Time to sell some of my gear.

Top left to right:  Nikon 18-105mm (DX), box, 35mm f/1.8 (DX)
Bottom:  Nikon 24-85mm (FX), SB9000 flash, 16-36mm (FX), 55-300mm DX)

Photography is one of those things that changes rapidly.  The electronics, materials, formats, designs, and capabilities are constantly advancing.  I used to own a D600 and then a D750, both FX Nikon bodies, and I have a lot of lenses that worked well with them.  I have since sold those bodies and am now using an FX mirrorless camera (Z system) and have dedicated lenses for it.  Although I can use my FTZ adapter to go from the F format To the Z format (FTZ), I prefer to use the lenses designed for the system.

In case you got a little lost there, let me explain some of the letters:

  • F - Nikon's standard bayonet mount, all Nikon lenses made since 1972 fit on this system.
  • Z - Nikon's new mirrorless format bayonet mount, the baseplate is much larger and allows for an improved lens design.
  • FTZ - F to Z adapter lets you use an F mount lens on a Z mount camera body.
  • FX - Full frame, the sensor size is the same size as what a 35 mm negative is, that is 24mm x 36mm.
  • DX - Cropped frame - the same approximate size as Kodak's APS film that came out in the 80s - It has a crop factor of 1.5x compared to full-frame.
  • VR - Vibration reduction - Nikon's version of IS (image stabilization)
  • G - Gelded lens - means there is no aperture ring so that the aperture has to be set through the command dial on the camera body.
  • N - Nano crystal coat - a coating on the lens elements that prevents reflections and flares from occuring.
  • ED - Uses low dispersion (LD) glass to improve image formation
  • S - The letter S denotes a higher quality lens, better than the very good non-S models.
Those are only a few of the many letters used to denote various features or qualities found on Nikon's cameras and lenses.  Canon and other manufacturers use other letters for the same thing.  For example, VR is Nikon, IS is Canon, OS is Sigma, and OC is Tamron.  All relates to vibration reduction.  Isn't that fun!

Thanks for reading.

Eric Svendsen     www.ericspix.com

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