Ahead of the 2016 PhotoPlus Expo in New York City, Nikon announced a pair of full-frame (FX) lenses, the PC Nikkor 19mm F/4E E ED and Nikkor 70-200mm F/2.8E FL ED – both targeting professional photographers.
The 19mm F/4E ED is part of Nikon’s PC, or Perspective Control, line of lenses, and allows the photographer to change the focal plane (tilt and shift) of their images for creative focus. The new lens is also Nikon’s widest PC lens to date and should be a great option for professional landscape, interior, architectural, and product photographers. Unique is the capability of adjusting the tilt and shift in opposite directions, allowing you to separate the two. Constructed with three ED and two aspherical elements, the lens has Nikon’s Nano Crystal coating to reduce flares, ghosts, and other distortions, which Nikon says is even more important with this particular glass due to the bulbous design that extends outside the casing. The lens comes with a hood that does not impede on the 97-degree angle-of-view, but still blocks out the sun when needed. It uses Nikon’s electromagnetic diaphragm for high accuracy during auto exposure, but it’s entirely manual focus.
The more versatile of the two announcements is Nikon’s update to its incredibly popular 70-200mm f/2.8 lenses. The 70-200mm focal range is one of the most sought after and used across various niches of photography, from sports and wildlife to portraits and landscapes. This is a lens that should get professional Nikon photographers’ mouths watering.
This update to the existing 70-200mm Nikkor includes what Nikon says is the 4-stop Vibration Reduction (VR) image stabilization. This should make capturing crisp and sharp images when handheld even easier, even in low light (so long as your desired subject is not moving). Construction consists of six ED elements, one high refractive (HRI) element, and Nano Crystal coating.
Additionally, Nikon’s Silent Wave Motor will allow for some the fastest and quietest autofocus capabilities in the Nikon lineup. This new 70-200mm also includes fluorite coating, which makes its front element resistant to dust and water – meaning, less time stopping to clean your lens while out in the field – as well as making the body lighter. Indeed, Nikon weather-sealed (nine points throughout the lens) the rest of the lens as much as possible, as it’s expected to be used and abused in the best and worst shooting conditions.
There are four autofocus locks surrounding the lens. With the D5, D500, D4S, and D810 DSLRs, the user can program buttons to do different specialty functions like locking focus and setting preset focus points. It has a minimum focusing distance of 1.1 meters (versus the previous lens’ 1.4 meters). Nikon also swapped the location of the focusing and zoom rings due to user feedback from pro photographers.
The new lenses follow Nikon’s announcement during Photokina that it recently sold 100 million Nikkor lenses. Both lenses are slated for a November 2016 release, with with the 70-200mm retailing for $2,800, and the 19mm PC retailing for $3,400. More information can be found over on Nikon’s website.
