A Guide to Nikon’s Lens Abbreviations
Updated October 21, 2024 | Jonathan Jacoby
Santa Cruz, CA – PetaPixel has published a helpful guide to Nikon’s lens abbreviations from 1959 to today, from F to Z mounts.
Excerpt:
Few lens makers can claim a lineup as huge and diverse as Nikon’s. Its legendary F-mount for film-based and digital SLRs has been in continuous production since 1959, along with the newer Z-mount specifically for mirrorless cameras that launched in 2018.
The appeal of the Nikon system is obvious: by allowing the interchangeability of optical designs produced across eight decades, the Nikon photographer has unprecedented freedom in choosing the best lens for their craft.
There’s only one problem. In order to maintain the cohesive identity of the F-mount, Nikon has altered the designs of its countless lenses over the years to add – and sometimes to remove – certain features. This means that, while nearly every F-mount lens works on nearly every F-mount camera (more on the pesky exceptions in a bit), which features you get with which gear are not always self-evident.
The complicated lens designations that feature on the barrel of all Nikon glass, including more recent Z lenses, are meant to mitigate this problem. However, due to poor documentation and the sheer wealth of codes and abbreviations formed over the years, plenty of photographers find them more confusing than helpful.
If that includes you, you’ve come to the right place. Let’s demystify Nikon’s lens system, once and for all! Whether you’re trying to date your newly acquired Nikon glass or just wish to know what features are hiding beneath those embossed letters, the following guide should answer all your questions about Nikon’s dizzying lens base.