Nikon® D200 Digital Field Guide

Chapter 5. All About Lenses

In This Chapter

• Expanding your lens options

• Choosing between zoom or fixed-focal-length lenses

• Lens compatibility

• Decoding Nikon's lens code

• Applying the lens multiplier factor to your picture

• Wide-angle lenses

• Telephoto lenses

• Normal lenses

• Macro lenses

• Reducing vibration

• Extending the range of any lens with a teleconverter

Although the Nikon D200 is called a single lens reflex (SLR), that doesn't mean you're limited to a single lens! In fact, the ability to swap out one set of optics for another is one of the two or three top reasons for switching from a non-SLR digital shooter to a camera like the Nikon D200. Lenses give you extra flexibility and give your picture-taking possibilities a boost. Add-on lenses are arguably the number-one expansion option available for your camera.

This chapter covers everything you need to know about choosing and using the best lens for the job.

Expanding Your Lens Options

Many photographers purchase D200 cameras without lenses, because they plan to use the cameras with sets of optics they already own. See if any of these scenarios fits you:

• If you don't already own a Nikon SLR and lenses, you might have purchased your D200 with an interchangeable lens. If so, odds are good that you bought a multipurpose lens such as the 18–70mm f/3.5–4.5G ED-IF AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor (often called the kit lens, because it is furnished in the basic kit package offered for the Nikon D200).

• If you wanted to splurge, you might have purchased the 18–200mm f/3.5–5.6G ...