vanderhala Loc: Los Angeles, CA

Am considering D7500 in addition to D3200 (and D40 rarely used anymore). I understand D7500’s has focus motor so it will autofocus my 50mm 1.8 (now only manual focuses on my D3200). Question though: will there be conflict between my AF-S lenses and the D7500 focus motor , and which focusing would operate: the camera motor or the lens motor - does it make a difference, is there a setting to choose or turn lens motor off?
Andre (d3200, d40, 18-55, 70-300, 40mm2.8micro, 50mm1.8, tamron18-270).

Bill_de Loc: US

If the lens has a motor, like 'AF-s', the lens motor drives the focus. AF-s lenses don't have the mechanical linkage that 'AF' lenses use.

---

Linary Loc: UK

No conflict.

chase4 Loc: Punta Corona, California

This might help you: https://www.nikonians.org/reviews/nikon-slr-camera-and-lens-compatibility

CO

No conflict. The D7500 has what looks like the tip of a small screwdriver poking out a little from the lens mount. That "screwdriver tip" is spring loaded and will push back into the lens mount when a AF-S lens is mounted.

The camera will recognize that an AF-S lens is mounted and wouldn't even activate the camera's internal motor.

Fotomacher Loc: Toronto

No problem with AF or AF-S lenses on a D7500 body, but I understand that the D7500 lacks the aperture tab that will allow it to couple the light meter to AI-s lenses which are manual focus. There is no “non-CPU lens” option in the menu.

olemikey Loc: 6 mile creek, Spacecoast Florida

No worries, all will be fine - AF uses camera motor, AF-S uses its own motor, and they like each other!!

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

A D7500 is fully compatible with most AF-S lenses. It also can autofocus and is compatible with the newer AF-P lenses. This is in addition to the "screw drive" that works with older-style AF and AF-I lenses.

When a lens has AF-S focus drive, that's what will be used by the camera instead of the "screw drive". (In fact, AF-S lenses don't have the mechanical connection that's necessary for "screw drive" autofocus.)

To be as certain as possible, you should carefully check the compatibility of each of your Nikkor lenses (using more specific model designations than you provided here, in case there are variants). There are compatibility charts at the Nikon websites, as well as Nikonians.org. Ken Rockwell has a lot of compatibility info at his website, too.

This is why it's important to check Nikkor/Nikon compatibility:



It's not just autofocus functionality you need to be concerned about. Aperture control AND, in some cases, VR control may or may not be possible.

The Tamron 18-270mm also might be a problem. Sometimes older third party lenses are no longer compatible with newer cameras. Unless someone has tried the exact same version of the lens you have on another D7500, you might just have to hope for the best and give it a try. There's no guarantee, though, that a third party lens will be fully compatible with a camera that's developed and produced at a later date. (Nikon has no obligation, reason or incentive to make their cameras compatible with older third party lenses.)

Sometimes camera firmware updates can correct problems. Other times it's possible for the lens manufacturer to do updates to the lens, to make them compatible (usually this is reserved for high end and/or relatively recent or current lenses, though).

olemikey Loc: 6 mile creek, Spacecoast Florida

Tamron 18-270 I had worked fine with D90, D7100 and D7200, ought to work with D7500 as well, but I don't have that model.

keen.eye Loc: Coral Springs FL

Instead of the D7500, why not go for the D7100 or D7200. You can save $150 - $200

wetreed

Why not spend a few more bucks and get the D500

vanderhala Loc: Los Angeles, CA

Thank you for all answers. Am still waffling between D7500, D7200 (older but better?, but heavier, and video less optimal), D500 (better, heavier, more $$).
Assuming that the focusing of the camera (either of the 3), is more modern (better/more silent/faster) than the AF-S motor, is there a way to tell the lens: Hey my camera can focus, you don't have to. In other words: if I turn off the autofocus of the lens, will that tell the camera: don't autofocus, or can I tell the camera focusing motor to take over?

CO

That won't work. The AF-S lens doesn't have the screw drive mechanism. I just looked at my Nikon 70-300mm AF-S lens. It doesn't have the screw drive.

This is a 50mm AF-S lens. It doesn't have the screw drive mechanism


Lens with screw drive



(Download)

vanderhala Loc: Los Angeles, CA

Hm so if I buy new camera, the old lens uses its own focusing. Does that make a big difference?
Does that mean I need to also buy new lenses? :)

CO

You don't have to buy new lenses. When an AF-S lens is mounted on your D7500, the screw drive on the D7500's lens mount will be retracted back. AF-S lenses have superior focusing than the screw drive anyway.