Nikon ED Lenses versus G Lenses

Do you think the quality difference between Nikon "ED" and "G" lenses are
worth the price difference? The ED lenses are touted to be better, and they
are certainly heavier. They seem to have more glass. I am leaning heavily
toward buying the "ED"'s.

Thanks,

Sandy

 

ED means that the lens uses extra-low-dispersion glass. G means the lens
has no aperture ring and is not fully AI-S backwards compatible. The two
are not related or mutually exclusive and really have nothing to do with
each other.

 

And some lenses are both.

 

The question is really only relevant to, I think, one lens- the 70-300, of
which there are G and ED versions- the G lacks an aperture ring and ED
elements, whereas the ED has both. I've seen some awful results off of the G
lens- then again, the ED doesn't seem too stellar either. Nikon don't have
"series" lenses- the top-end 70-200mm is both ED and G and I don't think
anyone is suggesting that lens is a budget item. That said, the 85 f1.4
isn't touted as ED or G, and is a phenomenal lens.

Martin.

 

Can anyone suggest another AF brand Nikon mount lens that would be better
quality?

Sandy

 

Sure, most would agree the 70-200mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor is a
stellar performer, though not anywhere near the same price class. It is
worth it to many of us though. You should consider a lens such as this a
long term investment.
http://www.nikonusa.com/template.php?cat=1&grp=5&productNr=2139
http://www.naturfotograf.com/AFS70-200VR_rev00.html

 

The older Nikon 75-300mm f/4.5-5.6 AF was better than the current 70/75-300
offerings.

 

Thanks for the tip. My research would seem to substantiate your opinion.

I was told that using the AF older Nikon lenses requires one to "shut off"?
something on the aperure ring so the DSLR can use it accurately. Use of the
AI Nikon lenses requires setting the Nikon DSLR to "M", and getting your
light reading independently.

Sandy

 

On a lens with an aperture ring, you set the lens to its minimum aperture
and leave it there, which allows the aperture to be set by the camera body.
Most (all?) of the autofocus lenses with aperture rings have a "lock" on
the ring to keep it in that position. On the lower-end bodies that require
the aperture to be set by the camera, you must do this in order for the
lens to work. On the D2-series (and possibly the D200?) you can use the
aperture ring itself in A or M mode if you want.

On the G lenses, with no aperture ring, which unfortunately seems to be
what Nikon is making now, this obviously doesn't matter. Those lenses
are always set at minimum aperture.

If you're curious, the reason the lenses have to be set at minimum aperture
for automatic operation is this: when you take a picture the camera has to
stop down the lens to the chosen aperture at the time of exposure. It does
this mechanically, with a lever. The lever will only stop down the aperture
to the point that the aperture ring is set, but no further, which enables
manual operation where the camera doesn't know what aperture the lens is set
for -- it can say "stop down to whatever is selected" by moving the lever
all the way. So, the only way the camera has the ability to stop down to
any aperture is if the lens is set at the minimum aperture. Then, the
camera can select any aperture according to how far it moves the lever.

The new (D2, D200) cameras can't do this with AI and AI-S lenses; with
those, you must set the aperture from the lens aperture ring. This is
because the new cameras don't differentiate at all between AI and AI-S,
and the aperture levers work differently. So you can't use P and S
modes, but then, who uses those anyway?

This is not necessary with the D2-series and D200; they can meter with
AI and AI-S lenses. With the others, yes, you lose the light meter due
to having no mechanical coupling and no electrical communication with
the lens -- the camera has no way of knowing what aperture the lens is
set for, or how far it's stopped down, so it can't determine exposure.
(It could use stop-down metering with DOF preview if Nikon wanted to,
but they evidently don't.)

 

Excellent exposition of information, Jeremy. Thanks.

Sandy

 

The D200 allows metering with old unchipped lenses by manually entering
the widest f/stop in the menu, as I understand. I think aperture &
shutter priority modes should work with that information. I'm not clear
about lenses that require stop-down metering.

 

Aperture priority works; shutter priority and programmed auto are not
available because the camera cannot set the lens aperture.

 

So then you are stuck with wide open as the only aperture? As I
understand, unchipped AI lenses need the chip to tell what the max
aperture is being stopped down (and the focal length?) from but the D200
allows you to enter that in the camera.

 

You're not stuck at wide open, because once you've set the lens info into
the menu (the D2-series and, apparently, the D200) you set the aperture on
the lens normally and the camera sets the shutter speed (in A mode) as it
normally would. As an example of this, the D2 will tell you the number of
stops away from wide open you are (in the top info LCD) as you vary the
aperture on the lens.
Bob

 

No. The camera can't set the lens aperture, but you can set the aperture
on the lens. The camera needs to set the lens aperture for shutter priority
and program modes, and since it can't, you can't use those modes.

 

For center-weighted exposure and for the spot meter, the camera doesn't
to know the actual aperture. The camera only needs to know the relative
position of the aperture ring compared to wide open. This is the way Ai
has always worked.

The only exception is that some low-end cameras, including the F80, and
the digital cameras derived from it, the D100, D70 and D50, cannot sense the
position of the aperture ring, but try to control the lens using the chip
inside the lens. Most Ai lenses don't have chip so this is not going to work.

However, for matrix metering, the camera does need to know the actual aperture.
Some of the early cameras with matrix metering, such as the FA and the F4
can get the aperture from a small bump in the lens mount.

Starting with the F5, Nikon doesn't do that anymore.

However, starting with the F6, you can enter the aperture manually.

So, if you can live with center-weighted or spot, don't need to enter the
aperture.

(At least that is the theory. I don't own an F6, D2X, or a D200).

 

So, how does a G series lens work on a non-auto body? In computerese,
what is "the default setting?" Wide open? Completely stopped down?
Whatever setting it got last from an auto-body?

This is probably a way-out question: Can you short out two of the
metal control contacts that connect the lens to the body, as a way to
instructing the lens to use a given f-stop?

Father Kodak

 

If you mean a body that can't set the lens aperture, I don't know (I don't
have one to try it) but my guess is that, since those lenses are basically
just always set at minimum aperture, that they would be completely stopped
down at the time of exposure.

I get the feeling, though, that there may be some confusion here. Assuming
a normal AI or later lens, and a camera that supports them, the lens can
always be stopped down at the time of exposure to whatever aperture is
selected on the lens aperture ring -- even if the camera doesn't know what
aperture is selected. What the new bodies can't do is *select* the aperture
on an AI-S lens; that is, you can't dial in f/8 on the control dial on the
camera and have it work, and you can't put the camera into programmed auto
and have it work. You must set the aperture on the lens aperture ring.

This was *not* the case with older film bodies that were made for AI-S
lenses. They could have shutter-priority and programmed auto modes and
were able to set the lens aperture on AI-S lenses, provided that the lens
was set at minimum aperture. The new, digital cameras, despite being able
to use AI-S lenses and meter with them, cannot do this. The reason is
that the new cameras do not know the difference between AI and AI-S lenses,
and treat them the same.

No. The electrical contacts aren't used for aperture setting.

 

D1 series too. All of the pro cameras AFAIK.

Andrew.