Nikon announce plans to develop a new F-Mount lens

Nikon have announced plans to develop a new F-Mount autofocus DX-Nikkor interchangeable lens category that will be dedicated to Nikon D-Series digital SLR models and designed to address the market's need for wider angle-of-view high-performance optics for digital SLR photography. The DX Nikkor lenses will be designed to operate exclusively with Nikon D-Series digital SLR cameras to enable a combination of wider angle-of-view with optical characteristics that are optimized for Nikon digital SLR camera sensors.

The DX Nikkor 12-24mm f/4G lens, the first lens designed exclusively for the Nikon D-series digital SLR cameras, will be compact and lightweight and will have a wider angle-of-view designed for digital SLR photography.

The lens will incorporate Nikon advanced technology features including Nikon Super Integrated Coating, Silent Wave Motor Technology (SWM), Extra Low Dispersion Optical Glass (ED) and a G-Type design for compatibility with each camera model's built-in Command Dial aperture control. The lens' 12-24mm Zoom focal length range will provide a 2X Zoom ratio and variable angle-of-view from 61o at 24mm to 99 o at 12mm. This range of angle-of-view is comparable to that of an 18-36mm lens on the 35mm format. Nikon designers determined that by reducing the diameter of the lens' Image Circle (the image that it projects on the sensor), that a lens of practical size and excellent performance could be developed.

Using the reduced-size Image Circle as the starting point, the lens will also incorporate Nikon's high-performance Super Integrated Coating for superior color reproduction and minimized ghost and flare, and will also feature newly developed compact Silent Wave Motor technology, making the SWM auto focus fast and virtually silent, complimenting the System's overall operation. To ensure excellent optical performance the new optical design also includes Extra-Low Dispersion (ED) glass to control chromatic aberrations, aspheric optics to enable a more compact optical design, and internal focusing to maintain superior handling, all to optimize the lens for Nikon's digital sensor format, and making the lens with a smaller diameter, lighter weight and surpassing image quality from center-to edge-to-corner on the image.

This DX Nikkor wide-angle optic has the shortest available focal length of 12mm, and has been optimized for the Nikon Digital Sensor Format. With the G-type Nikkor, DX Nikkor optic's lens aperture control is accomplished exclusively with each Nikon Digital SLR model's built-in Command Dial aperture control. Compatible Nikon models include all current Nikon Digital SLR cameras (D1X, D1H and D100) and the original Nikon D1, the first among the D-Series cameras. While the DX Nikkor lenses will incorporate the Nikon F-Mount, its optical design is specifically for use with a Nikon Digital Sensor and therefore is not designed for use with cameras that incorporate the Nikon F lens mount and either a larger digital sensor or 35mm film. More detailed specifications about the DX Nikkor 12-24 f/4G lens will be available in Spring 2003.

All Nikon D-Series digital SLR camera models will continue to accept all autofocus Nikkor and many manual focusing Nikkor optics, as well as the DX Nikkor currently under development. All Nikon digital SLR models are extensively compatible within the Nikon Total Imaging System family of products, and feature a wide selection of Nikkor optics, Speedlights, Close- up, Remote and many other optional accessories