Gear Talk > Lens Talk

The reason Nikon is moving to E?

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stenrasmussen:
Had a chat with my dealer (Pro) and we briefly discussed the E-lenses. He said that the D4 has been plagued with the aperture lever being "worn out". I guess this is almost to be expected given the high frame rates these cameras can do.
Any thoughts/experiences out there?

Bjørn Rørslett:
Well, provided you accept some noise during the stop-down operation, it is unlikely the camera wears out the stopping-down lever on its own. The problem is more of accuracy and precision, which for an AI lens is acceptable no matter what wear the lever sees, but can be more troublesome for G-type lenses mainly due to timing issues. The E technology puts the critical step inside the lens aperture, but as the spring force acting on the blades there is very strong and blades are very thin and light-weight, timing issues should be greatly reduced. 'E' is also beneficial for any design with long pathways between aperture unit and the camera, such as long telephoto lenses.

Jan Anne:
I for one am very glad with the move to E, should make an electronic Nikon to Sony adapter so much easier without worrying about working the aperture lever.

Bjørn Rørslett:
It is true going to 'E' makes life easier for Nikon - in some areas. However, there are massive compatibility issues, camera will need to deliver power to the lens otherwise it will be defunct, and a lot of the not-so-usual-ways of putting lenses to their capturing tasks will be impossible or at least quite difficult. So no free lunch.

stenrasmussen:
Compatibility considerations do keep Nikon on a tighter leash than the rest of the industry. But new is not always better...I am in the process of comparing the new 35/1.8G FX to the 35/1.4 Ai-S and at equal f-stops there is not much of a difference IQ wise. In fact I dare say the old one beats the new one in central sharpness. Adavantage to the G seems to be AF only.

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