Nikon 70 300 AF G Lens

I just got one of these lenses for a gift to use on my Nikon N80. Can it be
focus manually? My other lens has a switch on it for MA or M. If I try to
turn the focus dial it is very hard to turn, it also seems like the AF motor
is turning when I do so.

Is that the way this lens is supposed to work?

In article GPlLe.54$I56.3@trndny06, Jon Hirschman wrote:
I just got one of these lenses for a gift to use on my Nikon N80. Can it be
focus manually? My other lens has a switch on it for MA or M. If I try to
turn the focus dial it is very hard to turn, it also seems like the AF motor
is turning when I do so.

Is that the way this lens is supposed to work?

I have no direct experience with the N80, but with the N90s
(which I *do* have), there is a switch to the left (as viewed from
behind the camera) of the lens mount with three positions:

M Manual focus

S Single -- it focuses *once* as you half-depress the
shutter release

C Continuous -- It will track the focus as long as you
hold the shutter release half
depressed

If you place the switch in the "M" position, it withdraws the
"screwdriver" which protrudes from the lens mount ring to engage the
"screw" which drives the focus ring.

If, instead, you try to turn the focus ring with the switch in
any other position, you are driving the motor in the body through the
gears the hard way -- and probably accelerating wear on the camera's
autofocus mechanism.

The other lens, which has an "S" or "M" switch on the lens is
one which uses an ultrasonic motor built *inside* the lens, and it is
designed to even allow a grip on the lens focus ring to disengage the
motor and allow free turning even with the camera in autofocus mode.
This describes my "kit" lens for the D70.

It sounds as though you are using one of the other lenses made
for the D70 (and other digitals) on your film camera body (N80). Note
that some of them (in particular, the 18-70mm "kit" lens for the D70,
and probably other extreme wide angle lenses will not give adequate
coverage of a full 35mm frame.

So -- does your N80 have a similar switch on the camera body?
The D70 does, though it only has two positions, "AF" and "M". There is
a menu selection to allow choosing between "continuous" and "single"
autofocus modes.

And -- on the D70 with the kit lens, it is necessary to have
*both* the lens and the body switches on to allow autofocus.

The same applies with the kit lens on the N90s. Of course, the
lens won't properly cover the full film size of the N90s, but mine
happens to have been coverted by Kodak to digital for the AP -- back in
1995/1996, when interchangeable lens digital cameras did not exist.

O.K. Looking for images on eBay, and assuming that the F80 and
the N80 are equivalent (as suggested in the auction), I see that there
is the autofocus switch on the body, below the lens change button.

Good Luck,
DoN.
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Jon Hirschman wrote:

I just got one of these lenses for a gift to use on my Nikon N80. Can it be
focus manually? My other lens has a switch on it for MA or M. If I try to
turn the focus dial it is very hard to turn, it also seems like the AF motor
is turning when I do so.

Switch the camera itself to manual focus.

--
Jeremy |