Nikon lens. G or D

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Thegreatroberto

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Ok, I realise that this is asking a very general question.

But, do the G versions of nikons lenes offer any real advantages over their D versions? (apart from perhaps VR, where fitted)

So we'll get the first obvious one out the way, and assume my camera body has a built in motor, i.e. nikon d700.

I realise that most (if not all) the D versions are older, but does that make them less sharp, worse contrast etc. And also, most of the D versions are cheaper and often smaller/lighter.
 
Thegreatroberto said:
Ok, I realise that this is asking a very general question.

But, do the G versions of nikons lenes offer any real advantages over their D versions? (apart from perhaps VR, where fitted)

So we'll get the first obvious one out the way, and assume my camera body has a built in motor, i.e. nikon d700.

I realise that most (if not all) the D versions are older, but does that make them less sharp, worse contrast etc. And also, most of the D versions are cheaper and often smaller/lighter.
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It depends. The G versions are always newer. Some of them have improved contrast and are better in backlit situations. Some aren't. The G version have newer coatings on the glass. If any of that makes a difference depends in the lens and your use of it
 
There's no need to flip a switch with G lenses to focus manually. That's an advantage for me. YMMV.
 
I think I'm right in saying that technically, all 'G' lenses are also 'D' lenses by default. D just means that the lens tells the camera what distance it's focussed at.

The only real difference between Nikon AF-D and the newer AF-G lenses is that the latter have no aperture ring, so if you ever want to do manual stopdown stuff using macro rings or bellows, you're a bit stuffed.
 
Lyope said:
The only real difference between Nikon AF-D and the newer AF-G lenses is that the latter have no aperture ring, so if you ever want to do manual stopdown stuff using macro rings or bellows, you're a bit stuffed.
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Most AFD lenses don't have an internal focus motor. If that's a big deal to you. How big and real the revised optics improve things vary Lens to lens
 
I agree with Hugh about the newer glass.
All my lenses bar one are Gs they have Nano coated glass which compared to the only D lens I have, 35-70 f2.8 seem to have improved contrast and colour.
They also seem less prone to flare.
 
Happy with G lenes that I have. And certainly the D's perhaps are not as sharp as their G brothers.
Has anyone compared the 50mm 1.4 D with the G? And, the pair of 105 macros?
 
I've not owned either of the macros. But of the 50s the G is

more contrasty
renders colours slightly warmer
suffers far less with CA wide open
does better with flare and backlighting
slower to focus in good light
hunts for focus less in bad light

when compared to the D. How important these are is up to you
 
Let's try and clear up the terminology here. There are at least three different features which are getting confused:
1. Does the lens have an internal autofocus motor?
2. Does the lens report the focus distance to the camera?
3. Does the lens have an aperture ring?

AF means the lens relies on the camera body for the autofocus motor.
AF-S means the lens has an internal autofocus motor. The autofocus is therefore fast and quiet.
D means the lens reports the focus distance.
G means the lens does *not* have an aperture ring.

Obviously the two autofocus technologies are mutually exclusive, but the other features aren't. In principle they could occur in virtually any combination, but in practice they don't. For example, once Nikon had invented D they thought it was so useful that they aren't going to make lenses without it.

Most AF lenses are also D, but some older AF lenses are not D.
All G lenses are also D, but they don't have D in their names.
Nearly all G lenses are AF-S, but a few (generally older, cheaper designs) are AF.
Most AF-S lenses are G (and therefore also D), but a few older ones are D and not G.

Most VR lenses are G (and therefore also D and AF-S), but not all. For example the old 80-400mm is AF D VR, so neither AF-S nor G.

Now, what was the question?

(Edited to correct statement about G lenses being AF-S.)
 
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Haha. Got all that. Always interesting to see what D lenses have not been "upgraded" to G. My 105d dc, being one. ( VR would be useful on that, but as previously explained VR does not have to be the preserve of being G. )

I guess the nano coatings ( that come with newer and hence G) make quite a difference to contrast, flare etc.
certainly my 70-200 f/4 and 16-35 F/4 are great lenses.
It's just that some of the older D primes can be found cheaply, but are their more modern G's fundamentally better lenses. And with FF sensors getting bigger, how long would it be before these D's really do show their limits?
 
To make it a slightly more complicated there are also lenses without aperture ring that are not G (all modern PC-E Nikkors).

Also the new 800mm doesn't have aperture ring, but its designation is E. And that E means a different thing than the E from E-series lenses.
 
Thegreatroberto said:
Happy with G lenes that I have. And certainly the D's perhaps are not as sharp as their G brothers.
Has anyone compared the 50mm 1.4 D with the G? And, the pair of 105 macros?
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on the 50 I prefer the colour rendering of the AF-D but would agree with Hugh's evaluation above. Not owned the 105's but used both, the AF-S focusses fast, very fast for a macro, and can be used as a general purpose tele, if anything the AF-D may be a tad sharper imo but both are excellent. The AF-S has VR which can be useful when using it as a tele, not much use for macro though imo. The AF-D extends when getting towards 1:1, the AF-S doesn't.
mpe said:
To make it a slightly more complicated there are also lenses without aperture ring that are not G (all modern PC-E Nikkors).

Also the new 800mm doesn't have aperture ring, but its designation is E. And that E means a different thing than the E from E-series lenses.
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On the new 800 the "E" stands for electromagnetic as in it has an electromagnetically controlled aperture (not that I'll ever get to use one :()
 
mpe said:
To make it a slightly more complicated there are also lenses without aperture ring that are not G (all modern PC-E Nikkors).
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Do you actually have any of those lenses? I have the full set (24mm, 45mm, 85mm) and all mine have aperture rings.
 
jpw said:
No they aren't, quite a few of the cheaper G lenses are screw-driven AF.
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You're right. I stand corrected.

The 10.5mm DX fisheye is G and AF. I own that so I really should have thought of it! (Though it's not particularly cheap.) Other than that, a bit of research turned up 28-80, 28-100, 28-200 and 70-300 consumer zooms which are G and AF. The specs suggest they are fairly cheap.
 
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StewartR said:
You're right. I stand corrected.

The 10.5mm DX fisheye is G and AF. I own that so I really should have thought of it! (Though it's not particularly cheap.) Other than that, a bit of research turned up 28-80, 28-100, 28-200 and 70-300 consumer zooms which are G and AF. The specs suggest they are fairly cheap.
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Yes it's the 28-80 and 28-200 I was thinking of, I've had both and have still got the 28-80 - cost me £35 for a boxed mint one, and it's sharp as anything.
 
S/H the 85mm D is around £100 cheaper than it's G brother. Quite a lot considering the prices of both lenses. Are the optics and finish really that much different?
 
I th
mpe said:
To make it a slightly more complicated there are also lenses without aperture ring that are not G (all modern PC-E Nikkors).

Also the new 800mm doesn't have aperture ring, but its designation is E. And that E means a different thing than the E from E-series lenses.
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I thought E meant "E"xtremely "E"xpensive :p
 
I have the 50 1.8 D (free from a film camera friend) and an 85 1.8D bought on the classified section here - both are great lenses.
I have a starving recording studio to feed, so lenses take second place (dang) - so for me they are cheap good quality FF glass, maybe not the best, but darn close.
I shoot on the d7K, but dream of going FF one day, with a 70-200 f2.8 etc, - so these are not wasted investments.
I prefer both of the D lenses to my 35 f1.8 DX and they give me my best shots.....I don't bother much with my 18-200 that I had with my d40 when I started, soggy in comparison.
I miss little focus wise by using d7k motor - so the G thing bothers me little.
 
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Thegreatroberto said:
S/H the 85mm D is around £100 cheaper than it's G brother. Quite a lot considering the prices of both lenses. Are the optics and finish really that much different?
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That question might be easier to answer if you clarified what "the 85mm D" means - f/1.8 or f/1.4?
 
f/2.8 said:
The 85mm f/1.8g has much better optics have a look at the dxo mark review.
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That's good to know.
You'd assume that a newer version (G) of lens should be sharper etc. but I've always liked the simplicity if the D's. But it could be that I've been compromising on the optical qualities
 
Lyope said:
I think I'm right in saying that technically, all 'G' lenses are also 'D' lenses by default. D just means that the lens tells the camera what distance it's focussed at.

The only real difference between Nikon AF-D and the newer AF-G lenses is that the latter have no aperture ring, so if you ever want to do manual stopdown stuff using macro rings or bellows, you're a bit stuffed.
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Nope... A great many G lenses are newer designs optically... a great many are vastly superior.
 
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