Two new Nikkors, previously leaked, were announced today by press release by Nikon, along with the expected news that Nikon has now produced over 70 million lenses.
New lenses first:
- DX users will be looking closely at the 18-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR. This superzoom is a largish (almost 5" long) and heavy (almost two pounds) "travel" or "all-in-one" lens that will list for US$1000 and probably take over the one-lens solution from the previous 18-200mm for most people. Nikon's marketing materials call the new lens "surprisingly compact and lightweight," but it's nearly 10 ounces heavier than the 18-200mm and uses 77mm filters. Better like having four pounds hanging from your neck (camera and lens).
- FX users get the new 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5G ED VR. This finally gives the FX user a smallish (3.2" long, one pound weight) mid-range zoom with VR. Nikon's marketing department calls this one "advanced and versatile." Advanced at what isn't explained. This US$600 lens, like the existing 28-300mm, doesn't seem to have a clear home camera at present. Nikon's published MTF ratings-- especially at 24mm--don't show it to be a strong enough performer on something like the D800, and it also seems to be a mismatch to the D4 crowd, so it appears that Nikon is getting a head start on lenses for the rumored D600 to appear this fall.
In the 70m lens announcement there were other tidbits of interest: 30 million AF-S lenses have been produced, for example. We're getting close to the point where over half the existing Nikkors will have internal focus motors. We now have 58 different models that have internal focus motors.
For those interested in the nuances of press releases, I note that Nikon managed to mention the D4, D800, and Nikon 1 models in passing, but didn't mention any DX camera by name. This continued DX neglect--new lens notwithstanding--is causing paranoia in the Nikon user community, where the current speculation seems to believe that Nikon will drop at least one DX camera soon and the very paranoid think Nikon will drop DX entirely.
Take a chill pill, people. DX isn't going anywhere. The Thailand floods certainly caused Nikon a bit of a scramble as far as DX is concerned (all models are made at their plant there, which was flooded for almost three months last year and required a complete floor to ceiling re-do).