How to get non-AI Nikkors converted?

[MarcelvanEngen]

Thanks Matthew/Erik for looking. Measuring the camera/Lens will for sure confirm what you can or can't do. I will always opt for conversion clean as possible. Great input Matthew. I am not familiar with other camera's but understand that Nikon did not have a standard design.
And yes it is a nice excuse for some new equipment.

The Nikkor 50mm f1.4 Auto S-C needs material on. I used a Epoxy putty (Milliputty) for this and shaped it nicely while it was moldable.
Once rock hard I sanded it to the required shape & painted it. See picture.
I will post later other pictures of lenses I did.

Again I only tested this on Nikon Df and D300 and can confirm this method works for my lenses so far.

[armando_m]

...

The Nikkor 50mm f1.4 Auto S-C needs material on. I used a Epoxy putty (Milliputty) for this and shaped it nicely while it was moldable.
Once rock hard I sanded it to the required shape & painted it. See picture.
...

Beautiful conversions !

I had to add material on the ring of the 35 mm f2.8 pre-AI lens I have. The aperture ring diameter on the lens is smaller than the other manual lenses I have so the ring was not reaching the aperture lever on the camera until I added a protuberance with Epoxy similar to what you show here, except mine is on the outside of the ring, this is on the D800.

[MarcelvanEngen]

One of the comments gave me the idea to invest in a turning table and chunk. This makes these conversions very easy for those lenses where you can take material off but still leave some material so it won't be noticeable on the outside of the lens. Again I tested this with a Nikon Df and D300. I have not tested this with other Nikon camera's. The aperture ring in the picture is from a Nikon Auto 135mm F3.5.

[Hugh_3170]

Not all non-Ai lenses can be Ai converted in this manner, but I really do like the subtleness of the conversion for those lenses that allow this form of Ai modification.  Nice work gentlemen.

[MarcelvanEngen]

Below a list of lenses I modified so far, in the way described earlier by me (not cutting through the wall thickness). Unfortunately Nikon is not using the same blueprint for the metering tab shape and the distance of this metering tab to the F mount on your camera.
The metering tab of the DF sits closer to the F mount ring on the camera. Clearance on Df is 1.1mm. Clearance on D300 is 1.7mm.
My method works on Df and D300 for following lenses:

Nikon Auto 105mm f2.5 (all versions)
Nikon Auto 200mm f4    (all versions)
Nikon 80-200mm    f4.5

ONLY on Df:
Nikon Auto 24mm   f2.8
Nikon Auto 50mm   f2
Nikon Auto 5,8cm   f1.2
Nikon Auto 135mm f 3.5

Nikon Auto 50mm f1.4 (add material, milliputty will do) see previous post
Nikon Auto 55mm f1.2 (add material, milliputty will do) see previous post

One lens I could not use my method which is the Nikon Auto 28mm f3.5. Here I had to cut through but managed to keep the rabbit ears undamaged.(this only works for Df as the metering tab just slides under the rabbit ears)
If you have questions please send me a mail and I will try to be of help where I can.
I am based in the UK.

[JKoerner007]

That is a nice clean look, never seen it done like that before

+1

[JKoerner007]

Shout out to John White of AI Conversions.com.

Finished 3 lenses (shown 2 of 3, below), sent there and sent back, within 1 week.

Put a strip of tape over the work, for indexing, which I wound up removing, but great service and works like a charm.

I should also add he packaged each lens with great care, for the return trip ... triple-wrapping each one ... and added a lens cap to one I sent to him without.

Nice fellow

[MarcelvanEngen]

I Updated the list of Nikon Auto lenses which can be Ai-modified as per my described method. You can find the list in my previous post. Let me know if you need support.

[Roland Vink]

This is a big thank you to two members here who have serviced my old Nikkor-P 10.5cm 1:2.5 lens. First to Richard Haw who cleaned the aperture blades, which were a bit dirty (the lens is over 55 years old). Second to Marcel who applied his unique Ai conversion to my lens. It now fits and meters correctly on my D600, while retaining its original appearance
This lens is an early model with 9 aperture blades so should produce beautiful bokeh, now that it has been Ai converted it will be fun to use it.

[Erik Lund]

Looks cool, enjoy!

[Bjørn Rørslett]

Even avid collector wouldn't object to such a conversion, presumably

[MarcelvanEngen]

Thanks Roland for your comment. It was a pleasure to have been able to help you so that you can make use of that nice lens. And of course I am glad it worked out.:-)
Enjoy shooting with that fantastic lens.
Marcel

[pete]

I have a couple of John White conversions and he does a great job.  Have done a few myself but lately I have been real anal about getting the factory AI kits for my vintage lenses.  Most kits are gone so I have to find another lens at auction with the factory kit and swap the aperture rings or just sell of the original lens.  Fortunately collectors prefer the unmodified lenses and I have been able to swap a few out that way.   
Pete

[MarcelvanEngen]

Another modification by me with a bit of fine mechanics. For the Nikon Nikkor 55mm f/1.2 I designed and made a tiny aluminium L shape. The 55mm just has a little gap between the bayonet mount and the aperture ring. The long leg of the L shape sits inside and is mounted onto the inside of the aperture ring. The small leg, here visible, actuates the slider on the Nikon Df.

[MarcelvanEngen]

Recently I had the opportunity to purchase an early Nikkor P Auto 10.5cm, 9 blades lens.  The good news: the optics were good. The bad news: the previous owner used apperently a hacksaw to do an Ai modification..... It was too painful so I tried to restore this.
Basically it was a kind of dentist work. I first drilled tiny vertical holes so my filling material could create a strong grip. I then build-up the wall section with more material. Machined the material down following the original geometry. Sanding, filler/primer/topcoat. It will never be like the original but it's pretty close for a first attempt.