Help Nikon D or G lens

AF-D lenses add the ability to measure distance and provide the information back to the camera. It's used for certain metering and flash modes. It can be useful, but I wouldn't get hung up on it.

AF-S lenses are all AF-D lenses as well. They have the distance feature.

G lenses are all AF-D lenses as well. They have the distance feature.

G means they've had the aperture ring removed. This means they'll work fine in all modes on all Nikon digital bodies and newer Nikon film bodies. They won't work so well on older Nikon film bodies.

The aperture ring is the ring that allows film shooters (and digital shooters with odd habits) to manually select the aperture on the lens itself. It's more or less irrelevant for 99% of use cases now.
 
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To clarify further,

AF-D lenses do not have a built-in AF motor. they use a screwdriver-type arrangement in the camera body to focus - the D40/40x/60 and the 3000/5000 will fit these lenses but you won't have AF because they don't have a body motor. Not sure if the D70/70s/80/90 bodies have a built in motor.

AF-S lenses feature a built-in, silentwave motor for faster focussing and these are universal to all digital bodies.

regarding the aperture ring, if all the rest of the bodies are like my D2x, if you even wanted to use the aperture ring, you can't - it throws up an error message on the LCD. You have to lock the aperture ring in place so the camera can then control the aperture through the electronic menu system on top.

This is a full explanation of what abbreviations means in Nikon Land.... click here
 
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specialman said:
To clarify further,

AF-D lenses do not have a built-in AF motor. they use a screwdriver-type arrangement in the camera body to focus - the D40/40x/60 and the 3000/5000 will fit these lenses but you won't have AF because they don't have a body motor. Not sure if the D70/70s/80/90 bodies have a built in motor.

AF-S lenses feature a built-in, silentwave motor for faster focussing and these are universal to all digital bodies.

regarding the aperture ring, if all the rest of the bodies are like my D2x, if you even wanted to use the aperture ring, you can't - it throws up an error message on the LCD. You have to lock the aperture ring in place so the camera can then control the aperture through the electronic menu system on top.

This is a full explanation of what abbreviations means in Nikon Land.... click here
Click to expand...


D50/70/80/90 all have a built in motor.

I'm fairly sure you can use the aperture ring on the D2x. It's custom setting f7 on the D300, look under the f menu on your D2x.
 
specialman said:
To clarify further
Click to expand...

To clarify even further... AF-S can come in both "D" and "G" flavours with or without an aperture ring. :)

Nikkor 300mm f/4D ED IF AF-S == Replacement for the older 300mm f/4 AF-D, this has an AF-S motor, but also has an aperture ring.

Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G ED IF VR AF-S == Also an AF-S motor, but with no aperture ring. It's a "G" lens.

And just to confirm, the D200 and D300s both allow you to use the lens's aperture ring as an option instead of controlling it from a dial in the body - it can sometimes help to produce more consistent results on things like timelapse.
 
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This is going to be one clear thread if we keep clarifying at this rate!!:lol::lol:


Blapto said:
I'm fairly sure you can use the aperture ring on the D2x. It's custom setting f7 on the D300, look under the f menu on your D2x.
Click to expand...

I'll have to look at that, although it'll just be another indulgence TBH. Thin I'll stick to the rear command dial... :)

EDIT: My god!!! Just tried it and I now feel like it's 1998 and I'm using my college FM2 :) You learn something new every day....
 
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Thank you all for your help I am buying a s2 pro and need to get glass for it but it will not need the s lens (I think) so its look for the best glass for the lowest price
 
Paulminus273, there are always some nice bits of kit going cheap in the classifieds as people upgrade. Lots of D-type lenses and even some old MF AIS lenses.

Also, check out some of the used dealers listed here
 
Yeah, they are good, and he gets some crackin' stuff with his. :)
 
Just been looking at what I do most of my shots at and most are under 50mm
would I be better quality to price getting a prime say 35mm and using a 2 leg zoom
 
specialman said:
This is going to be one clear thread if we keep clarifying at this rate!!:lol::lol:




I'll have to look at that, although it'll just be another indulgence TBH. Thin I'll stick to the rear command dial... :)

EDIT: My god!!! Just tried it and I now feel like it's 1998 and I'm using my college FM2 :) You learn something new every day....
Click to expand...
:D Normally I only set it on my D300 when I'm frequently switching between it and my FM2. Makes it easier to move between them!


paulminus273 said:
All I have to do now is learn how to take photographs get the lighting right and photoshop
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Exactly!

As for lens choice, you can use pretty much whatever you want on the S2. It's basically Nikon F80 with digital gubbins. It can take advantage of D lenses with matrix metering, if you feel that's important to you.

What are you shooting on now? When you say 50mm, is that on DX? You could just get an 18-70 for now, and then buy a 28/35mm later if you feel that would suit you better.
 
I have been using a d60 mostly with the kit lens, checking the image data nearly all are between 30 and 50 dx that would be about 45 to 75 ff so the line of thought is will I get noticeably better glass with a prime ( and just move back and forward) than a zoom about the same price.
Most of the shots are in my little home studio, with studio flashes exposure on manual.
 
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