larryepage Loc: North Texas area

As an engineer (and as an educator) I learned a long time ago that using proper nomenclature can avoid a lot of errors and misunderstanding. As a member of this forum, I have run afoul of the nomenclature police a time or two, and have watched (and commented) as others have suffered the same fate. So the experience I had a couple of evenings ago really caught in my mind. It's been churning around in there for a few days and now is coming out...

As I was doing some enforced cleaning up and throwing out of "stuff" from my upstairs "room of wonder," I happened to run across a full-line Nikon catalog from a few years ago. Didn't stop to determine exactly what year it was from (there were enough distractions making me want to stop what I was doing already), but probably sometime around 10 years ago.

Anyway...I was fascinated to read the headings in the Nikon-published catalog for the descriptions of a large number of Nikkor lenses, including these:

"Nikkor 50mm f1.4 D"
"Nikkor 85mm f1.4 D"
"Nikkor 35mm f1.8 D"

and a host of others...

It was interesting to see ethat these were not listed as "AF D" or any other variant...simply "D."

So...I think that when someone mentions a "Nikon D" or Nikkor D" lens and we, as pseudo-experts, are tempted to straighten that person out a little bit, we might instead just take a breath and remain quiet. The claim that "there is no such thing as a Nikkor "D" lens is simply not true. We may wish it to be true. NikonUSA may wish it to be true. But it is not. It has not been. Let it go. (No, I will not sing.)

Quixdraw Loc: x

A couple of sources for Nikon Lens Nomenclature.

https://photographylife.com/nikon-lens-nomenclature

https://pixelpluck.com/detailed-list-of-all-nikon-lens-abbreviations/

rvenneman Loc: Yuma, AZ

Thanks for this information. Now if I can just figure out what older wide angle lens I can use on my Nikon D750 I would be happy. Any lens from totally manual to ones that do-it-all. This may give me a good start.

RWR Loc: La Mesa, CA

Anyone who actually knows anything about Nikon designations knows that your statement is false.

WJB Loc: Salisbury, MD

The links are a big help-Thanks!

Quixdraw Loc: x

I have 9 of my old Nikon AI and AIS lenses programmed into my D750 (and other FF Nikons) in a range from 20 to 600mm. Used in Aperture or Manual all do a fine job. Programming is very quick, so if I need to use a focal length not currently listed in the camera, the change takes just a moment.

chase4 Loc: Punta Corona, California

Here's an interesting resource on Nikon/Nikkor lens information. Not sure how up to date this info is. chase

http://photosynthesis.co.nz/nikon/serialno.html#35-xx

chase4 Loc: Punta Corona, California

And on the other side they all are marked "NIKON AF Nikkor"

(Download)

Bill_de Loc: US

The thing is, you will not see AF-D on any Nikon lens barrel, in spite of all the references to it.
You see AF-S and AF-P because that last letter is related to the auto focus.
If you look at a current lens you will see an E where we used to see a D, but that doesn't make it an AF-E lens. I has or had three AF-S lenses that also had the D in the description, at the end. The are the 17-35 F/2.8, 300 F/4.0, and 500 F/4.0. There are more that I never owned. That didn't make them AF-SD lenses.

It's just like there is no such thing as VR 2. If you look at the lens barrel of a lens with VR, it might have a 2 "II" on the barrel in the same spot as we found the "D" and the "E". It indicates the this is the second generation of the lens, not necessarily any difference in the VR.


Common use trumps accuracy in todays world, so as long as everybody can sleep well with what they believe, all is good.

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User ID

Got several Nikon D lenses right here ... as do many other Hogsters. Your universe may differ. In your universe you are surely correct. However in this universe we are laughing at your long pointless crusade.

User ID

Owning several myself, the question fails to be resolved. It becomes which one to grab today. Also got an old Sigma 19-35 AF so that I don’t really hafta choose one over another on my indecisive days. You can hardly go wrong choosing among the oldies. Just find a bargain and enjoy :-)

Quixdraw Loc: x

There are amazing bargains on Nikon AI, AIS, and even older AF lenses. Often a tiny fraction of what they cost in film days, many back then were only owned by the wealthy or professionals. I often prefer the photos from the older lenses to those taken with modern lenses at the same event.

Thomas902 Loc: Washington DC

"...back then were only owned by the wealthy or professionals..." back then I could only dream of the epic pro Nikkor glass... now I'm slowly building a stellar collection of AI and AIS high end optics that sold for up to $1000 at a fraction of the original price (typically 10 to 15 percent). Back then Nikkors were built to last with the precision of a watch...

As far as the "D" designation? I often shoot with speedlights... the Nikkors with a D (for distance info) are stellar if you need to shoot iTTL-Balanced... Otherwise it's manual only power settings, iTTL-Balanced isn't a viable option... However I've not noticed much of a difference in with or without the benefit of Color Matrix metering which is somehow tied to "D" Nikkors... I also noticed my AF-S 50mm f/1.4 was way slower to focus than my AF 50mm f/1.4 D Nikkor... sold the AF-S version since it also had a weird 58mm filter thread... My 50mm f/1.4 AI has better optics than that plastic AF-S variant... Oh well at least the focus ring didn't rotate during auto focus :)

RWR Loc: La Mesa, CA

The D-chip function is pretty well described on pages 74-75 in the original Nikon Compendium. Briefly, it helps
“decide upon the main subject within the frame, i.e., which metering segment is most relevant for the exposure.” I use spot metering, so cannot comment on its usefulness.

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

You might want to scan some of the pages from your catalog of Nikon product and post them here (UHH) to eliminate all doubt.

I have product catalogs for my Pentax systems going back to 1977. I more or less know their various sorts of lenses and mount designation, but not every model. And I am sometimes surprised to find lenses I did not know existed and have never seen for sale. Also some of their product line is different in Japan from the USA. It is likely little different for Nikon.