Lens Question

[almo]

Ok you Nikon lovers, I have been wondering something for a while now and It's just been bugging me a lot lately. As a Canon user it is a pretty simple thing for me to tell the difference between Canon's top of the line glass and the lesser stuff. We have the L and the red ring. Sure there are a number of lenses that are L quality or very close that are not L branded, but being a Canon guy that is a matter of inside knowledge.

What I am not so sure about is what exactly is Nikons "L" Line? There doesn't seem to be any real distinguishing marks there. Clue a curious Canon user in please...

[Franglais]

It's subtle. There is a thin gold ring just behind the front of the lens on the top-of-the-line Nikon zoom lenses. I don't belive they'd done it on the primes.

Nikon don't make a big deal about it. On the cameras the "performance" mark is the red triangle on the grip but all the DSLR's since the D70 have had it

[Axle]

Yep, the gold ring is often accompanied by the ED letters on the lens, for Extra-low Dispersion.

[almo]

Thanks guys!

I was looking at some Nikkor lenses the other day, and trying to figure out which were the top of thr range. I like how Canon has made it very clear, on the other hand in some instances it is a bit too clear. I have had more than one noob stop me so they can drool over my L glass.

[Franglais]

Why do you need to distinguish the top of the range?

I have some gold ring lenses but I don't use them very much. They're big, heavy and expensive and I don't need f2.8 that often. . Most of the time I use the intermediary lenses. I get almost the same results with less effort.

[Frog]

We Nikonians don't need any artificial designation as all Nikon lenses are of top quality.:thumbsup:

That or we look at the price tag.

[Franglais]

We Nikonians don't need any artificial designation as all Nikon lenses are of top quality.:thumbsup:

That or we look at the price tag.

I see what you mean - especially the price tag part - but I don't think it's quite that simple:

- I have the impression that the minimum quality standards for Nikon lenses are pretty high, and that includes consumer lenses. For me, currently there is only one real lemon in the Nikon lens range which I would definitely not want to own - and I don't believe that any of the regular contributors have one (so don't ask me to name it).
- I think that there is a subtle difference with the "gold ring lenses" - the equivalent of the Canon L series. It doesn't come out in tests, but I find they have something extra in the coulour and contrast. I have three of them which are now 10 years old. The latest generation - like the 24-70 f2.8 - has fabulous test results. However I'm not about to buy one. The range of focal lengths is perfect for a 24x36 FX sensor but as a humble amateur I'm sticking with the smaller sensor.