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Nikon ED Lenses versus G Lenses
Do you think the quality difference between Nikon "ED" and "G" lenses are
worth the price difference? The ED lenses are touted to be better, and they are certainly heavier. They seem to have more glass. I am leaning heavily toward buying the "ED"'s. Thanks, Sandy |
#2
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Nikon ED Lenses versus G Lenses
Sandy Bloom, Ph.D. wrote:
Do you think the quality difference between Nikon "ED" and "G" lenses are worth the price difference? The ED lenses are touted to be better, and they are certainly heavier. They seem to have more glass. I am leaning heavily toward buying the "ED"'s. ED means that the lens uses extra-low-dispersion glass. G means the lens has no aperture ring and is not fully AI-S backwards compatible. The two are not related or mutually exclusive and really have nothing to do with each other. -- Jeremy | |
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Nikon ED Lenses versus G Lenses
Jeremy Nixon writes:
Sandy Bloom, Ph.D. wrote: Do you think the quality difference between Nikon "ED" and "G" lenses are worth the price difference? The ED lenses are touted to be better, and they are certainly heavier. They seem to have more glass. I am leaning heavily toward buying the "ED"'s. ED means that the lens uses extra-low-dispersion glass. G means the lens has no aperture ring and is not fully AI-S backwards compatible. The two are not related or mutually exclusive and really have nothing to do with each other. And some lenses are both. -- David Dyer-Bennet, , http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/ RKBA: http://noguns-nomoney.com/ http://www.dd-b.net/carry/ Pics: http://dd-b.lighthunters.net/ http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/SnapshotAlbum/ Dragaera/Steven Brust: http://dragaera.info/ |
#4
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Nikon ED Lenses versus G Lenses
"Sandy Bloom, Ph.D." wrote in message ... Do you think the quality difference between Nikon "ED" and "G" lenses are worth the price difference? The ED lenses are touted to be better, and they are certainly heavier. They seem to have more glass. I am leaning heavily toward buying the "ED"'s. Thanks, Sandy The question is really only relevant to, I think, one lens- the 70-300, of which there are G and ED versions- the G lacks an aperture ring and ED elements, whereas the ED has both. I've seen some awful results off of the G lens- then again, the ED doesn't seem too stellar either. Nikon don't have "series" lenses- the top-end 70-200mm is both ED and G and I don't think anyone is suggesting that lens is a budget item. That said, the 85 f1.4 isn't touted as ED or G, and is a phenomenal lens. Martin. |
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Nikon ED Lenses versus G Lenses
"Martin Francis" wrote in message ... "Sandy Bloom, Ph.D." wrote in message ... Do you think the quality difference between Nikon "ED" and "G" lenses are worth the price difference? The ED lenses are touted to be better, and they are certainly heavier. They seem to have more glass. I am leaning heavily toward buying the "ED"'s. Thanks, Sandy The question is really only relevant to, I think, one lens- the 70-300, of which there are G and ED versions- the G lacks an aperture ring and ED elements, whereas the ED has both. I've seen some awful results off of the G lens- then again, the ED doesn't seem too stellar either. Nikon don't have "series" lenses- the top-end 70-200mm is both ED and G and I don't think anyone is suggesting that lens is a budget item. That said, the 85 f1.4 isn't touted as ED or G, and is a phenomenal lens. Martin. As you said, most people ask this question about the 70-300. I think the ED has a better lens mount and may be built better, but neither gets rave reviews. I think this came up here awhile back, and if I remember correctly both lenses had the same elements in the same grouping. Nikon makes better zoom lenses in that range, but they ain't cheap. You might try hitting your neighborhood camera store and shooting a few shots with both lenses to see if they meet your requirements, and to see if you can see a difference between the two. |
#6
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Nikon ED Lenses versus G Lenses
"Sheldon" wrote in message ... "Martin Francis" wrote in message ... "Sandy Bloom, Ph.D." wrote in message ... Do you think the quality difference between Nikon "ED" and "G" lenses are worth the price difference? The ED lenses are touted to be better, and they are certainly heavier. They seem to have more glass. I am leaning heavily toward buying the "ED"'s. Thanks, Sandy The question is really only relevant to, I think, one lens- the 70-300, of which there are G and ED versions- the G lacks an aperture ring and ED elements, whereas the ED has both. I've seen some awful results off of the G lens- then again, the ED doesn't seem too stellar either. Nikon don't have "series" lenses- the top-end 70-200mm is both ED and G and I don't think anyone is suggesting that lens is a budget item. That said, the 85 f1.4 isn't touted as ED or G, and is a phenomenal lens. Martin. As you said, most people ask this question about the 70-300. I think the ED has a better lens mount and may be built better, but neither gets rave reviews. I think this came up here awhile back, and if I remember correctly both lenses had the same elements in the same grouping. Nikon makes better zoom lenses in that range, but they ain't cheap. You might try hitting your neighborhood camera store and shooting a few shots with both lenses to see if they meet your requirements, and to see if you can see a difference between the two. Can anyone suggest another AF brand Nikon mount lens that would be better quality? Sandy |
#7
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Nikon ED Lenses versus G Lenses
"Sandy Bloom, Ph.D." wrote in message ... Can anyone suggest another AF brand Nikon mount lens that would be better quality? Sandy The older Nikon 75-300mm f/4.5-5.6 AF was better than the current 70/75-300 offerings. |
#8
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Nikon ED Lenses versus G Lenses
"george" wrote in message ... " The older Nikon 75-300mm f/4.5-5.6 AF was better than the current 70/75-300 offerings. Thanks for the tip. My research would seem to substantiate your opinion. I was told that using the AF older Nikon lenses requires one to "shut off"? something on the aperure ring so the DSLR can use it accurately. Use of the AI Nikon lenses requires setting the Nikon DSLR to "M", and getting your light reading independently. Sandy |
#9
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Nikon ED Lenses versus G Lenses
Sandy Bloom, Ph.D. wrote:
I was told that using the AF older Nikon lenses requires one to "shut off"? something on the aperure ring so the DSLR can use it accurately. On a lens with an aperture ring, you set the lens to its minimum aperture and leave it there, which allows the aperture to be set by the camera body. Most (all?) of the autofocus lenses with aperture rings have a "lock" on the ring to keep it in that position. On the lower-end bodies that require the aperture to be set by the camera, you must do this in order for the lens to work. On the D2-series (and possibly the D200?) you can use the aperture ring itself in A or M mode if you want. On the G lenses, with no aperture ring, which unfortunately seems to be what Nikon is making now, this obviously doesn't matter. Those lenses are always set at minimum aperture. If you're curious, the reason the lenses have to be set at minimum aperture for automatic operation is this: when you take a picture the camera has to stop down the lens to the chosen aperture at the time of exposure. It does this mechanically, with a lever. The lever will only stop down the aperture to the point that the aperture ring is set, but no further, which enables manual operation where the camera doesn't know what aperture the lens is set for -- it can say "stop down to whatever is selected" by moving the lever all the way. So, the only way the camera has the ability to stop down to any aperture is if the lens is set at the minimum aperture. Then, the camera can select any aperture according to how far it moves the lever. The new (D2, D200) cameras can't do this with AI and AI-S lenses; with those, you must set the aperture from the lens aperture ring. This is because the new cameras don't differentiate at all between AI and AI-S, and the aperture levers work differently. So you can't use P and S modes, but then, who uses those anyway? Use of the AI Nikon lenses requires setting the Nikon DSLR to "M", and getting your light reading independently. This is not necessary with the D2-series and D200; they can meter with AI and AI-S lenses. With the others, yes, you lose the light meter due to having no mechanical coupling and no electrical communication with the lens -- the camera has no way of knowing what aperture the lens is set for, or how far it's stopped down, so it can't determine exposure. (It could use stop-down metering with DOF preview if Nikon wanted to, but they evidently don't.) -- Jeremy | |
#10
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Nikon ED Lenses versus G Lenses
Excellent exposition of information, Jeremy. Thanks.
Sandy "Jeremy Nixon" wrote in message ... Sandy Bloom, Ph.D. wrote: I was told that using the AF older Nikon lenses requires one to "shut off"? something on the aperure ring so the DSLR can use it accurately. On a lens with an aperture ring, you set the lens to its minimum aperture and leave it there, which allows the aperture to be set by the camera body. Most (all?) of the autofocus lenses with aperture rings have a "lock" on the ring to keep it in that position. On the lower-end bodies that require the aperture to be set by the camera, you must do this in order for the lens to work. On the D2-series (and possibly the D200?) you can use the aperture ring itself in A or M mode if you want. On the G lenses, with no aperture ring, which unfortunately seems to be what Nikon is making now, this obviously doesn't matter. Those lenses are always set at minimum aperture. If you're curious, the reason the lenses have to be set at minimum aperture for automatic operation is this: when you take a picture the camera has to stop down the lens to the chosen aperture at the time of exposure. It does this mechanically, with a lever. The lever will only stop down the aperture to the point that the aperture ring is set, but no further, which enables manual operation where the camera doesn't know what aperture the lens is set for -- it can say "stop down to whatever is selected" by moving the lever all the way. So, the only way the camera has the ability to stop down to any aperture is if the lens is set at the minimum aperture. Then, the camera can select any aperture according to how far it moves the lever. The new (D2, D200) cameras can't do this with AI and AI-S lenses; with those, you must set the aperture from the lens aperture ring. This is because the new cameras don't differentiate at all between AI and AI-S, and the aperture levers work differently. So you can't use P and S modes, but then, who uses those anyway? Use of the AI Nikon lenses requires setting the Nikon DSLR to "M", and getting your light reading independently. This is not necessary with the D2-series and D200; they can meter with AI and AI-S lenses. With the others, yes, you lose the light meter due to having no mechanical coupling and no electrical communication with the lens -- the camera has no way of knowing what aperture the lens is set for, or how far it's stopped down, so it can't determine exposure. (It could use stop-down metering with DOF preview if Nikon wanted to, but they evidently don't.) -- Jeremy | |
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