No clue when it comes to Nikon

[freelanceshots]

I have a customer here at the Ducati dealership that I know work at and he has seen me doing photography work for these guys. He was telling me the story how he has 5 or so professional lenses maybe 20 years old from his film Nikon F2 camera and how it is a shame that he can't use them anymore if he goes digital. I replied you should be able to continue to use these lenses with the right digital Nikon body. Explained that it might be all manual but he understands that. This guy isn't hurting for money but he's not looking for the 8,000 digital nikon body either. What are the Nikon DSLR body that I should recommend to this guy?

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8150/7476658434_8f57cb6117_c.jpg
5D2, 16-35II
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7229/7384305304_9d71915874_c.jpg
40D, 16-35II lens

[DavidEccleston]

https://nikoneurope-en.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/19026/~/d-slr-camera-and-lens-compatibility

[Busted Knuckles]

d800 is $3k if you can get one and is their latest non-uber pro body. D700 is available last gen non-uber pro and is very good as well 2k ish and lower.

[freelanceshots]

All the older 35mm nikon lenses will work with these bodies right?

[Dr Croubie]

All the older 35mm nikon lenses will work with these bodies right?
http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/compatibility-lens.htm

It's a minefield alright...


Canons are annoying in that you don't get 'AF confirmation' on old lenses unless you have a chip (even though it's the AF sensor in the body that tells you when it's in focus, not the lens).
But nikons have weird stuff too, like on the oldest lenses the apertures won't work on new bodies, you don't get "matrix metering" on some lenses, the first AF lenses without a motor need a motor in the body (which you don't get on the cheapest digital bodies these days).

In short, you can mount more old Nikkor glass on Canon digital bodies than you can on Nikon digital bodies. Tell him to get a Canon body and he'll be fine, a Nikon digital body is a lot of research and/or a crapshoot. (or i'll buy them off him, depending on what they are)

[freelanceshots]

I'll have to get him to write down what he actually owns. Since he was a Nikon F2 shooter I bet he'd just be more geared towards the Nikon use then Canon. Seems like few Nikonians wonder to the other side. For now I pointed him towards the D800 and D700.