AF-D; "D Type," 1995
Another very subtle improvement you may safely ignore.
These lenses supposedly let the camera know the distance at which the lens is focused.
In very rare instances supposedly it helps the matrix meter, especially with flash, determine the exposure more accurately.
AF-D work the same as AF lenses, even in difficult flash situations. The only difference I could see was if I had a backilt shot with an object in the foreground. If you focus on the foregrond the image attempts to expose the flash fo rthe forgreound object, and if you focus on the background, the forground object becomes too light
The only improvement is if you want to photograph straight into mirrors. Without a D lens you'll get underexposure because the image of the flash in the mirror fools the meter into underexposure. With D lenses you'll get a properly exposed image of a bright flash. I've expended film on this foolishness so you don't have to.
I ignore this feature, so you can too. If you are buying used lenses you can get the earlier non-D versions cheaper. Don't worry here.
In fact, the instruction manual of the 105mm f/2.8D AF Micro-Nikkor cautions that the D feature of the lens can lead to the WRONG EXPOSURE unless you keep your flashes at the same distance from the subject as the film, which is a real obstacle to creativity.
There are a couple of ways to signify a "D" lens: Nikon usually marks its lenses as "50mm f/1.4D AF" as opposed to "50mm f/1.4 AF-D," but it all means the same thing.
Most AF-D lenses are AF and AI-s, and work great on manual focus cameras. You'll need to have a coupling prong added for use with the meter on ancient pre-AI cameras.
Focusing speed has nothing to do with whether or not a lens is D. Of course newer lenses are D and newer lenses tend to focus more quickly, but the focus speed is determined by the gearing between the AF coupler and the focus ring, not the D feature.
All the newest AF lenses, even AF-S are also D. Nikon doesn't bother ot mark it anymore. |