A Primer on the last two generations of Nikon F-Mount Lens
Like many people still shooting DSLR cameras, I’d love to have a mirrorless. However, there are several reasons I’ve not made the switch:
I prefer an optical view finder (OVF) to an electronic view finder (EVF).
I’m very susceptible to motion sickness. I briefly used a Lumix G85, which has an EVF, and found that my eyes tier very quickly. I found the movement unnatural leading to headaches and slight nausea. However, I can shoot all day looking through an OVF. It turns out I’m not the only one. I’ve seen s number of reports of photographers switching from DSLRs to mirrorless , then back to an OVF for similar reasons.
Battery life.
Since an OVF consumes no power, I can shoot photos all day on my Nikon D780 DSLR using a single battery, with power to spare. Mirrorless cameras, on the other hand, consume much more power, and many mirrorless photographers say they go through two, three or more batteries a day.
The cost.
Not the cost of the camera, but the lenses and storage media
Oddly, a used DSLR costs the roughly the same as a used mirrorless of the same quality.
Lenses for mirrorless cameras, on the other hand, cost two, three, or four times as much as their older counter parts. But more on that in a minute.
The difference in photo quality
When comparing cameras with similar sensors and megapixels, there isn’t any.
So, for anyone in the same boat as I am, and choose to stay with a DSLR from Nikon (for now), I wanted to provide an easy to navigate primer for the D and G versions of Nikon F-mount lenses.
Primer
Lens Mount
The first thing you need to know is the different lens mounts. The newer Nikon mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras utilize a Z mount. Z-mount lenses are not compatible with any Nikon SLR or DSLR cameras, and there are no adapters to make them compatible. It is what it is, so if you’re rocking a DSLR, don’t bother even looking at Z-mount lenses. You cannot use them!
F-Mount
According to Nikon’s website (https://www.nikonusa.com/en/learn-and-explore/a/products-and-innovation/nikon-f-mount.html), the F-mount was introduced in 1959. That means at the time this blog post was written, Nikon has been producing F-mount lenses for over 60 years! In those 60 years, Nikon has produced over 400 different lenses for the F-mount system, giving the F-mount shooter (if you have an appropriately compatible camera body) more lens options than any mirrorless or other lens mount system on the market.
Compatibility
Adapters
Remember when I said you cannot use Z-mount lenses on an F-mount camera? Well, you still can’t! However, you can use F-mount lenses on a Z-mount camera as long as you have an appropriate adapter. Nikon makes two F to Z adapters: FTZ and FTZ II. I’ve never used either of these, but from what I understand, they operate the same, the only difference is that the FTZ II is more compact and does not interfere with tripod mounting systems like the FTZ. Note, however, that only G generation lenses will auto focus when using either adaptor on a Z Mirror-less camera (read more about D and G generation lenses below). You can still use many D lenses with the FTZ adaptors, but they will be manual focus only.
Camera Bodies
Unfortunately, not all F series Nikon camera bodies can natively use all Nikon F-mount lenses. This is the primary reason for writing this primer. I’ve seen too many online posts of people buying older lenses thinking they are a great bargain, only to find out they cannot use the lens on their camera body. As a side note, the phrase “cannot use” means different things to different people. For most people, “cannot use” means their camera body cannot control all functions of the lens, like focus, aperture, and shutter speed. In these cases, it is often true that the lens can be used on the camera body if the photographer is content with doing everything manually.
Interestingly, the Nikon camera body compatible with the most lenses is not the D850, Nikon’s Flagship FX (full-frame) DSLR, but the D500, Nikon’s discontinued flagship DX (crop-sensor) camera. Unfortunately, Nikon doesn’t have an up-to-date compatibility chart on their website. The latest version I can find is from 2011 even though Nikon was releasing new DSLRs up through 2020. Looking at Nikon’s chart, they list camera body compatibility across five lens types: AI, AF-D, AF-S, AF-P, and E-Type. Based on this configuration, the most compatible cameras are as follows:
Fully compatible with all 5 lens types
Fully compatible with 4 lens types, and limited compatibility with 1
All other Nikon F series DLSR camera bodies have either limited compatibility with more than one lens type or are not compatible with one or more lens types. For example, putting a Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D lens on a Nikon D3400 body, which has limited compatibility with AF-D lenses, results in the camera not receiving any aperture information from the lens, an inability to set aperture from the camera, reporting incorrect exposure, and no auto-focus. However, if you are willing to use a light meter and do the work to manually determine the correct settings, you can still take great photos.
Lens Generations
For this primer, I’m choosing a different method of distinguishing between lens types than Nikon did in their chart. The primary reason for this is that there is not a hard break between AF-D and AF-S lenses. Additionally, Nikon’s chart does not distinguish between AF-S G and AF-S D lenses, and there are major mechanical differences between D and G lenses. Case in point, the Nikon AF-S Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D is both an AF-S lens and a D lens, but it is not a G lens. For this primer, I am also limiting the discussion to G and D and not considering AI, AI-S, pre-AI, or AF-P and E-Type. My primary reason for limiting the scope is to only discuss the most commonly available auto-focus lenses that also work with the camera’s auto-exposure systems. If you are interested in manual focus lenses, or don’t mind using a light meter to manually set the aperture, then likely any lens type that has limited or full compatibility with your camera body will work for you.
Cost
Before digging into the details, a general rule when it comes to cost is that D lenses are between one forth to one half the cost of G lenses, and G lenses are about one half the cost of Z lenses.
Take a telephoto zoom as an example (all examples are used and listed as “Excellent” condition):
Nikon AF Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D - Two Touch costs $339, used at MPB.com
Nikon AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II costs $919, used at MPB.com
Nikon Nikkor Z 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S costs $2079, used at MPB.com
As you can see, the Z version of this lens more than double the cost of the G version, and the G version is just under three times the cost of the D version. Or, to look at it another way, the Z version is over six times the cost of the D version. Are there differences between all of these lenses, absolutely, but you should ask yourself, for what you do, does the difference in functionality or picture quality justify the differences in cost? For some usages, the answer might be, “Yes.” If so, great, spend the extra money and get what you need. But I would guess for most people, that may not be the case.
There are a few exceptions where the G version of a lens is roughly the same cost as the D version. In these cases, I would buy the G version. At the time of writing this blog post, you could buy the Nikon AF-S Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G ED in like-new condition for $294, but the Nikon AF Nikkor 35mm f/2D in excellent condition costs $274. It is my opinion that for $20 it is worth the better condition of the lens, a max aperture of 1.8 instead of 2, and the other benefits of G lens over their D counterparts.
In case you missed it, in some cases you could buy six F-mount D lenses for the price of one Z-mount S lens, and in many cases you can buy four F-mount G lenses for the price of one Z-mount S lens!
So, other than cost, what are the differences? Let’s find out.
Differences Between D and G Lenses
Generation D
D stands for “distance” because it was the first generation to send distance information to the camera enabling it to auto calculate exposure.
Began production in 1980’s.
Better build quality than its G counterpart.
Mechanical screw-type auto-focus system.
Auto-focus is about 20% slower than G counterpart.
Louder auto-focus operation.
Aperture can be adjusted on the lens or in camera, depending on settings in the camera body.
Same lens is lighter than its G counterpart, even though the build quality is better.
Not weather sealed.
FX lenses only
Generation G
G indicates lenses do not have an aperture control ring on the lens.
Began production in 1998.
Plastic instead of metal housing.
Electronic auto-focus motor built into every lens instead of the camera, making it much larger, heavier, and more expensive than its D counterpart.
Aperture can only be adjusted in camera (no aperture ring on lens).
Quieter auto-focus operation than D, but not silent. Even though the “S” in AF-S stands for “silent-wave motor”, when hunting for focus, the operation is audible.
Select G lenses are weather sealed.
Both FX (full-frame) and DX (crop-sensor) lenses
FX vs DX lenses
Nikon DSLR cameras have either an FX or a DX sensor. In general, DX lenses were made for DX cameras and FX lenses were made for FX cameras, but that does not mean you cannot use a DX lens on an FX camera or a FX lens on a DX camera because you can. When you do, however, how the camera and lens work together changes.
Using an FX lens on a DX camera will alter the focal length of the lens and the depth of field of the aperture. Nikon’s DX sensors introduce a 1.5x magnification, so a 35mm FX lens will magnify to 52.5mm. The depth of field will also act like the aperture is reduced by the same 1.5 factor, so an f/1.8 will act like f/2.7. Therefore, when comparing lenses, a 50mm DX lens with an aperture of 2.8 will produce images that look similar to a 35mm FX lens with an aperture of 1.8 when used on a DX camera, likely at a fraction of the cost.
The Long and Short of it
When buying lenses, it is crucial that you actual know what you are buying. A great deal isn’t great if you can’t use the lens at all or if you can’t use the lens the way you want or need to. In addition to everything above, each lens model has its own unique characteristics which is what gives photos a certain look/character. Lenses are tools to help the photographer achieve a specific goal. If you do a lot of traveling, it is likely worth the money to buy weather sealed G lenses instead of non-weather sealed D lenses. If you use your camera almost exclusively indoors, weather sealing is useless, and D lenses are a fantastic option at a great price.
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