks for watching.

[@odesouuza]

Great video! I just need to add the information that you actually can use pre-AI lenses on some AI bodies. The F3 for exemple has an little lever and switch that allows you to push that in order to attach pre-AI lenses without damage. The disadvanage of that: the photographer is not able anymore to get full aperture metering, you need to meter using the DoF button, what is bad for those using split-image focusing screen.

[@philmtx3fr]

Hi Gui true that for measuring you lost the full aperture but you can still have it for distance focusing which is important

[@justnoted2995]

Thank you Jules! Lovely to watch this; my first SLR camera was a Nikkormat EL (2nd hand, 1976), that accepted non-AI lenses; I still have it /them! Later I bought a 135mm AI portrait lens without really knowing the difference. I only became aware of the "fitting" problem when I bought a Nikon D700 (used 2021). The 135mm AI was okay, not the non-AI's. Subsequently I bought a Fujifilm-X mirrorless camera and Metabones dumb-adapter, and now can use my non-AI's again (a new life for them!). I am new to your channel, and enjoying it.

[@julesvuottosphotofocus4696]

Thank you for your comments. It’s great to be able to use vintage lenses on mirrorless cameras.

[@thomastheman7331]

Thank you for this video. I have a Nikon E series 35mm, 1:3.5 lens as well as s Nikon Series E Zoom 75~150mm 1:3.5 lens. I learned from this video that both are AIS format lenses. Interesting that neither have rabbit ears at all.

[@julesvuottosphotofocus4696]

That’s because they were meant for AI cameras. A coupling prong can be added. Look for 2 little indentations on the aperture ring for the 2 small screws to attach the prong. I wouldn’t try to do it myself.

[@thomastheman7331]

@@julesvuottosphotofocus4696 My nikon fm and nikomat bodies have prongs on the ring on the body itself, if i am following you.

[@julesvuottosphotofocus4696]

@@thomastheman7331 The FM was one of the first Nikon bodies designed for AI lenses. Only the Nikkormat FT3 worked with AI lenses.

[@roberttangen2942]

Thank you that did answer my questions. The Ai vs AI-S had me stumped but this helped and answered the questions. I have a F Photomic FTn, F2 AS, F3 HP and a F4 so I have been wondering about the differences. Both the F3 and the F4 have the fold down catch so you can use the non AI lenses in stop down mode but I have not done that too often. I only have 3 non AI lenses so it has been easy so far not to get too confused. Also I don't really like stop down metering so I almost always have a Pentax 1 degree spot meter with me

[@RajReviewsDualSportPhotoGadget]

Thank you! Very informative. Just the info. I was looking for, and then some.

[@julesvuottosphotofocus4696]

Thank you and welcome. I’m open to suggestions on future videos.

[@stevecrawford3551]

Excellent. 😀

[@julesvuottosphotofocus4696]

Thank you Steve.

[@philmtx3fr]

I didn t know either that the FTZcadapter supported non AI lenses. I will try this. Thx for the tip.

[@justnoted2995]

Yea, I use a Metabones adapter on my non Nikon mirrorless camera in order to breath life into my old non-AI Nikon lenses... Cool

[@nouneyhill9795]

I enjoy using manual lenses but just purchased a D5, so I was getting confused about using AI-S lenses; my problems arose when I was getting extension tubes for better macro focus, between non-AI and AI. Thank you.

[@tomc8273]

Nice video, Thanks. very helpful.

[@coin777]

How did the coatings change during those years? Are later ones much better than the pre ai?

[@julesvuottosphotofocus4696]

They were multi coated starting around 1972-1973. I’m not sure but I think some AIS lenses might have additional coatings.

[@yioh427]

Excellent!

[@myblueandme]

Wow thats what i was looking for. Can i use Non -AI 105 mm f2.5 lens on Nikon Z5?

[@miklosnemeth8566]

That was awesome. Then what are AF-D lenses? I have one a 80200f2.8

[@julesvuottosphotofocus4696]

They are auto-focus lenses, but will work like manual focus AIS lenses on AI bodies like the F2A.

[@miklosnemeth8566]

@@julesvuottosphotofocus4696 That sounds great, I am a Nikon fan, too. What I love with your channel is that your authenticity, it's always amusing/weird when a 20-or-so year old "KZbin reviewer" is talking about cameras like Nikon F2 as an expert. You are an expert, I am happy that I've found your videos, a joy to watch.

[@julesvuottosphotofocus4696]

@@miklosnemeth8566 thank you.

[@miklosnemeth8566]

@@julesvuottosphotofocus4696 It's terribly important, that people like You with 30 - 50 years of experience share their experience. I am really fed up with the trash-stream from millions of self-made experts on KZbin, brutally hard to pick out the gems. I am not watching, no way, channels with 100 thousand subscribers. The real gems are like Yours.

[@miklosnemeth8566]

This morning I received my F2 with DP-1 viewfinder, and it looks awesome. I have no rabbit-ear lenses, but I have a great 80200f2.8D. Even though the DP-1 cannot be clutched to this lens, I still can use the lDP-1 light meter? DP-1 shows f5.6, and I think that, if I set the lens to F5.6, and I adjust the shutter speed, DP-1 will show me the correct exposure? If this were the case then this would be awesome. What do you think as an expert?

[@julesvuottosphotofocus4696]

You have to use stop down metering. Select a shutter speed you would like to use, then press in the depth of field preview button and adjust the aperture to center the needle. That should give you correct exposure. By the way release the DOF button before pressing the shutter release. Thanks for calling me an expert, but I’m no expert I just have a lot of experience with Nikon.

[@miklosnemeth8566]

@@julesvuottosphotofocus4696 Oh, now, I remember you have mentioned it in one of your videos. ... hold on I got it, with stopping down the actual shooting aperture is set to the metering machinery of the camera. Can I do it the other way round: first set the aperture, say to f5.6, press DoF button and then turn shutter speed until the metering needle shows OK?

[@julesvuottosphotofocus4696]

@@miklosnemeth8566 yes you can do it that way as well. Remember, because the lens is not indexed to the meter the meter has no way of knowing what aperture is set unless you press the DOF button. The meter thinks it is always set to the maximum aperture because auto diaphragm lenses are always at max aperture until the money of exposure. I hope this explains it. Let me know.

[@miklosnemeth8566]

@@julesvuottosphotofocus4696 Yes totally clear. In the meantime, since now I have my own F2 and managed to buy a battery, I had some experimenting, and recognized that, if I use my lens 80200f2.8D at F2.8 I don't have to keep pressing the DoF button for metering; wide open I can use AF-D lenses as if I had the DP-11 viewfinder module. And here is the point I love using this lens wide open. Daylight outdoor, I have an excellent variable ND filter, so actually, I can see no real pain in using this lens on an F2/ DP-1 camera. For studio work, we use only F numbers with strobes; again not an issue. Indoors, typically I use the 8200f2.8 wide open. And so on and forth. Thank you so much for the help and the chance to share thoughts.