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Question: Nikon D300 users!.!.!.!.!.!.!.
So I just bought one of the coolest DSLR's in the world!. Nikon's D300!. I already have two lenses!. Tokina 12-24mm f3!.5 ATX PRO and Nikon 18-200mm VR lenses!. I'm thinking about purchasing older manual only Nikkor lenses for a fixed and one for a macro!. Are AI-S lenses compatible and if so, which ones would you recommend as a "must have" for starting photography career!? I intend to shoot portraits, landscapes, concerts, and maybe a wedding here and there!. Thanks!Www@QuestionHome@Com


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
The short answer is that yes the D300 will work in A and M with the AI-s lenses!.
Non AI lenses did not index automatically you had to line up a prong when you put the lens on

AI lenses were automatic indexing so you did not have to move the aperature ring when mounting the lens!.

AI-d series Nikkor lenses were factory converted from Non AI to AI

In AI-s lenses the "s" means that the actuation of the diaphragm was linearized with respect to the position of the automatic diaphragm pin!. This is very important for AF cameras because they have have open-loop exposure control that depends on the aperture being exactly correct or else your exposure will be off!. It is not important to manual focus cameras

P lenses are manual focus AI-s lenses that have had the electronic contacts of an AF lens added to them!. I do not know of this being on 50 mm I think it was used mostly on telephotos

E series lenses were one of the first "Cheaper" nikon lenses I put the "cheaper" in quotes because they had great optical quality!. They were built with well thought out, simple to manufacture optics and cheaper mechanics that were more than good enough for amateur use!. These cheaper mechanics are often better than what Nikon makes today in some of their cheaper plastic AF lenses!. But at the time they were one of the first lenses Nikon made with plastic instead of metal parts, so they got a bad rap!. These are great buys IF they work on your camera

AF were autofocus lenses and AF-n are "new" autofocus lenses that also have a manual focus ring!.

AF-D lenses send distance information to the camera to be used with things like automatic flashes

AF-I have internal focusing motors on the lenses AF-S also have internal focusing motors but you can override them with the manual focus ring without moving and switches

G lenses are lenses which have been crippled by removing their aperture rings to save cost!. They do not work on older manual only cameras as you cannot set the aperature!.

AF-s and AF-I are the only ones that will autofocus with the D40/D60!.

A good compatability chart can be found here
http://www!.kenrockwell!.com/nikon/compati!.!.!.

The D-300 has a menu area where you can enter presets for legacy glass ( old non CPU lenses) to allow you to get more funtions

The 18 to 200 VRyou have is a great lens!. As to other lenses your would want I would say a good 50mm 1!.4 or 1!.8 and an 85mm f1!.4 AI-s( if you can find one) or 135mm f2 AFfor portaits, a 14 to 28 f2!.8 AFs

hope this helpsWww@QuestionHome@Com