Nikon Lenses

Nikon lenses are marketed under the brand name “Nikkor” and they cover the whole spectrum of the world of lenses, broadly categorized as single focal length (prime) lenses, zoom lenses, special purpose lenses and dedicated manual focus lenses. Nikon lenses are arguably the most compatible as far as compatibility between lenses and cameras of different decades are concerned. In other words, modern lenses are, generally speaking, compatible with cameras of some decades ago and vice versa.

The key is to understand the technical specifications of every lens – the long list of letters included in the name of each lens. The following acronyms or letters used by Nikon illustrate this point: SIC: Nikon Super Integrated Coating ensures exceptional performance; AS: Aspherical lens elements; CRC: Close-Range Correction system; IF: Internal Focusing; N: Nano Crystal Coat; VR: Vibration Reduction; ED: ED glass - an essential element of NIKKOR telephoto lenses; RF: Rear Focusing; SWM: Silent Wave Motor; A/M: A/M mode (autofocus with manual override, AF priority mode) and D: Distance information. So, before buying any Nikon lens, make sure you understand what the technical specifications mean.

Nikon single-focal length lenses can be divided into the following groups: normal, like the AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.4G, wide, like the AF Nikkor 14mm f/2.8D ED and telephoto, like the AF-S Nikkor 300mm f/4D IF-ED. Nikon zoom lenses can be divided into three groups: Normal zoom, wide zoom and telephoto zoom. In the case of “normal zoom” the focal lengths, generally speaking, goes up to 85mm, like the AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II (3.0x) and the AF Zoom-Nikkor 24-85mm f/2.8-4D IF (3.5x). The telephoto zoom lenses go up to 400mm, like the AF VR Zoom-Nikkor 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6D ED (5.0x) and the AF Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4-5.6G (4.3x). The focal lengths of wide zoom lenses are less than 50mm at the high end, like the AF-S DX NIKKOR 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5G ED and AF Zoom-Nikkor 18-35mm f/3.5-4.5D IF-ED (1.9x).

Nikon also distinguishes a special category of lenses, called special-purpose lenses, which include micro (like the AF-S DX Micro NIKKOR 40mm f/2.8G), fisheye (like the AF DX Fisheye-Nikkor 10.5mm f/2.8G ED), PC and PC-E (like the PC-E NIKKOR 24mm f/3.5D ED). Nikon also makes dedicated manual focus lenses, like the Nikkor 20mm f/2.8 and Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8. They also have teleconverters, like the AF-S Teleconverter TC-14E II, which increases the original focal length by a certain percentage, depending on the model.