My motor went bad on my d50 and instead of having it repaired i would like to know if i purchased a 3100 camera body would the lenses on my d50 work on the 3100? I have both the 35 - 80 and the 200 vr lenses. if they would be adaptabe to the 3100 would I be able to use the movie feature of the 3100?

Yes.

I think if you don't have the repair manual and don't have the skills to repair electronic equipment, you won't be able to repair this camera. (I do have a D50 repair manual) Yu do have to remove to many parts to come to the switch, to look if anything has broken, or only oxidation is the problem. Better contact the Nikon repair canter and ask what it will cost you. Then decide if you want to go on with this camera or buy a new one. (if you own an AF lens without build in motor, go of a D90, D7000, D7100) If you have lenses all wit guid in motor, you can choose any Nikon you like. Cold be a cheap as 300 dollar. (NEW)

Hi Missy - certain Nikon bodies lack the built in auto focus motor as a way to hold costs down and make them affordable. The problem is that any lens purchased for these bodies will need to include the motor - and adds the expense to the lens. Instead of paying for the motor once in the body, the owner will need to buy it in every lens purchased for that body. As of this writing, the Nikon bodies that lack an AF motor are: D5100, D5000, D3100, D3000, D60, D40X, D40.

When selecting a lens for one of the cameras listed above, you must choose the model for a Nikon that needs the AF motor built into the lens. Tamron sells lenses for these camera bodies and states they have "BIM" or "built in AF motor" and similar. In any case, regardless of lens manufacturer, you must purchases lenses that have the AF motor built into the lens, otherwise it will not be able to auto focus. Here is a site with a list of all lenses known to to have the AF motor built into the lens.

I hope this helps & good luck!

Hi,
Sorry to hear about your lens. If you are able to autofocus and take pictures with any other lens, then it means that your problem lies with the kit lens. If you can take picture in manual mode, but not in autofocus mode, then the AF motor in the lens in not functioning. I had the same thing happen to my 50mm 1.4 lens.
Depending on your location, there are Nikon repair centers in Melville, NY and Torrance, CA.
Hope this helps,
Andrew

Try ensuring the AF switch is set all the way (On camera AND lens). I had mine partially turned on once and it made a noise and wouldn't focus. I probably caused damage from it too (I pray I did not). But if that's not the problem, my best guess would be that your autofocus motor is shot. If that's the case, you can either put it in for repairs or switch to manual focus and focus everything manually (which isn't really too bad, is it?)

Perhaps you have accidentally set the auto-manual focus to manual on the camera body?

Per.

PS. The r10 message is just a report of the current memory buffer status, not an error indication.

Hey redfoxbrenda,
The error message you are getting means the aperture ring is not locked to the smallest aperture setting, and by this I don't mean set to the smallest aperture the lens must have the ability to be locked to the smallest aperture. It is unlikely that the problem is in the camera body. Some older lenses are just not fully compatible with the newer camera bodies, but if this is the case you should still be able to use the lens in manual and aperture priority mode but with limited capabilities. I hope this helps!

Sincerely,
Allan
Go Ahead. Use Us.

I assume the AF/M switch on the body is set to AF as well? This has not been mentioned but the D50 has two drive systems for AF.

replace the lithium battery 1.5X2 . then press then ok good, but does not work the drive motor was broken.

Auto-focus technology on this camera is controlled by several contacts on the mount that physically mate with other contacts on your lens. It sounds like your mount may be malfunctioning due to wear and tear (if cleaning does not work). This is between $100 and $300 fix depending on which part(s) need replacement.