>>The lens is tiny!

That's the attraction of the D and AI series glass.

BTW, you did know that your Nikon DSLR has a focus indication in the viewfinder? Look for a circular dot in the bottom-left, there'll be an arrow indicating which way to turn the top of the focus ring to match the PDAFs. That said, plane of focus is an artistic choice.

That said, beware the really old glass. Yes' they'll fit on the ring, but some of them have rear elements that project far enough into the box to interfere with the mirror flip mechanism. No issues with D glass, though - they're screw-drive AF, but all FF Nikon DSLRs have a drive motor (plus D7000–D7500 and D90, maybe some others).

I go back and forth between D series and modern. About all I give up with D is VR (which IMO hardly matters under 85mm) and coatings (just don't have a bright light source in-frame, and it's fine). Also rear element collimation is optimized for film, not sensor, so a bit more veiling flare if the front element is illuminated.

Finally, yeah, I had a couple of Exactas, too. Good camera, built like a tank but stupid-heavy. Moved to the F100 (and D glass) from that...