How to Use a Non CPU Lens on a Nikon D700

By Solomon Poretsky

The Nikon D700 is a true prosumer camera featuring Nikon's FX sensor in a smaller chassis than the D3 series. It features a 12.1-megapixel sensor, support for ISO speeds as high as 25,600 and the ability to record images in Nikon's NEF raw image format. Although it supports every autofocus lens that Nikon has made, it can also be set to work with manual focus lenses. Unlike other Nikon cameras, the D700 can maintain its metering and flash metering capabilities with these lenses as well.

Step 1

Inspect the mount of your non-CPU Nikkor lens to ensure that it is an AI or AI-S lens. Lenses that are not AI or AI-S will not mount on your camera and may actually damage it. Very old fisheyes will have a long protrusion, and pre-AI manual focus lenses will have only one row of aperture numbers, as opposed to AI lenses, which have two rows of aperture numbers--one large and one small.

Step 2

Align the mounting mark of your lens with your D700's mounting mark, insert it into the camera and rotate it until it locks into place.

Step 3

Press the camera's "Menu" button and press the left arrow on the directional pad to select menu items. Scroll down or up to choose the "setup" menu tab, denoted by a small crescent wrench, and then click the right arrow on the directional pad to select that menu.

Step 4

Scroll down through the setup menu until you find the option labeled "Non-CPU Lens Data." Press the right arrow to select that option.

Step 5

Use the right or left arrow to select a lens number. The D700 can store information on up to nine lenses. When you are done, use the down arrow to enter the field where you can select your lens's focal length by clicking right or left. If your lens's exact focal length is not available, choose the closest one. After you have done that, scroll down and, again, use the left and right arrows to select the lens's largest possible aperture, which is the lowest numbered f/stop that the lens supports.

Scroll to the "Done" option and click the "OK" button, which is the bottom button to the left of the camera's back-panel LCD screen.