AF P Nikkor 10-20 4.5-5.6 G DX VR

The refurb referenced above arrived this afternoon from B&H - all beautifully packed the lens and accessories in various layers of Nikon labeled packing in a plain brown box. This is a small, light lens, just a touch longer than the 18-55 kit lens, taking a 72 rather than a 52mm filter. Previous to this, the widest capability I have had has been 18mm. Took it out on the afternoon dog walk and tried it out. Had to laugh, I took 36 pictures exactly. Very pleased with the purchase, a useful addition. With the D 7200 and the two kit lenses, it will make a very compact lightweight outfit for casual shooting. A few Samples attached.

Unless Nikon has come up with a firmware update (and I believe they have not) you cannot turn off VR on that lens from your D7200.

 

I recommended the same lens to a friend when he purchased a new camera set a while ago - he also ended up with a D7200 instead of a D7500 (for his trip the ability to have in-camera backup via the 2nd card slot was deemed necessary).

 

In two days, my wife will have to make the decision between the Tokina 11-20/2.8 and the Tamron 10-24/3.5-4.5 VC. And I'll be playing with the used Nikon 20/1.8 I picked up from the local camera store a few days ago.

Good luck / have fun with your new lenses. As to VR, many more years without than with it. For my usage on this lens, probably won't be important. I really like the compactness.

Well Sandy, on that lens and with that camera you will now always be WITH VR. Might only be problematic if you shoot from a tripod though.

The D7200 with a firmware upgrade is supposed to be compatible with the AF-P lenses, which do not have a physical switch for the VR.

I have not upgraded the firmware in my D7200, so I cannot verify this.

 

Though I frankly think that is a DUMB idea, to force the user into the menu to turn VR on/off.

I guess they think it will happen so infrequently, that going into the menu to do it would be OK.

And it reduces the cost of the lens by eliminating the VR switch.

Edited June 27, 2018 by Gary Naka

WOW Sandy,

That is a great price for an ultra-wide.

The D7200 with a firmware upgrade is supposed to be compatible with the AF-P lenses, which do not have a physical switch for the VR.

No indication for this on the Nikon website for the D7200 firmware (or the D7100 for that matter): Nikon | Download center | D7200 - despite the fact that there is a relatively recent release (June 7, 2018).

The fix for not remembering the focal position when the camera goes into standby is there - the VR on/off menu option not.

It took a while, but I found it.

https://www.nikonimgsupport.com/ni/NI_article?lang=en_US&articleNo=000042146

 

So the D7200 with firmware 1.03 is compatible with the AF-P lens with the 2 exceptions.

Similar for D7100 with firmware 1.04

 

This confirms what Dieter said, VR cannot be turned off.

 

The 2nd sentence concerns me, does that me you CANNOT manually focus the lens? The wording should be better.

 

I'm at 1.01 on my D7200, so I am 2 versions behind.

Downloaded the instructions for the lens last evening but could not print - for some reason my printer kicked out blank paper instead. Will fool with it this morning. Depth of focus on these wide lenses is very deep. Setting the camera to manual focus enables use of the front ring to focus. Strange feeling though, since the ring will turn in either direction without a stop. More later.

Though I frankly think that is a DUMB idea, to force the user into the menu to turn VR on/off.

I guess they think it will happen so infrequently, that going into the menu to do it would be OK.

And it reduces the cost of the lens by eliminating the VR switch.

Right, I believe not including the VR on/off switch is a cost-reduction move on inexpensive lenses.

A couple of reviews.

Nikon 10-20mm f/4.5-5.6 DX VR AF-P Review - Optics, Focusing and VR (Page 2 of 6)

https://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/10-20mm.htm

Downloaded the instructions for the lens last evening but could not print - for some reason my printer kicked out blank paper instead. Will fool with it this morning. Depth of focus on these wide lenses is very deep. Setting the camera to manual focus enables use of the front ring to focus. Strange feeling though, since the ring will turn in either direction without a stop. More later.

 

So you can manually focus the lens. I wonder what Nikon meant by:

So you can manually focus the lens.

Yup! I also tried it on the D 750 - it functions as an ultrawide as well. i will post a sample later today.

I wonder what Nikon meant by:

No Manual Focus Ring in AF Mode option in Menu.

Haven't a clue - no apparent menu options, just the AF / M switch on the camera body.

No Manual Focus Ring in AF Mode option in Menu.

Probably means that you can't simply turn the focus ring like you can on most AF-S lenses while camera and lens are in AF mode. Not a feature I personally would miss a lot as I hardly ever need to interfere with the AF operation. Good to know that setting the camera to MF enables manual focusing of the lens - until know I wasn't sure if that was indeed the case.

The big deal to me is how tiny & light the lens is - here it is on the D 7200 next to the 18-35 - in itself, not an unacceptably large or heavy lens.

Probably means that you can't simply turn the focus ring like you can on most AF-S lenses while camera and lens are in AF mode. Not a feature I personally would miss a lot as I hardly ever need to interfere with the AF operation. Good to know that setting the camera to MF enables manual focusing of the lens - until know I wasn't sure if that was indeed the case.

 

I believe the idea was that a "true" AF-S lens allows a manual tweaking of the focus while in AF mode in the event that the user thinks AF isn't doing what they want. However, all AF-S lenses are/were not "true"AF-S in that sense, and did not allow manual override of focus while in AF mode. IIRC, it's the less expensive AF-S lenses that don't allow it.

 

Please tell me why Nikon did not throw in a VR off function with the latest 70-300 AF-P lens FW update. :o(

WOW Sandy,

That is a great price for an ultra-wide.

I didn't see the price, what was it?

I didn't see the price, what was it?

Lens $249 landed. I did have a credit and bought a pair of SDHC cards at the same time, so total bill a bit more.

Lens $249 landed. I did have a credit and bought a pair of SDHC cards at the same time, so total bill a bit more.

 

 

How does it respond to 24 MP bodies? I have always liked my 12-24 f/4 DX but it's weak on 24 MP bodies.

Three fast snaps unaltered ex resized - D 750. 20, 14 and 10.

Thanks.

I've been off the radar for a while, in Svalbard communing with the polar critters, but do report that the lens in question works quite nicely on a D7100. I took it along even though most of what I needed was a better telephoto (the 55-300DX not only is less than superb, but the AF conks out when it gets too cold!). It works nicely, and although I'd have liked the ability to turn off VR, I don't mind so much since this is likely to be a hand-held traveling lens anyway. It's feather-light and the focus is quick and silent.