Nikon 18-55mm/f3.5-5.6 DX, G vs. G II?

I have in front of me two Nikon ED 18-55 1:35-5.6 zoom lenses. On the front of

one lens, the designation is followed by a capital letter "G" while the other is

followed by "G II" (that's a roman number 2). The G model was purchased about

three months before the G II.

 

The lenses are virtually the same in every other visible way, except the barrel

has a different rubber grip on the focusing mount (narrower on the G II).

 

Nikon USA says there is no difference. Anyone know more?

There are actually three versions of the 18-55mm/f3.5-5.6 AF-S lens. They are all G (no aperture ring) and DX (small image circle).

 

As far as I know, Nikon made a small change to the AF motor in the II (2nd) version; some people actually think the new motor is a downgrade. The 3rd version has VR.

Let me correct myself. It's the zoom grip, not the focusing grip, that is narrower. Sorry.

no optical difference in these two models!

And the fact there was no upgrade to the optics is too bad since its performance is very lacking.

Objective measurements on www.photozone.de show the 18-55 to have less distortion and vignetting than the 18-70, the resolution being much the same with the CA a bit worse.

 

While Bjorn Rorslett finds the resolution of the 17-55 f/2.8 to be better he finds that the 18-55 has far lower flare - not unexpected with far fewer glass-air surfaces.

 

On these pages Elliot Bernstein compared the 18-55 on a D40 with the 17-55 on a D200, inviting people to identify which was which. As far as I remember no one got it right!

 

The autofocus may be slow and the mount may be plastic but if these things don't matter to you so what!

As prior posters have said, there is no practical difference between these lenses. They are optically identical, and perform quite well for their price point, and even one slightly higher.

 

The G II version was, IIRC, brought out with the D40 as a replacement for the original version with the D50.

 

The D60 ships with the VR version instead, the optics of which I am unsure about. It appears though that Nikon have left ED glass off the list for it.

Thanks for your answers. I must admit that I'm a trog on the subject of zooms. I've never liked them: too slow, too many non-amusing types of distortion and vignetting, so I'm always looking for one that's a wee bit better. Trouble is they are damned convenient, and carrying around a bag full of fixed focal length lenses is so 1960s (which is when I first got into photography).

I've had all three versions of the 18-55. Ver1 I got with my D80, Ver2 I got with the D40, and I sold both of these and recently picked up an 18-55VR. The only difference between Ver1 & 2 is that the rubber grip on the zoom ring of Ver2 is a bit narrower, but the overall design is more aesthetically pleasing. No idea about any differences in the AF motor. And Ver3 has VR, but no ED glass. I don't really think ED glass was ever a big deal for this lens anyways, but more for marketing. They can talk about VR now, so don't need ED glass :-). Ver1 & 2 gave me tons of great photos. I haven't shot with the VR version all that much yet, but I did compare it to my 17-55DX f/2.8 on my D80, and stopped down at f/8 for daylight shooting I couldn't tell any difference either! Actually the 18-55 shot looked sharper in the corners, but I think that may have been due to some wind blurring the 17-55 shot a bit more. Who knows though. I use my 17-55 for other things though. It's not needed for daylight shooting, and walking around cities at night the VR on the 18-55 is good enough that it makes up for its lack of speed vs an f/2.8 as well. That's good, because if I make a wrong turn and get mugged, I'd rather have some theives run off with an 18-55 than my 17-55! ;-)

<p>I had both and I decided to check the autofocus speed on them. I noticed the older version actually has faster autofocus speed and somewhat quiter. One came with a D40 and the other I had bought on CL. I decided to sell the GII version. Thom Hogan in his web site says the version II has faster and more accurate focusing, but I doubt he has done any testing on them.<br>

I believe the version II is a cheaper production vs the previous version. Just to keep the prices of the D40 lower.</p>