That being said -
AF means autofocus.
'D' means the lens has a chip feeding distance info to the camera to help make exposure decisions based on the additional information of distance to the subject. This is all pretty old tech - around for at least 10 years so I think most any new Nikkor lens you pick up will have it. Yes, this is compatible with the DSLRs.
Now you'll see 'G' lenses which means that it has both the previous features but also the aperture ring is gone (since the aperture is adjusted on the camera control screen with modern bodies).
'S' means there is a 'silent wave' motor for autofocusing the lens, it's much faster than a non 'S' lens and quieter so it's preferrable. It's not as big of an advantage on shorter primes so you don't see it on things like a 50mm, etc.
'DX' means that the lens was specifically designed for digital SLRs and the projected image onto the chip (which is smaller than a 35mm negative) might not fill an entire 35mm frame if you were to use it on a film body. It's also supposed to mean that the lens has less distortion at those edges since 17mm in old days meant a really distorted wide angle but now it's an everyday item in the digital world given the FOV crop factor.
The focal length of the lens, whether it is DX or not is consistent across the line though - in other words, they don't convert the focal length just because it's DX...you still have to know that an 18mm lens is going to give you a 27mm field of view on your Nikon DSLR (since all Nikon DSLRs have 1.5x crop factor). Hence, the 24-120 on a D70 would look similarly to a 36-180
Which lens? Lots of opinions here but I like the 18-70's range. You might miss having the wide angle ability if you get the 24-120. Also nice because it's hard to find if you don't buy it in the kit--now is your opportunity to get this lens. If you can afford fixed aperture, the 17-55 f/2.8 gets rave reviews.
-Tim
www.imagefactoryphotography.com
On Feb 2, 2005, at 10:10 PM, LScottPht@xxxxxxx wrote:
<x-tad-bigger>What does it mean AF-D lense? Obviously it is autofocus, but is the D compatible for digital? What I am trying to say is that, for example, a Nikon 24-120VR AF-D lense, would it be a true 24mm on a digital camera? I am trying to figure out exactly what type of lense is made for digital cameras and is actually what is says on the lense, i.e. 17mm actually being 17mm. Also, is that lense, the 24-120 a good lense or should I go with the 18-70 Nikkor AF-S DX lense that comes with the camera? Neither one has a fixed aperture setting.</x-tad-bigger>
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<x-tad-bigger>Leslie</x-tad-bigger>
