New Generation Nikon Lenses

My New Generation Nikon Lenses List:
Prime Lenses
Nikon Nikkor AF 20mm f/2.8D
Nikon Nikkor AF 35mm f/2D
Nikon Nikkor AF 50mm f/1.4D
Nikon Nikkor AF 85mm f/1.8D
Nikon Nikkor AF-S 105mm VR Micro f/2.8G IF-ED Nano
Nikon Nikkor AF 180mm ED f/2.8D

Zoom Lenses
Nikon Nikkor AF-S 28-70mm f/2.8D ED
Nikon Nikkor AF-S DX VR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED

But, before starting the lens reviews, lets explain to new starters who are confused with the Nikon abbreviations..

NIKON Abbreviaton Meanings:

AF : Auto Focus. Driven by a slot drive unit, your lens could be Auto Focused by your camera. All Digital SLR's and late models are fully proper for this spec. (only D40 and D40x can work with DX versions for full automatic control and all DX lenses are AF fyi)

AF-s : Different than AF, it is also Auto Focus model, but with a better built, Silent Wave Motor equipped version. It is quite silent and a plus; you have instant manual override just by grabbing the focus ring while you push the shutter halfway.

DX : Digital Crop. It works only on digital cameras. These lenses build for D-SLRs with a crop factor of 1.5. If you try these lenses on a FX format D-SLR camera (like D3) or 35mm film cameras, you will have a rounded vision and a black vignetted black frame surrounding it. But, as Nikon manufacturers and R&D engineers are very smart, the new D3 has a crop factor and can work with DX lenses too. Only it loses some million pixels (down to 5Mio pixels) but the speed increases up to 11 frames per second (11fps). Incredible for an SLR. Even for a Canon Mark III.

ED : This means Extra-low Dispertion, which stands for a special made glass lens to decrease lens inner reflections, flares and light reflections. When you see ED on a lens, it is more valuable than the non ED version of the same series.

IF : Stands for Internal Focusing. The lens focuses with only the slight motion of internal elements instead of moving entire lens in and out. This means the front no longer rotates as you focus and no need for re-arranging the circular polarizing and grad filters anymore.

D : Distance information. This spec tells your camera's meter the distance to your subject. This helps for flash exposure metering. D lenses have a meter/feet indicator on them for visual controls. (sometimes works in dark when you can not focus and take a guess about the distance and set-up)

G : The lenses with "G" lettering has no aperture ring so it won't work on 35mm film cameras. As you can not control aperture ring manually, you can not use devices like Nikon PN-11 on "G" lenses. (i.e. If you use a Micro Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G VR together with PN-11, the aperture will be blocked on f/32, not allowing you to take pictures, but this is a very minor problem for some people like me owning a PN-11)

RF : Rear Focusing. Same as Internal Focusing "IF", except just the rear element or group move(s) inside the lens. Practicaly "IF"...

VR : Vibration Reduction. It lets you get sharp images without a tripod. The lens has a special magnetic sensor inside to compensate for camera motion, vibration/shake caused by your hand. VR can sense panning movement and follows your subject too. If you select "active" on the lens body, you can pan a vehicle during riding on a vehicle (two objects must move to select "active). If you hear VR II, it is the second generatin with better control. VR II lenses can compensate up to 3,5 stops.

SIC : A multi-layer coating to increase light transmission and reduce ghosts and flares.

ASP : Aspherical Elements. All conventional lenses are spherical, meaning that all the curved surfaces are the same shape shape. But the new lenses are curved Aspherically, collecting all the light rays in one single point for increased sharpness and better colour control.

CRC : Close Range Correction, means the lens optimizes itself as the distance changes. This is done with "floating elements" that move in relationship to others during focusing. This is most needed on macro and fast wide-angle lenses like Micro Nikkor 105mm F/2.8 AF-D . It lets wide-angle and macro lenses to focus closer than they could .

M/A : Manual/Automatic. This is always on lens body to simply change focusing to manual or automatic. If you select Manual on lens body, regardless what you have selected on camera body (S,C or M) it will work manually. Vice versa, if you select "M" on camera body, the lens swith will not be effective for Automatic mode.

N : Nano coating. This is the latest invention of Nikon engineers, increasing the sharpness better than ED and decreasing the flare and ghosts almost to nill. All new gold series lenses of Nikon are with nano coating. ( Nikkor 14-24 f/2.8G ED IF N , Nikkor 24-70 f/2.8G ED IF N and etc.) ED and N could be seen together...