35mm SLR · From 1959

Nikon F mount cameras

Nikon introduced the F mount on the Nikon F in 1959, a three-lug bayonet with a 44 mm throat and a 46.5 mm flange distance, and every Nikon SLR in our catalog uses it. Manual-focus lenses come in three generations. Pre-AI lenses couple to the meter with a prong on the aperture ring, and you set the lens's maximum aperture on the body by hand. AI lenses from 1977 add a coupling ridge and an indexing post so the body reads the aperture itself. AI-S lenses from 1981 standardized aperture control for later automation.

Mounting a pre-AI lens can damage many later Nikon bodies. Among film bodies the FM and FE accept them, as do the F2A and F2AS with certain finders. On any other body, check in the photos that the lens has an AI ridge or has been converted, since pre-AI lenses can be converted to AI.

9 cameras we cover.