lens vivitar F8.0 500mm

newhaven

I picked up a vivitar lens f8.0 500mm len apparently they are unavailable now.
Do I need an attachment for it to fit on my camera Nikon d3200. What automatic len that is long range would you suggest. How about a tameron lens would that be compatible with my camera d3200. And would I need attachment.

bruto

These lenses, which are preset and have no meter coupling or other automated features, are designed to use T-mount adapters for specific camera types. If what you see is a threaded end, you need to get the Nikon F specific T-mount. If you see a bayonet mount, it has a T mount on it. If you bought it as "for Nikon," it should be the correct mount already.

If you bought this used, or not specifically for a Nikon, it might not have th correct mount on it. A Nikon T mount will usually say "Nikon," "N," "NI" or something like that on it. Check carefully as many mounts look similar but do not go on without damage.

I will enclose a link to an illustration of a Nikon mount. Note that many other mounts have a notch in one of the bayonet ears. The Nikon never does. Note also the locking slot in the mount, and the fact that one ear is smaller than the otheers. Finally note the approximate orientation of the ears relative to the mounting dot and the locking slot (the illustration is not too precise but close enough).

If it has a Nikon F mount on it, it will work with your camera, but it will only work in full manual mode. All other modes will give you a "lens not mounted" error. In manual mode, it will work, but you will have no metering, so you'll need, at least initially, to guess the exposure, and use the camera's histogram for fine tuning.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/k8owywj60qrraam/t mount for nikon.jpg?dl=0

added note: You'll find a little more of my input on this on the D5300 forum above, where what I assume is the same lens is listed as an Opteka.

If the lens involved here is an older mirror lens, and not the Vivitar/Opteka preset, the same advice on T mount and camera operation applies, but the lens may well be of better quality, and being much more compact it might also be more susceptible to hand holding. In exchange, mirror lenses have a very odd, and to some people objectionable, bokeh, in which out of focus objects appear as rings.

newhaven

Thanks to Bruno for is comment. He seems to have a good knowledge of Nikon cameras all models. What lens would you suggest that is long range.
There is a tameron lens up to 400mm would I be able to use it on my d3200.

bruto

I'm pretty sure the new Tamron super zoom would work on a D3200. I have not seen much on how sharp it is, but it sounds as if it's not bad.

For a relative bargain, you might consider the 55-300DX. That's a shorter lens, of course, but it's a reasonable range, fairly compact, and reasonably sharp at a fairly low price. The D3200 has some room for cropping if you don't have to run the ISO too high (it gets a bit noisy). Above 300 the price jumps rather quickly.

I have the grand Nikon 200-500 5.6 lens, and that does indeed work fine on a D3200. Despite being a bargain relative to others, it's hardly cheap, but it is very good, and it has amazingly good VR. For a decent image with less superb VR, the older Tamron 150-600 might be worth trying. Newer ones are better but also more expensive. The older model was going for about $900 new a couple of years ago. I tried one and found it not bad, but the VR was not nearly as good as that on the Nikon. Sigma also makes two lenses in that range, one much more expensive, but the less expensive one is said to be quite decent.

All of those super long zooms are compact enough to make it possible to shoot hand held, which is quite an accomplishment. The VR on the Nikon is really amazing, and one can shoot hand held at 500 mm. even in less than perfect light.

Basically, any lens except the newest AFP models will work with the D3200, including those with electronic E aperture. But only those with a built in AF motor will autofocus with it. So for example the older 80-400D, which was a pretty decent lens in its day, will not auto focus. The newer 80-400 AFS will, but it's also enormously expensive. AFP lenses (the new ones with stepper motors) won't work at all on a D3200, but will on a D3300, D5300, and up, as well as on a D7100 and up.

I'd read up the reviews on the latest offerings from Tamron and Tokina and Sigma, and look if you can at some real world images. Tamron has done some pretty nice stuff, but remember that any super-duper zoom is going to be a bit of a compromise optically and probably pretty expensive. You'll do a little better if you can keep the zoom range narrower.

If you have access at all to a brick and mortar store, it can be very helpful to look at these lenses in person. It's hard to know how they'll feel in real life. Of course there is a danger there. Once I got that Nikon lens in my hands, it took some effort to pry it loose!