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.
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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.