New Nikkor Lenses

[DouglasUrner]

Nikon has announced 3 new lenses: a 24 mm f/3.5 PC-E T/S (the E stands for "electromagnetic diaphragm" -- which allows the aperture to be controlled from either the lens or the camera and you don't have to remember to stop down manually), a 60 mm f/2.8 AF-S Micro, and a 16-85 mm f/3.5-5.6 AF-S Zoom with VR II.

There is additional information at Rob Galbraith's site and also at Bjørn Rørslett's site.

It appears from the press releases that Nikon will be releasing two more T/S lenses this year a 45 mm f/2.8 and what appears to be an updated 85 mm f/2.8.

It appears that there may be some clearance issues with the T/S lenses on some Nikon bodies (but not the D3). Hopefully the issues with the D300 won't be too bad . . .

Doug

[Ronald Garrett]

It also appears Nikon pulled off another coup in the D60. Apparently the D40x was not a good seller and Nikon didn't waste any time replacing it. With the use of many of the D300 and D3 features, it is sure to be a top seller if the price is anywhere near the D40X.

My hats is off to the marketing team at nikon.

[Roger_Martin]

Originally Posted by DouglasUrner

Nikon has announced 3 new lenses: a 24 mm f/3.5 PC-E T/S (the E stands for "electromagnetic diaphragm" -- which allows the aperture to be controlled from either the lens or the camera and you don't have to remember to stop down manually), a 60 mm f/2.8 AF-S Micro, and a 16-85 mm f/3.5-5.6 AF-S Zoom with VR II.

There is additional information at Rob Galbraith's site and also at Bjørn Rørslett's site.

It appears from the press releases that Nikon will be releasing two more T/S lenses this year a 45 mm f/2.8 and what appears to be an updated 85 mm f/2.8.

It appears that there may be some clearance issues with the T/S lenses on some Nikon bodies (but not the D3). Hopefully the issues with the D300 won't be too bad . . .

Doug

All these are DX lenses.

So far, I have had less than stellar results with DX lenses on my D3 bodies. I won't be in this market at all, but am waiting for more Pro Quality FX lenses.

[DouglasUrner]

Originally Posted by Roger_Martin

All these are DX lenses.

Only the zoom. The 24 T/S and the 60 Macro are full frame. Nikon just released a pair of pro-quality full frame lenses, a 24-70 f/2.8 and a 14-24 f/2.8. Happy days, with luck we'll see a few choice primes updated to AF-S.

Doug

[Dennis_Vied]

Hi, Doug,

RG says the 24 is comparable to the Canon 24, and if so, you'll like it. I have the Canon 24 and 90 T/S lenses, and I've gotten a lot of use out of them, mostly the 90 as a product lens.

Was the 85 Nikon a tilt/shift lens, or just a tilt? Perhaps the new 85 will make it a tilt/shift. I've noticed the t/s boxes on both my lenses are virtually the same design, so on that basis, it would be easy to do it to all of them.

By the way, I had mine rotated so that the axes were in the same plane. But I have to say, so far, I haven't used them both in the same plane. I'm still stretching to find an application for that.

[DouglasUrner]

Originally Posted by Dennis_Vied

Was the 85 Nikon a tilt/shift lens, or just a tilt? Perhaps the new 85 will make it a tilt/shift. I've noticed the t/s boxes on both my lenses are virtually the same design, so on that basis, it would be easy to do it to all of them.

The 85 was Nikon's only T/S lens prior to this new crop, functionally the big difference between the original 85 and the new crop is that it had a manual plunger to stop down the lens for DoF preview and for the exposure. The new lenses are automatic with electro-magnetic coupling, similar to what I understand that Canon does with all their lenses.

From reading the description of the lens, it sounds like the manual stop down button on the lens may enable using it with an older camera (e.g. pre-D3/300).

I've used the 85 for product work and really like it -- though on a DX camera it is pretty long (roughly 127 mm equivalent). So I'm really looking forward to the new crop.

Frankly, one of the most exciting things about this new announcement for me is the evidence that Nikon is still committed to producing niche lenses. Makes me hopeful that we'll see some updated primes before too long.

By the way, I had mine rotated so that the axes were in the same plane. But I have to say, so far, I haven't used them both in the same plane. I'm still stretching to find an application for that.

This must be a Nikon vs Canon thing :-) The Nikon lenses come with Tilt and Shift in the same plane and folks rotate them so they're 90 degrees apart . . .

Doug

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