I am a little confused. I am looking at a NIKON 300MM F4 IF-ED AF-S lens. It is a "D" or at least I think it is. But yet it is suppose to have a swm in it? Here is the listing on Henry's NIKON 300MM F4 IF-ED AF-S 1909 and here is the Nikon page about it. AF-S Nikkor 300mm f/4D IF-ED from Nikon .... my question is, what will it do on a D5200 body. What about aperture and focusing?? I guess I am more than a little confused. Thanks
NIKON 300MM F4 IF-ED AF-S on a d5200
- Thread starter bandit993
- Start date
mr2_serious
Senior Member
Both titles say AF-S. That means it has the motor built in so it will auto focus on your body.
» William via Tapatalk
» William via Tapatalk
Horoscope Fish
Senior Member
Decoding Nikon's Lens Code
AI, AI-S: Nikkor lenses produced after 1977 have an automatic indexing feature that eliminated the need to manually align the aperture ring when the lens was mounted. The first lenses to include this feature had the AI or AI-S designation. However, all optics introduced after 1977 have automatic indexing (except for G Series lenses, because they have no aperture ring), whether that's included in the lens code or not.
E: Nikon's Series E lenses are bargain-priced optics with great image quality, but less rugged mechanical innards suitable for use by non-professionals. They frequently include aluminum or plastic parts where brass is used in the most costly Nikkors. However, their lens mounts are all metal, so Series E lenses are more rugged than you might think.
D: When a D is included in the lens name, the lens is capable of communicating focus distance information to the camera, which supposedly helps with 3-D matrix metering and flash photography.
G: Lenses with this marking have no aperture ring. The aperture must be set by the camera, either automatically or by holding the EV/Aperture button and spinning the command dial (on the D50). The only caveat you should know is that these lenses cannot be used on older cameras that require an aperture ring.
AF, AF-D, AF-I, AF-S: Various AF designations show that the lens is an autofocus lens. The secondary code letter provides additional information: D is a D-type lens; I focuses through an internal motor; S focuses or fine-tunes focus manually even with AF engaged.
DX: All DX lenses are designed exclusively for use with digital cameras having the 1.5x crop factor. Their coverage circle isn't officially large enough to fill up a full 35mm frame (although the 17-55mm f/2.8 DX lens actually covers the full frame well from 28-55mm). The digital only design means that these lenses can be smaller and lighter than their full-frame counterparts.
VR: These lenses have Nikon's vibration-reduction technology, which shifts lens elements to counteract camera shake or movement, and allow taking photos without a tripod at slower shutter speeds.
ED: The ED designation indicated that the lens has elements made of extra-low dispersion glass, which tends to reduce chromatic aberration and other defects. Some lenses use a LD (low dispersion) or UD (ultra low dispersion) marking.
Micro: The term micro is Nikon's Designation for a macro lens.
IF: This code means that the lens has internal focusing, so the length of the lens doesn't increas or decreas as the lens is focused.
IX: These were produced for the Nikon's Pronea APS film cameras. Although many standard Nikkor lenses could be used on the Pronea 6i and Pronea S, the revers is not true.
DC: The DC stands for defocus control, which is a way of changing the appearance of the out-of-focus portions of an image, especially useful for portraits or close-ups.
.....
Thank you all for the help. What a smart group you are. I am finding it is a lot harder to get good pictures with a dslr than I thought it would. I have the AF-S DX NIKKOR 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR lens but I find the pics just aren't that sharp. The lens seems to require a lot of light to get the shutter speed up. I don't want to go too high on ISO because of noise and the f/5.6 is not very good in low light when shooting 300mm. I am trying different things as I think of them. Thanks again everyone.
I am considering buying one of these used on Amazon for nature (mostly wildlife) shots, primarily because of the telephoto aspect of the lens. My kit 18-140mm just doesn't get close enough to my subject (mostly birds)However, I am seeing on Nikon site that it is an FX format lens. AF Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4-5.6G (4.3x)http://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/lens/zoom/telephotozoom/af_zoom70-300mmf_4-56g/index.htmAF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED (4.3x)http://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/lens/zoom/telephotozoom/af-s_vr_zoom70-300mmf_45-56g_if/index.htmMy D5200 is a DX camera. Nikon website also states that FX lens will work on DX sensors.My question is whether the D5200 body will be able to use all functionality of the lens. Any comments\suggestions on this lens as for my intended purpose?
Last edited:
Don't be scared ...............you can easily run the iso up to 800 or even a 1000 and get very good results . and with the VR you should be taking some fine pics with that lens and the 5200 .
A tripod and remote shutter release will give excellent results .
OK so after some further research, I have realized that the AF Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4-5.6G, is not the lens that I should buy for my D5200. It is a AF lens and will only work in manual focus on the D5200, which requires an AF-S lens to allow for auto focus. instead I am looking at the Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED IF AF-S VR Nikkor Zoom Lens OR the Nikon 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR AF-S DX Nikkor Zoom Lens. any advice on which of the 2 I should get ? which of the 2 would be better for handheld
Horoscope Fish
Senior Member
Between the two lenses listed, the 70-30mm wins out, hands down. There are some very good reasons for the additional $200 you'll pay...
Many thanks
I did some further research and found your latter statement to be reflected.
brand new it is > $500.00, but there some decent used ones on Amazon.com which are within my budget
The 70-300G is a pretty bad lense. I have one. At 300 it is way too soft and exhibits a lot of colour fringes. It has no focusing motor hence will not AF on 3xxx and 5xxx bodies.
The zooms you have asked advice for are pretty slow at 300mm and will not be of much use, except in bright sunlight, as you will need to use it at f8 or more to get a sharp image. For wild life in medium light that will mean ISO 1600 or more. If you want 300mm, then get the 300mmF4 (the lense of this thread). New it is about $1200 and used you will get down to $600. This is one lense that gives sharp images wide open.
SALE BRAND NEW Nikon AF-S Nikkor 300mm f/4D IF-ED 0018208019090 | eBay
The current and previous models does have the aperture ring which makes it look like a "D" lens. The first AF model is an AF followed by the current revised model which is the AF-S with smoother finish as indicated on the link that you've provided.
I find it to be just the right FL when it comes to sports application when shooting around a soccer or football field.
