Can I use old film Nikon lenses on a Nikon D3100?

Ok so i have a nikon d3100 with a 18-55 VR lens but i want some more lens because i hear it would help out with image quality.yes i'm a amateur but do how ever love me a good picture.so i found good deal on film camera lenses such as… (Nikkor 35-70 mm lens, sigma 70-300mm, 100-300mm Tokina, Nikon 50mm 1:1.8 Series E) and much more.so i was hopeing some one can help clear out a few things with me on this dslr camera game because i like what i see.

They will mechanically mount and you can release the shutter, but thats about it, the 3100 lacks the communication for non-stop down metering (with AF-D type and older Ai manual diaphragm lenses) This means you can only really use the camera in M mode, pre-focusing then stopping down, metering and then taking the pic. A slow process.

You won't be able to focus automatically, even with older AF lenses, these required a motor in the camera body, which the D3100 lacks, which means manual focus, on a matte focus screen (bad, you want split prism) though a small (bad you want big) penta-mirror (bad you want the brighter sharper penta-prism) viewfinder.

I would stick to modern AFs lenses for the 3100, if you really want manual lenses then you need to get something like a D90 or used D100/200, the 3100 isn't designed for them, or the more aspirational users who would wish to use them.

Sorry to be frank, I'm not dissing your cam, just this is the best honest advice I can give.

AF and AF-D lenses will meter but the autofocus on these lenses useds an older system which requires an AF motor in the body which your D3100 lacks. Older AI lenses will not AF or meter (except for a couple of rare AI-P lenses which will meter).AF-s lenses are not that expensisve and good AI lenses are being snatched up by guys with legacy systems so the prices are not that much lens than the newer AF-s designs.

Nikon F-mount compatibility is much more hype than functional reality.