Is it possible to use a regular Nikon camera lense with a nikon digital SLR camera?

The above answer is great, but to add on, you may not be able to use manual focus lenses as well. there should be a list of lenses either in the manual or on the web.

Yes, although you might have a problem with older lenses and the D40x. Of course there will be a conversion factor when using film lenses with their digital cameras. Multiply the focal length of your current lenses by 1.5 to get the effective 35mm focal length on their digital cameras.

Greg's answer is correct, but I will add one more specification. You can use any Nikon "F mount" SLR lens. You didn't say if you are talking about SLR lenses or not. There are various "lenses" that screw onto the front of older Nikon point and shoot 35 mm cameras that will not work.

To go one step farther, Greg also mentioned the problem of using older lenses on the D40's, although you didn't specify the camera you have in mind. Since I have a stock answer on this, I will just include it here for your information.

ALL of these lenses can be used with ALL features available on the D40 and D40X:

12-24mm f/4 G ED-IF AF-S DX
17-35mm f/2.8 D ED-IF AF-S
17-55mm f/2.8 G ED-IF AF-S DX
18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 G ED-IF II AF-S DX (The Kit Lens)
18-70mm f/3.5-4.5 G ED-IF AF-S DX
18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 G ED-IF AF-S DX
18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 G ED-IF AF-S VR DX
24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 G ED-IF AF-S
24-120mm f/3.5-5.6 G ED-IF AF-S VR
28-70mm f/2.8 D ED-IF AF-S
55-200mm f/4-5.6 G ED AF-S DX
55-200mm f/4.5-5.6 G ED AF-S VR DX
70-200mm f/2.8 G ED-IF AF-S VR
70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G ED-IF AF-S VR
200-400mm f/4 G ED-IF AF-S VR
105mm f/2.8 G ED-IF AF-S VR Macro
200mm f/2 G ED-IF AF-S VR
300mm f/2.8 G ED-IF AF-S VR
300mm f/4 D ED-IF AF-S
400mm F/2.8 D ED-IF AF-S II
500mm f/4 ED-IF AF-S II
600mm f/4D ED-IF AF-S II

That's 22 lenses, including 9 VR lenses, one of which is an excellent macro lens. There are also 3 AF-S teleconverters: 2x, 1.7x and 1.4x.

What do the letters mean?
G - A new subset of the D-type lenses, without an aperture ring. The aperture is set by a command dial on the camera body.
D - Lens provides distance to subject information to camera; useful for automatic flash setting
ED - Extra low dispersion glass; give superior sharpness and color rendition
IF - Internal focus - the lens does not rotate or extend as it focuses
AF-S - Auto-focus, silent wave focus engine contained inside the lens itself
DX - Lens formatted for digital sensors that should not be used on full frame cameras
VR - Vibration Reduction - a gyroscopic system to detect and correct camera shake to yield sharp images at slower shutter speeds

Plus, you really can use a lot of older Nikon lenses on the D40 and D40X. You only loose the autofocus feature on most of them. It is true that there is a "slight problem" with older Nikon lenses not autofocusing on the D40, but if you do not own a bag full of older lenses, it is not going to be a problem. It is barely a problem anyhow. If you check www.nikonusa.com for "AF-S" lenses, which are ALL 100% compatible with the D40, you will find 23 lenses, including 7 "VR" (vibration Reduction) lenses and one true macro lens with "VR". There are another 25-plus lenses in the current catalog that provide all functions except autofocus as well as many (possibly dozens) "out of print" lenses that will work just as well. In addition, although these lens will not autofocus, most of them will still give focus confirmation. From the D40 manual: "If the lens has a maximum aperture of f/5.6 of faster, the viewfinder focus indicator can be used to confirm whether the portion of the subject in the selected focus area is in focus. After positioning the subject in the active focus area, press the shutter release button halfway and rotate the lens focusing ring until the in-focus indicator is displayed."

The answer is "yes" or "no", dependent on your lense and the model camera. Fortunately, Nikon has kept the same basic mount all these years (unlike the competitors) so you can fit most lenses, though some may not autofocus and some may not meter. If you have an autofocus lens from your film Nikons, they'll work just fine on all models except for the D40 and D40X.

Here's a great chart from Nikonians, an online group that I've found to be amazingly helpful.

http://www.nikonians.org/nikon/slr-lens....

And here's a long article about Nikon lens history for you.

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/nikorte...