Weather sealed nikon lenses

buzzlightweight

buzzlightweight

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So I have moved from Canon to Nikon recently, I'm well aware of Canons L lens line up and that most are weather sealed with or without a filter on the front.

I'm a little confused about the Nikon line up, I think I understand the difference in AF and AF-s but I'm not sure about the difference between D and G and also which lenses are weather sealed.

Any help with this would be gratefully received :)

Many thanks buzz
 
d lens have manual aputure ring on them where g lens don't. g lens had got AF motor built into the lens where d lens don't.
 
hyeongsoong said:
d lens have manual aputure ring on them where g lens don't. g lens had got AF motor built into the lens where d lens don't.
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Not quite accurate I'm afraid. A d lens is the same as an AF lens in that it uses a screw drive but also gives distance info for TTl metering. You're right that they have an aperture ring though.

G just means there is no aperture ring, not that it has an AF motor. There are g lenses without an AF motor built in.
 
I don't think Nikon states which lenses are weather proofed, though they do say things like 'high dust and moisture resistance' for their professional range, though what constitutes 'professional' is another question.

The fact that a lens has a rubber gasket around the mount is not the same thing as full weather-proofing at all, though some manufacturers claim it is.
 
Yeah, Nikon aren't very clear on that. There is no 'pro' range..
 
HoppyUK said:
I don't think Nikon states which lenses are weather proofed, though they do say things like 'high dust and moisture resistance' for their professional range, though what constitutes 'professional' is another question.

The fact that a lens has a rubber gasket around the mount is not the same thing as full weather-proofing at all, though some manufacturers claim it is.
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That's an interesting point! Although I see plenty of Nikon lenses at wet football games ;)
 
Sphinx said:
There is a list here :

http://www.bodzashphotoastro.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/updated-complete-list-of-weather-sealed.html

Nikon weather sealed lenses tend have a rubber seal around the mount.
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That's a list of Nikon lenses with a mount gasket. All weather proofed lenses have a mount gasket, but not all lenses with a mount gasket are weather proofed beyond that :D

It's a very difficult question because no lenses are fully water-proof, and there are no agreed standards of weather resistance. The term 'weather proofing' or similar extends from a simple mount gasket, to a bit of internal 'guttering' to inhibit the flow of water, to tight-fitting seals that do a pretty good job even in testing conditions. But you'll still see professionals at say a football match with water-proof covers.

Probably the best guide to the extent of the weather resistance is price - not much help though.

Edit: and BTW, not all Canon L-grade lenses are weather proofed.
 
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Been using Nikon lens for quite awhile,all i can say is they seem pretty well weather sealed to me.

I think the big thing was years ago Nikon were King when it came to pro use,photographer just saw them as a great pro tool,and took it that certain, that some lens and body you would be able to take most stick you could throw at them.

Then Canon wanted to break much more into that pro market,so they introduce a lot of lens which they marketed as pro lens the red ring the L lens to show pro theses lens were up to want every Nikon could take,and it worked.

As usually Nikon didnt respond just kept to their own way,and in many ways started to lose out to Canon,but thats Nikon for you.

But at the end of the day i think you will find lens in both ranges quite able to take some stick,i think that Canon just promote their range better.

:)
 
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Sphinx said:
There is a list here :

http://www.bodzashphotoastro.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/updated-complete-list-of-weather-sealed.html

Nikon weather sealed lenses tend have a rubber seal around the mount.
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ty :thumbs:

JT74 said:
I'm not saying they don't have lenses with dust/weather resistance etc., I'm saying they don't have the equivalent of 'L' to identify a pro range.
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oh i know it wasn't a direct question it was a statement, my bad :bonk:

HoppyUK said:
That's a list of Nikon lenses with a mount gasket. All weather proofed lenses have a mount gasket, but not all lenses with a mount gasket are weather proofed beyond that :D

It's a very difficult question because no lenses are fully water-proof, and there are no agreed standards of weather resistance. The term 'weather proofing' or similar extends from a simple mount gasket, to a bit of internal 'guttering' to inhibit the flow of water, to tight-fitting seals that do a pretty good job even in testing conditions. But you'll still see professionals at say a football match with water-proof covers.

Probably the best guide to the extent of the weather resistance is price - not much help though.

Edit: and BTW, not all Canon L-grade lenses are weather proofed.
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buzzlightweight said:
I'm well aware of Canons L lens line up and that most are weather sealed with or without a filter on the front.
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;)
 
buzzlightweight said:
Sorry but I have another question, do I have to add a UV filter like some of the canons to increase their weather resistance.

Many thanks
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If you're daft enough to let water fall directly on the front of the lens, without so much as a lens hood in place, then yes a protection filter will help, but otherwise not. Water on the front will do horrible things to image quality.

And also, if you let rain drops dry on a filter, they can leave marks that are very hard to clean, sometimes impossible. Get a top grade filter with water resistant coating, like B+W MRC, Hoya HD or Revo, Marumi Super DHG.
 
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hyeongsoong said:
d lens have manual aputure ring on them where g lens don't. g lens had got AF motor built into the lens where d lens don't.
Click to expand...

gad-westy said:
Not quite accurate I'm afraid. A d lens is the same as an AF lens in that it uses a screw drive but also gives distance info for TTl metering. You're right that they have an aperture ring though.

G just means there is no aperture ring, not that it has an AF motor. There are g lenses without an AF motor built in.
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Still not quite accurate I'm afraid.

A D lens doesn't necessarily have the screw driver for AF. They can have the AF-S built-in motor. (For example the AF-S 17-35mm f/2.8 D.)

So in summary you can have the following varieties:
* AF (non-D) : screw drive, aperture ring
* AF D: screw drive, aperture ring, provides distance info for metering
* AF-S D: built in motor, aperture ring, provides distance info for metering
* AF-S G: built in motor, no aperture ring, provides distance info for metering

But still none of this alphabetti spaghetti tells you anything about weatherproofing.
 
That steered me away from Nikon system - their lens lineup model numbering is horrible to understand. And yes, the OP has a valid question, they marketed some bodies as moister and dust resistant but it is completely unclear what lenses has to team up with them to make weather resistant combo. Quoted link really gives just a list with lenses with gasket on the mount, which means nothing...
 
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