Nikon 16-80mm f/2.8-4E ED VR
A new general purpose DX lens is coming from Nikon as we predicted before. The 80mm long (telephoto) end of the lens has an f/4 aperture, not f/3.5 as was rumored before. The f/3.5 would be better of course, but the f/4 is also 1 stops better than the earlier version, which has a f/5.6 brightness.
The new lens has electronically controlled aperture, which said to be more precise.
The lens has a 37 cm (1.21′) close focus distance in the whole focal length range. This is similar to the earlier model, the difference is only 1 cm. The filter size is 72mm for the new lens. The new lens has nanon christal coat as well, mostly used on expensive lenses by Nikon.
The lens has 4(!) Ed elements which seems many for a lens, but very useful creating high image quality, Canon many times not even put 1 Ed elements in many lenses.
The price of the new lens is 1070 USD.
Nikon 16-80mm f/2.8-4E ED VR specifications
We show the datas of the earlier version as well for easy comparison.
Item |
Nikon 16-80mm f/2.8-4E ED VR |
Nikon 16-85mm f/3.5-5.6 ED VR (earlier version) |
Mount: |
Nikon F mount | Nikon F mount |
Filter size: |
72 mm | 67 mm |
Lens elements / groups: |
17 elements / 13 groups | 17 elements / 11 groups |
Exotic Lens elements: |
4 ED and 3 aspherical elements | 2 Ed and 3 aspherial elements |
Weight: |
480 g ( 1.06 lbs. ) | 485g (17.1 oz.) |
Dimensions: |
80 x 86 mm (3.15 x 3.37 ” ) | 72 x 85 mm ( 2.83 x 3.35 ” ) |
Close focus distance: |
0.37 m ( ‘) | 0.38 m ( ‘) |
Autofocus: |
yes Ultrasonic | yes Ultrasonic |
Stabilizer: |
yes 4 stops | yes 4 stops |
Front element rotates: |
No | No |
Moving barrel elements during focusing: |
No | No |
Focus preset modes: |
No | No |
Switches: |
Af-Mf, Stabilizer on-off | Af-Mf, Stabilizer on-off, Stabilizer normal-active |
Lens Mount: |
Metal | Metal |
Format: |
DX | DX |
Reproduction ratio: |
0.22x | 0.22x |
Aperture blades: |
7 rounded diaphragm blades | 7 rounded diaphragm blades |
Distance scale: |
yes | yes |
Manual focus override: |
yes | yes |
Focal length: |
16-80 mm | 16-85mm |
Max Aperture: |
f/2.8 (wide end)-f/4(long end) | f/3.5(wide end) – 5.6(telephoto) |
Min Aperture: |
f/22-f/32 | f/22-f/36 |
Angle of view: |
83-20° (DX) | 83-18° 50′ |
FTM (Manual focus override): |
yes | yes |
Focus limiter: |
No | No |
Tripod mount ring: |
No | No |
Lens hood: |
yes | yes |
Accessories: |
yes | yes |
Tilt / shift: |
No | No |
The price seems little high now without knowing the lens capabilities. I personally would like the lens to be f/3.5 at the long end to create more artistic blur and has more usability in lower light circumstances. The price will be lower in short term I think, as usual half a year a something like that.
Nikon 16-80mm release date
The new lens predicted to be on the selves of the stores by July 2015.