Your cameras have built in motors. They work with current and the older af systems. The 3xxx and I believe the 5xxx series lack the internal motor and will not focus an 'AF' lens. The 50mm lens you have is an old design. I still have my 50 F/1.4 that I bought with my first Nikon, an F100.
Take the lens off your camera and look at the mount on the camera. To the left of the bottom screw you will see a little tab. That is the mechanical link from camera to lens.
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Look at the picture. It has a D on the barrel of the lens. It will autofocus fine on your two cameras. It will autofocus on the OP's D7100. It will NOT autofocus on the D3xxx and D5xxx series of cameras. It will NOT autofocus on the new Z cameras.
My original point that started this is that if the OP is looking to go mirrorless in the future, this wouldn't be a good choice.
therwol wrote:
Look at the picture. It has a D on the barrel of the lens. It will autofocus fine on your two cameras. It will autofocus on the OP's D7100. It will NOT autofocus on the D3xxx and D5xxx series of cameras. It will NOT autofocus on the new Z cameras.
More importantly it says AF on the barrel. That's how Nikon lets you know what focusing system the lens has. The D is coincidental, and only sometimes.
The F in AF stands for focus.
The D stands for distance.
Hmm ... which will tell you without a doubt what focusing system is within?
This is similar to using the term VR II. You will not find a lens labeled "AF-D", and you will not find a lens labeled "VR II", but people link them like they are connected.
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therwol wrote:
How do you tell from an ad that doesn't show a picture. The D is a clue, not an absolute.
As has been mentioned several times, the absolute way to tell how the lens focuses is given in the FIRST part of the dEesignation. AF Nikkor means the lens has no motor. AF-x Nikkor means it has a motor.
Edit: Since there are often several versions of a lens, it helps to state the complete designation.
Bill_de wrote:
More importantly it says AF on the barrel. That's how Nikon lets you know what focusing system the lens has. The D is coincidental, and only sometimes.
The F in AF stands for focus.
The D stands for distance.
Hmm ... which will tell you without a doubt what focusing system is within?
This is similar to using the term VR II. You will not find a lens labeled "AF-D", and you will not find a lens labeled "VR II", but people link them like they are connected.---
More importantly it says AF on the barrel. That's ... (
show quote)
More than that, D-type lenses send camera to subject distance information to the camera.
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