Introduction
Nikon Corporation showed a prototype auto focus lens at the 1971 Phot-expo in Chicago (USA). It was a huge, nearly 3 kilo weighting lens with a focal length of 80 mm. at a full aperture of f/4.5. It was impossible to use it for handheld photography but Nikon wanted to show that it didn´t neglect modern camera and lens technology. Fellow camera and lens manufacturers were developing AF-systems. In particular Canon and Minolta were speeding up developments with auto focus compact cameras, followed by their first single lens reflex cameras with auto focus and built-in motor drives.
Nikon introduced a Nikon F3-AF with two AF-lenses (2.8/80 mm. & 3.5/200 mm.) in April 1983. This expensive set didn´t become a great success. In 1986 The Nikon F-501 was Nikon´s first real AF-SLR. Of course AF-lenses had to be available too. Nikon secretly developed various lenses: by the end of 1986 twelve different AF-lenses were introduced!! From that year on the advance of the AF-lens was unstoppable. To date more then 100 different versions of AF-lenses has been produced. In the early 1990´s - less than 10 years after the introduction of the first range of AF-Nikkor lenses - sales of AF-lenses surpassed the sales of manual focus lenses. A few years ago Nikon stopped producing manual focus lenses; only a few are still in production, some on special request only.
Nikon has produced a wide range of AF-lenses; every year several new varieties and versions are introduced. Despite the variety of lenses all lenses fit nearly all SLR-cameras Nikon ever produced. All lenses have the famous F-mount, although their focus may differ. Nikon made special AF-lenses to fit the modern digital SLR´s with half frame (in comparison to 35mm. photography) sensor (DX), full frame (FX) digital SLR, APS cameras and even a Nikonos camera (Nikonos RS with its own lens mount). Mounting a ´normal´ (35mm. film) AF-lens on a APS- or DX-camera a crop factor has to be considered. (If 35mm. film = 1, APS = 0.8 X; DX = 1.525 X).
Full details on technical specifications of all Nikkor lenses may be found on this web site, created and managed by Roland Vink , Auckland, New Zealand
Reviews of various lenses by Nico van Dijk will be uploaded soon.
Stay tuned!