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50mm lens
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Jun 7, 2019 21:57:29   #
therwol Loc: USA
 
Bill_de wrote:
AF lenses need the motor in the camera.

D lenses provide distance information to the body to assist if flash exposure.

One has nothing to do with the other.

The AF lenses are labeled AF Nikkor

D lenses show the D after the aperture.

That position is a place holder for new features "D", "G", "E" have all held that position.

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I don't think you get the point. What the letters stand for is irrelevant to what I'm trying to point out. If there is a D printed on the lens, then chances are that it will not autofocus on cameras requiring the motor in the body. There are a few exceptions, as someone pointed out to me in an earlier thread, but ALL of the lenses that Nikon still produces with a D printed on the lens will not autofocus on some of their cameras. When they are advertised, they are generally cheaper than later designs, and there is no disclaimer in the ads. People need a way to understand that they may be burned by buying one of these lenses. (Any D3xxx, D5xxx and the newest mirrorless Nikon cameras.)

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Jun 7, 2019 22:17:38   #
Bill_de Loc: US
 
therwol wrote:
I don't think you get the point. What the letters stand for is irrelevant to what I'm trying to point out. If there is a D printed on the lens, then chances are that it will not autofocus on cameras requiring the motor in the body. There are a few exceptions, as someone pointed out to me in an earlier thread, but ALL of the lenses that Nikon still produces with a D printed on the lens will not autofocus on some of their cameras. When they are advertised, they are generally cheaper than later designs, and there is no disclaimer in the ads. People need a way to understand that they may be burned by buying one of these lenses. (Any D3xxx, D5xxx and the newest mirrorless Nikon cameras.)
I don't think you get the point. What the letters... (show quote)


You miss the point. The lenses that need the motor in the body are "AF Nikkor" and are marked as such on the lens barrel. That is the only thing you need to look for.

Saying that if it has a D it might need the motor makes no sense as the D is irrelevant to auto focus. The exceptions you refer to are AF-S Nikkor lenses that also have the {unrelated to auto focus} D designation.

From DP Review

AF: autofocus and CPUs
In 1986, Nikon introduced autofocus (AF) lenses. This works though a little screwdriver that sticks out of the camera, which connects to a screw in the lens that is connected to the focus ring. With this, a motor in the camera can adjust the focus. The camera uses a number of focus sensors to determine whether different parts of the image are in focus and turns the screw accordingly.

AF-S: a silent wave focus motor in the lens
Although the original AF system works well and allows for smaller and lighter lenses, in 1998 Nikon introduced AF-S (not to be confused with autofocus single mode, also called AF-S). AF-S lenses have their own focus motor built in. Nikon uses ultrasonic motors, which they call "silent wave". Makers of third party AF-S compatible lenses such as Tamron, Tokina and Sigma have their own names for this type of motor. (Each company also has their own name for what Nikon calls VR, vibration reduction, which moves a lens element in real time to counteract camera movement during the exposure.)



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Jun 7, 2019 22:28:27   #
Leitz Loc: Solms
 
therwol wrote:
The problem is that some of these older lenses are still produced by Nikon, and people buy them used at bargain prices without any disclaimer that they won't autofocus on some cameras, leading to frustration and returns. I've seen the posts in this forum. "I just bought a lens and it won't autofocus on my D3500," for example. You also see complaints and low ratings on Amazon for some very fine lenses.The D convention is the best we have come up with. What can you do? Nothing except try to educate people in some way before disaster strikes.
The problem is that some of these older lenses are... (show quote)

I agree with most of what you say, but disagree that the "D" indicates whether or not a lens has a motor. To add a bit to what Bill de wrote - "AF Nikkor," there is no motor. "AF-X Nikkor," the lens has a motor. Every autofocus Nikkor made since 1992 has a D chip, whether it's in the designation or not. Also, besides flash, the camera uses the distance information with matrix metering to improve exposure.

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Jun 8, 2019 00:47:23   #
SteveR Loc: Michigan
 
The 50mm 1.8 D is less expensive because it doesn't have a focusing motor in the lens. You don't need a focusing motor because the D7100 has a focusing motor in the camera. Some Nikon Cameras like the D3XXX series and D5XXX series do not have focus motors in the cameras and would require the G version. I have the 1.8 D and it really sucks up light. I don't see any need to get the 1.4.

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Jun 8, 2019 01:52:55   #
therwol Loc: USA
 
Bill_de wrote:

Saying that if it has a D it might need the motor makes no sense as the D is irrelevant to auto focus. The exceptions you refer to are AF-S Nikkor lenses that also have the {unrelated to auto focus} D designation.
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Of course the D has nothing to do with how the a lens focuses. It's a CLUE that a lens might not autofocus on a camera without a motor in the body. Only a few early AF-S lenses have D printed on the lens. Those will autofocus without the motor in the body. Any lens currently in production with a D on the barrel will NOT autofocus on some of Nikon's cameras. That's all I'm saying. That's what the OP needs to know, no matter which focal length they buy. The other clue is the aperture ring on the D lenses, missing on the G lenses.

Both of these ads are misleading in some way. (Taken from Amazon.) How is someone to know which to buy if they had a Nikon D3xxx camera, especially considering the incorrect information in the ad for the D lens? How would you tell them which to buy? The D designation is in common usage, both in ads and among experienced users. Don't make this complicated. Inexperienced people need help with this in a simple way.

If I may say something else. Dictionaries add definitions to words according to new ways in which people in the real world use them. AF-D, AF D or just D as they are used in ads and in discussions are in common use now.

Download the pictures if you can't read the ads.


(Download)


(Download)

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Jun 8, 2019 09:01:21   #
Leitz Loc: Solms
 
therwol wrote:
Of course the D has nothing to do with how the a lens focuses. It's a CLUE that a lens might not autofocus on a camera without a motor in the body. Only a few early AF-S lenses have D printed on the lens. Those will autofocus without the motor in the body. Any lens currently in production with a D on the barrel will NOT autofocus on some of Nikon's cameras. That's all I'm saying. That's what the OP needs to know, no matter which focal length they buy. The other clue is the aperture ring on the D lenses, missing on the G lenses.

Both of these ads are misleading in some way. (Taken from Amazon.) How is someone to know which to buy if they had a Nikon D3xxx camera, especially considering the incorrect information in the ad for the D lens? How would you tell them which to buy? The D designation is in common usage, both in ads and among experienced users. Don't make this complicated. Inexperienced people need help with this in a simple way.

If I may say something else. Dictionaries add definitions to words according to new ways in which people in the real world use them. AF-D, AF D or just D as they are used in ads and in discussions are in common use now.

Download the pictures if you can't read the ads.
Of course the D has nothing to do with how the a l... (show quote)

I'm unable to make any sense out of this. You admit that the "D" has nothing to do with how a Nikkor focuses, yet you insist upon its use for the same. A bit much for my wee brain!

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Jun 8, 2019 10:31:23   #
therwol Loc: USA
 
Leitz wrote:
I'm unable to make any sense out of this. You admit that the "D" has nothing to do with how a Nikkor focuses, yet you insist upon its use for the same. A bit much for my wee brain!


I'm going to try this one more time. It's important to some. The D lenses are called that because they are from an era when Nikon printed the letter D on the lenses. In that era, the cameras produced had a motor in the body to couple with a mechanism in the lenses for autofocus. Many of Nikon's current camera retain the motor but not all.

Here is the crux of it. If a lens has a D printed on the barrel, or if you see it advertised with a D in the name, it will most likely not focus on a camera lacking a focusing motor in the body. (I already said there are some exceptions, but it's a pretty good guide for which lenses to buy for cameras lacking the motor.) The other thing that one must know, of course, if whether their camera as a motor in the body. D3xxx and D5xxx cameras do not.

Download to read this more clearly. These are examples of lenses NOT to buy for a D3xxx or D5xxx camera.


(Download)

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Jun 8, 2019 10:44:55   #
SteveR Loc: Michigan
 
Leitz wrote:
I'm unable to make any sense out of this. You admit that the "D" has nothing to do with how a Nikkor focuses, yet you insist upon its use for the same. A bit much for my wee brain!


I believe my post said it all much more concisely. Also, just for informations sake, at one time Ken Rockwell listed the 50mm f1.8D as one of Nikon's top ten lenses. So, it's a good lens, esp. on the D7100. I have it and while I use the 24-70mm f2.8 as my go-to lens, when I want a low-light prime, the 50mm f1.8 really comes in handy.

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Jun 8, 2019 10:46:37   #
Kaib795 Loc: Maryland, USA
 
Well, If you have a camera whereas on the lens mount there is a drive screw (so the lens focus motor in also in the camera) you can use this lens w auto focus. Mind you YOU can use this anyhow but if your camera body lacks the drive screw (facing camera it's on the lower left of the mount) but it will be a manual focus lens. The coupling to your camera should work so the camera can see it's aperture settings and even run in auto A settings if you lock the aperture ring down to it's smallest settings (easy to see on the aperture ring). I use many old "D" lenses on my D7500 and D810. They don't work in auto focus on my D5200 (but that's my dedicated Macro camera with a 40mm f2.8 Macro lens). Just google it to find illustrations on any of this online. You can also compare the modern lens to the old D lens using a site called "Optical Limits" and find out tons of critical data on your lens or future lens. Do compare the f1.4 lenses to the f1.8 and see the performance difference (the cost savings and sharpness of the f1.8 is usually the better deal!).

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Jun 8, 2019 10:49:38   #
SteveR Loc: Michigan
 
Kaib795 wrote:
Well, If you have a camera whereas on the lens mount there is a drive screw (so the lens focus motor in also in the camera) you can use this lens w auto focus. Mind you YOU can use this anyhow but if your camera body lacks the drive screw (facing camera it's on the lower left of the mount) but it will be a manual focus lens. The coupling to your camera should work so the camera can see it's aperture settings and even run in auto A settings if you lock the aperture ring down to it's smallest settings (easy to see on the aperture ring). I use many old "D" lenses on my D7500 and D810. They don't work in auto focus on my D5200 (but that's my dedicated Macro camera with a 40mm f2.8 Macro lens). Just google it to find illustrations on any of this online. You can also compare the modern lens to the old D lens using a site called "Optical Limits" and find out tons of critical data on your lens or future lens. Do compare the f1.4 lenses to the f1.8 and see the performance difference (the cost savings and sharpness of the f1.8 is usually the better deal!).
Well, If you have a camera whereas on the lens mou... (show quote)


The 50mm f1.8D does autofocus on all current Nikon cameras. You're thinking about older lenses with the drive screw thing.

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Jun 8, 2019 10:59:11   #
Kaib795 Loc: Maryland, USA
 
Now, Nikon AI lenses didn't have the coupling and will be all manual lenses so beware.

These are good lenses to buy cheap and put on a bellows for Macro work. Some find that putting the Nikon NIKKOR-S Auto 35mm F2.8 Non-Ai Lens on the bellows backwards creates extreme Macro shots where you control the magnification and get very sharp close-ups of forensic work or coins, etc. I'm in the process of making one right now with said lens, an oldie for sure.

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Jun 8, 2019 11:00:36   #
therwol Loc: USA
 
SteveR wrote:
I believe my post said it all much more concisely. Also, just for informations sake, at one time Ken Rockwell listed the 50mm f1.8D as one of Nikon's top ten lenses. So, it's a good lens, esp. on the D7100. I have it and while I use the 24-70mm f2.8 as my go-to lens, when I want a low-light prime, the 50mm f1.8 really comes in handy.


I get more and more wordy when someone doesn't understand what I'm saying. I hope I made it clear this time.

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Jun 8, 2019 11:04:16   #
Bill_de Loc: US
 
SteveR wrote:
The 50mm f1.8D does autofocus on all current Nikon cameras. You're thinking about older lenses with the drive screw thing.


The lens you are referencing has the screw drive thing, as you put it. Go to the link and look at the picture.

The lens is labeled "AF Nikkor", not "AF-s", nor "AP-p". The latter two types of lenses have built in motors. These are what people should be looking at to determine focus type.

https://www.nikonusa.com/en/nikon-products/product/camera-lenses/af-nikkor-50mm-f%252f1.8d.html

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Jun 8, 2019 11:12:49   #
therwol Loc: USA
 
Bill_de wrote:
The lens you are referencing has the screw drive thing, as you put it. Go to the link and look at the picture.

The lens is labeled "AF Nikkor", not "AF-s", nor "AP-p". The latter two types of lenses have built in motors. These are what people should be looking at to determine focus type.

https://www.nikonusa.com/en/nikon-products/product/camera-lenses/af-nikkor-50mm-f%252f1.8d.html

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How do you tell from an ad that doesn't show a picture. The D is a clue, not an absolute.

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Jun 8, 2019 11:57:57   #
SteveR Loc: Michigan
 
Bill_de wrote:
The lens you are referencing has the screw drive thing, as you put it. Go to the link and look at the picture.

The lens is labeled "AF Nikkor", not "AF-s", nor "AP-p". The latter two types of lenses have built in motors. These are what people should be looking at to determine focus type.

https://www.nikonusa.com/en/nikon-products/product/camera-lenses/af-nikkor-50mm-f%252f1.8d.html

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I don't know. I have one and haven't had to modify it to work on either my D7000 or D800 and it autofocuses. I'm not sure what lens you're referring to. The 50mm f1.8D is currently for sale by Nikon for $134. It's not an older lens.

https://www.nikonusa.com/en/nikon-products/product/camera-lenses/af-nikkor-50mm-f%252f1.8d.html

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