# Looking for lens suggestions for a Nikkormat Ft3



## m1chelle (Apr 21, 2012)

Hello,

I'm a beginner photographer but looking to try out some new lenses for the main camera I use, a Nikkormat ft3. I currently use mostly my manual focus 50mm or 35mm. I'd like some wide angle lenses, maybe a 24mm or 28mm but I'm not really sure what else. I shoot indoors and outdoors, mostly when travelling or heading around the city. No hardcore landscapes or portraits but I'd be interested in suggestions for any basics, really.

Here's what I need:
I know there are some lenses that won't work with my camera (I was reading I should always get non-AI?). Can anyone point in the right direction for some lenses that will work? I'd prefer to be able to get a few at $100 or less each, but I guess that might be a stretch. 

Thanks!


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## Derrel (Apr 21, 2012)

You camera can use Ai-or Ai-S lenses, which have the metal "prongs" located at f/5.6, which connect with the Nikkormat's metering connection "pin". Lenses made before the Ai era are now referred to as pre-Ai or non-Ai, and those will also work. If you need budget-priced wide-angles, you can probably find some 3rd party lenses quite affordably. Vivitar, Asanuma,Quantaray,and so on wide-angles are pretty affordable these days. Pre-Ai Nikkors bring less money than later models, so those are also viable choices on a budget. One lens that is a must-have is the Nikkor 105mm f/2.5. It's a fantastic performer in all aspects! The small,light 200mm f/4 Ai or Ai-S is also a nice lens, but the pre-Ai 200mm f/4 is not nearly so good. The 135mm f/3.5 Ai or Ai-S or the f/2.8 model is another nice,affordable lens.


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## jake337 (Apr 21, 2012)

Derrel said:


> You camera can use Ai-or Ai-S lenses, which have the metal "prongs" located at f/5.6, which connect with the Nikkormat's metering connection "pin". Lenses made before the Ai era are now referred to as pre-Ai or non-Ai, and those will also work. If you need budget-priced wide-angles, you can probably find some 3rd party lenses quite affordably. Vivitar, Asanuma,Quantaray,and so on wide-angles are pretty affordable these days. Pre-Ai Nikkors bring less money than later models, so those are also viable choices on a budget. One lens that is a must-have is the Nikkor 105mm f/2.5. It's a fantastic performer in all aspects! The small,light 200mm f/4 Ai or Ai-S is also a nice lens, but the pre-Ai 200mm f/4 is not nearly so good. The 135mm f/3.5 Ai or Ai-S or the f/2.8 model is another nice,affordable lens.



Don't forget the 135mm f2 ais, 180mm f2.8 ais, 200mm f2 ais, 300mm f4.5 ais( preferably the internal focusing, 9 bladed model)

None of these are under a 100 bucks though, I'm saving for the 200mm f2 ais!


Derrel what do you think about the 18mm f3.5 ais, 20mm f3.5 ais and 20mm f2.8 ais, 24mm f2.8/f2 ais?

None of those wide angles are under a $100 bucks though, but the 24mm f2.8 ais is the closest to your price point I found on KEH.com


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## Helen B (Apr 21, 2012)

Derrel said:


> You camera can use Ai-or Ai-S lenses, which have the metal "prongs" located at f/5.6, which connect with the Nikkormat's metering connection "pin". Lenses made before the Ai era are now referred to as pre-Ai or non-Ai, and those will also work.



This is an FT3. There's no pin for the lens ears. Only AI and AI-S lenses will work open aperture, in addition to lenses that have been AI'd.


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## Derrel (Apr 21, 2012)

Helen B said:


> Derrel said:
> 
> 
> > You camera can use Ai-or Ai-S lenses, which have the metal "prongs" located at f/5.6, which connect with the Nikkormat's metering connection "pin". Lenses made before the Ai era are now referred to as pre-Ai or non-Ai, and those will also work.
> ...



My mistake...I was thinking of the FT2 and earlier manual-indexing Nikkormats. The FT3 has AI-indexing, and luckily for the experimenter/bargain lens hunter, the Ai coupling tab is the better "flip-up" style that will allow mounting of non-Ai lenses. The 20mm f/3.5 was actually a nifty little lens, with compact 52mm filter thread size. I never owned the 18mm. The 180 2.8 ED is a nice lens. The 135/2 is also nice but kind of a PITA compared with the smaller, slower 135's. The 300/4.5 ED-IF is a nice, lightweight 300mm lens. If you want really low,low cost lenses, the various aftermarket ones are going to be under $100. Prices on used manual focus Nikon lenses are reasonable at a lot of smaller-market brick and mortar stores around the USA. Prices are highest at the biggest web sites and the biggest stores with the biggest reputations.


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## Helen B (Apr 21, 2012)

For wide angle lenses on a budget, the 24 mm f/2.8 might be worth considering. If you have a 35 mm, a 28 mm might be too close. I completely agree with the 105 mm f/2.5 that Derrel suggested - that was the second lens I bought after a 50.



Derrel said:


> The FT3 has AI-indexing, and luckily for the experimenter/bargain lens hunter, the Ai coupling tab is the better "flip-up" style that will allow mounting of non-Ai lenses.



It might be worth emphasising that a non-AI lens will only meter stopped down on the FT3, not open aperture.


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## m1chelle (Apr 21, 2012)

Wow, thanks so much. This is already way more information than I thought I needed to know! 

I'm still a bit confused about AI/non-AI, etc. Can anyone suggest some more reading I could do? 

Until this point I've relied pretty heavily on the light meter on this camera and just experimented. I've been happy, but I'd love to know more about what I'm doing. I'll take a closer look at some of these lens suggestions. I'm glad it was mentioned that the 28mm will be close to my 35mm; I didn't even think of that.


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## STM (Apr 21, 2012)

Derrel said:


> You camera can use Ai-or Ai-S lenses, which have the metal "prongs" located at f/5.6, which connect with the Nikkormat's metering connection "pin". Lenses made before the Ai era are now referred to as pre-Ai or non-Ai, and those will also work. If you need budget-priced wide-angles, you can probably find some 3rd party lenses quite affordably. Vivitar, Asanuma,Quantaray,and so on wide-angles are pretty affordable these days. Pre-Ai Nikkors bring less money than later models, so those are also viable choices on a budget. One lens that is a must-have is the Nikkor 105mm f/2.5. It's a fantastic performer in all aspects! The small,light 200mm f/4 Ai or Ai-S is also a nice lens, but the pre-Ai 200mm f/4 is not nearly so good. The 135mm f/3.5 Ai or Ai-S or the f/2.8 model is another nice,affordable lens.



The FT3 can also indeed also use non-AI lenses too Darrel. I had one for many years and to this day can kick myself in the butt for ever getting rid of it. There is a small button on the shutter speed ring which, when depressed, unlocks the small  indexing tab and lets you flip it up out of the way. The FT3 did not have the rotating pin like the FT, FTN and FT2 before it so it is auto indexing.  Of course if you use non-AI all your metering will have to be done in the stop down mode.


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## Helen B (Apr 21, 2012)

Shouldn't someone add that non-AI lenses can be used on the FT3, but only with stop-down metering. Nobody's mentioned that yet.


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## compur (Apr 21, 2012)

m1chelle said:


> Hello,
> 
> I'm a beginner photographer but looking to try out some new lenses for the main camera I use, a Nikkormat ft3. I currently use mostly my manual focus 50mm or 35mm. I'd like some wide angle lenses, maybe a 24mm or 28mm but I'm not really sure what else. I shoot indoors and outdoors, mostly when travelling or heading around the city. No hardcore landscapes or portraits but I'd be interested in suggestions for any basics, really.
> 
> ...



You can find a manual for your camera here:
Nikon FT3 instruction manual, user manual, PDF manual, free manuals

The FT3 can use any Nikkor AI, AIS, Series E or AF/AFD Nikkor lens (manually focused of course).
It can also use the original "pre-AI" or "non-AI" lenses via stop-down metering which is explained in the manual.

Nikkor lenses are generally excellent and your choice would depend on your budget. There are also multiple verions of most Nikkor lenses but I wouldn't worry about that at this point.  Some of my favorite Nikkor focal lengths are 20mm, 24mm, 35mm, 50mm, 55mm, 85mm and 105mm. Any version, any max aperture. They are all very good.


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## Helen B (Apr 21, 2012)

m1chelle said:


> I'm still a bit confused about AI/non-AI, etc. Can anyone suggest some more reading I could do?



http://www.cameraquest.com/aidaiais.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikon_F-mount

http://support.nikonusa.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5366/~/what-is-the-difference-between-an-ai-lens,-an-ai-s-lens,-and-non-ai-lens%3F

http://www.google.com/search?ix=hea&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=nikon+ai



compur said:


> It can also use the original "pre-AI" or "non-AI" lenses via stop-down metering which is explained in the manual.



Thanks. That was the information we were missing.


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## m1chelle (Apr 21, 2012)

Thanks - again, this is all great (and I appreciate your patience!)

The lens I have now says "NIKKOR 50mm 1:2 3600238". I'm assuming it's AI since it meters without stop down mode?


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## Helen B (Apr 21, 2012)

m1chelle said:


> Thanks - again, this is all great (and I appreciate your patience!)
> 
> The lens I have now says "NIKKOR 50mm 1:2 3600238". I'm assuming it's AI since it meters without stop down mode?



Does it have a small set of f-numbers right at the back of the aperture ring? If so it is AI or AI-S. On an AI-S lens the largest f-number is in red. (I hope I remembered that correctly).


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## STM (Apr 21, 2012)

Helen B said:


> Shouldn't someone add that non-AI lenses can be used on the FT3, but only with stop-down metering. Nobody's mentioned that yet.



Look directly above your post Helen,


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## m1chelle (Apr 21, 2012)

Helen B said:


> m1chelle said:
> 
> 
> > Thanks - again, this is all great (and I appreciate your patience!)
> ...



Yes it does. But the 8 is red. The largest is white, the smallest blue.


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## m1chelle (Apr 21, 2012)

BTW, you can see the first roll I shot on pg 1-2 here: Flickr: m1chellec's Photostream

I'm not sure if there's a forum where I can get some tips/suggestions? I think this was just run of the mill Lomography film someone bought me at Urban Outfitters in the camera at the time.


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## compur (Apr 21, 2012)

Good job!

I think you'd enjoy the new perspectives that a wide angle and/or tele lens would offer.  Like, say, a 24mm and 105mm or 135mm.


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## Helen B (Apr 21, 2012)

m1chelle said:


> Helen B said:
> 
> 
> > m1chelle said:
> ...



Sorry, I was in a rush. I should have written "Does it have a small set of f-numbers right at the back, behind and in addition to, the regular ones?" - ie does it have two sets of f-numbers. AI and AI-S lenses, and pre-AI lenses that have been properly converted to AI have two sets of f-numbers usually. The multi-coloured numbers are likely to be the main f-numbers that both AI and non-AI lenses have - the colours correspond to the depth-of-field markings on the focus scale.



STM said:


> Helen B said:
> 
> 
> > Shouldn't someone add that non-AI lenses can be used on the FT3, but only with stop-down metering. Nobody's mentioned that yet.
> ...



I guess that you didn't read the posts before yours. I had already mentioned it a couple of times, then you mentioned it, so I thought that we needed more people to mention it before this became a proper internet thread.


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## m1chelle (Apr 21, 2012)

Pardon my ignorance. I'm assuming these are the two numbers you are referring to?


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## Helen B (Apr 21, 2012)

That's right. The small set of all-white numbers suggest that you have an AI lens.


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## compur (Apr 22, 2012)

For comparison, this is a non-AI lens.  It doesn't have the smaller set of numbers at the base:


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