{"id":263,"date":"2006-10-05T20:37:36","date_gmt":"2006-10-05T11:37:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2006-10-05\/263"},"modified":"2007-12-18T23:48:28","modified_gmt":"2007-12-18T14:48:28","slug":"maximum-aperture-of-the-nikon-18-200mm-throughout-its-zoom-range","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2006-10-05\/263","title":{"rendered":"Maximum Aperture of the Nikon 18-200mm Throughout its Zoom Range"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n<!--TECH-->\n<div class=\"robots-nocontent\" style=\"border: 2px solid #FF8080;\n            float: right;\n            padding: 0 1em 1em 1em;\n            margin: 10px 0 1em 1em;\n            display: inline;\">\n<p style='white-space: nowrap'><b>My Tech-Related Photography Posts<\/b><\/p>\n<ul style='margin:0; font-size:80%'>\n  <li><a href='\/blog\/lightroom-goodies\/ipad-howto2'>My Lightroom-to-iPad Workflow<\/a><\/li>\n  <li><a href='\/blog\/lightroom-goodies\/'>Lightroom Goodies<\/a> (lots of plugins)<\/li>\n  <li><a href='\/blog\/photo-tech\/color-spaces-page1\/'>Digital Image Color Spaces<\/a><\/li>\n  <li><a href='\/blog\/other-writings\/online-exif-image-data-viewer\/'>Online Exif (Image Data) Viewer<\/a><\/li>\n  <li><a href='\/blog\/photo-tech\/focus-chart\/'>Jeffrey's Autofocus Test Chart<\/a><\/li>\n  <li><a href='\/blog\/photo-tech\/calendar\/'>Photoshop Calendar-Template-Building Script<\/a><\/li>\n  <li><a href='\/blog\/lightroom-goodies\/ipad-howto'>How to Prepare Photos for an iPad<\/a><\/li>\n  <li><a href='\/blog\/photo-tech\/nef-compression\/'>A Qualitative Analysis of NEF Compression<\/a><\/li>\n  <li><a href='\/blog\/2007-08-24\/554'>Tripod Stability Tests<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style='font-size:85%; margin:10px 0 0 0'><a href=\"\/blog\/photo-tech\/\">more<\/a>...<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<!--\/TECH-->\n\n<p>\n\nThe only lens I own for my <a\nhref=\"\/blog\/2006-01-10\/130\">Nikon D200<\/a> is <span class='nobr'>a Nikon<\/span>\n&#8220;<b>AF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkor ED 18-200m F3.5-5.6G(IF)<\/b>,&#8221; also\nknown as &#8220;the 18-200mm.&#8221;\n\n<\/p><p>\n\nI really love it as a fantastic all-around lens, but at f\/3.5-5.6, <span class='nobr'>I find that<\/span> it is sometimes <span class='nobr'>a bit<\/span> slow (that is, it doesn't let in enough light\nfor me to use <span class='nobr'>a fast<\/span>-enough shutter speed). So, I've been thinking of\ngetting <span class='nobr'>a faster<\/span> (allows in more light) lens for use in lower-light\nsituations.\n\n<\/p><p>\n\nBecause of its &#8220;18-200mm f\/3.5-5.6&#8221; name, <span class='nobr'>I know that<\/span> my lens\nis f\/3.5 at 18mm, and f\/5.6 at 200mm, but what is it in between? Without\nknowing, it's hard to compare how much faster <span class='nobr'>a different<\/span> lens might be.\nFor example, how much faster is Nikon's f\/1.4 50mm lens than the 18-200mm\nat 50mm?\n\n<\/p><p>\n\nSo, <span class='nobr'>I set the<\/span> camera to wide open and turned on the high-speed continuous\ndrive, and held down the shutter while sweeping the lens through its full\nrange of focal lengths. <span class='nobr'>I then plucked<\/span> the data from the MakerNotes in each\nimage and plotted it.\n\n<\/p>\n\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/Nikkor_18-200.gif\" width=\"663\" height=\"378\"\nalt=\"This file shows the\nlargest aperture that the Nikon DX 18-200mm can do at various points along\nits zoom range. Although the zoom is continuous and smooth, the\nExif\/MakerNotes data shows only discrete focal lengths. Those in the graph\n&gt;= 95 are the focal lengths that the MakerNotes is able to show. The Exif\ndata is slightly different than the MakerNotes data: the f-stop is usually\n0.1 lower and the focal length is rounded nicely with the with the Exif\ndata. Created by Jeffrey Friedl with his 18-200 and a Nikon D200.\"\nclass=\"img_center\"\nid=\"i18_200\"\nstyle=\"padding: 10px 0px; border: 0px\"\ntitle=\"This file shows the\nlargest aperture that the Nikon DX 18-200mm can do at various points along\nits zoom range. Although the zoom is continuous and smooth, the\nExif\/MakerNotes data shows only discrete focal lengths. Those in the graph\n&gt;= 95 are the focal lengths that the MakerNotes is able to show. The Exif\ndata is slightly different than the MakerNotes data: the f-stop is usually\n0.1 lower and the focal length is rounded nicely with the with the Exif\ndata. Created by Jeffrey Friedl with his 18-200 and a Nikon D200.\"\/>\n\n<p>\n\nI see that the 18-200mm is f\/4.6 at 50mm, which is just about <sup>1<\/sup>\/<sub>3<\/sub><sup>rd<\/sup> stop\nslower than f\/4.0 (which is 3 stops slower than f\/1.4 &mdash; if you need\nthem, here are <a href=\"http:\/\/www.uscoles.com\/fstop.htm\">two<\/a> <a\nhref=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/F-number\">primers<\/a> on f-stops).\n\n<\/p><p>\n\nSo, compared to the 50mm f\/1.4, my lens is 3<sup>1<\/sup>\/<sub>3<\/sub>\nstops slower, which is <span class='nobr'>a lot.<\/span> That's the difference between <span class='nobr'>a shot<\/span> at\n<sup>1<\/sup>\/<sub>15<\/sub><sup>th<\/sup> of <span class='nobr'>a second,<\/span> in which even mild\nsubject movement is blurry, and one at <span class='nobr'>a much<\/span> more snappy\n<sup>1<\/sup>\/<sub>160<\/sub><sup>th<\/sup> of <span class='nobr'>a second.<\/span>\n\n<\/p><p>\n\nI'm thinking of something like Nikon's <b>17-55mm F2.8<\/b>, but can't see\nshelling out $2,000 for only a <sup>2<\/sup>\/<sub>3<\/sub><sup>rd<\/sup> gain\nat 18mm and a 1<sup>1<\/sup>\/<sub>3<\/sub><sup>rd<\/sup> gain at 55mm.\n\n<\/p><p>\n\nIsn't there at least an f\/2 (or better) in this range?\n\n<\/p><p>\n<b>UPDATE:<\/b> <span class='nobr'>I ended<\/span> up getting the <a href=\"\/blog\/2007-03-18\/398\">17-55 f\/2.8 and love it<\/a>.\n\n<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p><b>Technical Notes<\/b><\/p>\n\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/Nikkor_18-200_log.gif\" width=\"413\" height=\"288\"\nalign=\"right\"\nid=\"i18_200_log\"\/>\n\n<p>\nThe main graph above is logarithmic on its Y (f-stop) axis, and linear on its X (focal-length) axis.\nPerhaps not surprising, the plot appears as <span class='nobr'>a straight<\/span> line when the X axis is also logarithmic.\n<\/p><p>\nThe graph on the right shows the same data in <span class='nobr'>a log<\/span>\/log plot.\n\n<\/p><p style='margin-top: 50px'>\n\nDespite the 18-200mm's smooth zoom throughout its range, the Exif data and\nthe MakerNotes data have only <span class='nobr'>a limited<\/span> number of points along that range\nthat they'll report, and oddly, the two sets of data are slightly\ndifferent. I've shown the MakerNotes' data in the graphs.\n\n\n<\/p><p>\n\nThe full data from both are shown in the tables below.\n\n<\/p>\n\n<style type=\"text\/css\">\ntd.mm { border-left:  solid 1px #666; padding-left:  15px; padding-right: 5px ; padding-top: 4px; padding-bottom: 4px }\ntd.fs { border-right: solid 1px #666; padding-right: 15px; padding-left:  5px ; padding-top: 4px; padding-bottom: 4px }\n<\/style>\n\n<div style='margin-top:20px'>\n<center><b><span class='nobr'>Nikon 18<\/span>-200mm Minimum Aperture at Reportable Zoom Positions<\/b>\n<br\/>\nFrom the MakerNotes Data\n<br\/>\n<table cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' border='0' style='border: solid 1px #666'>\n<tr align='right'>\n  <td class='mm'>18.3mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/3.6<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>27.5mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/4.0<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>38.9mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/4.4<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>56.6mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/4.8<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>95.1mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/5.3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr align='right'>\n  <td class='mm'>20.0mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/3.6<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>28.3mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/4.0<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>40.0mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/4.4<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>59.9mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/4.9<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>106.8mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/5.5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr align='right'>\n  <td class='mm'>20.6mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/3.7<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>29.1mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/4.0<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>42.4mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/4.5<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>63.5mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/4.9<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>113.1mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/5.5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr align='right'>\n  <td class='mm'>21.8mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/3.7<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>30.8mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/4.1<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>43.6mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/4.5<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>65.4mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/5.0<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>119.9mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/5.5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr align='right'>\n  <td class='mm'>22.4mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/3.8<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>31.7mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/4.1<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>46.2mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/4.6<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>71.3mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/5.0<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>130.7mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/5.5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr align='right'>\n  <td class='mm'>23.8mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/3.8<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>32.7mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/4.1<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>47.6mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/4.6<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>75.5mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/5.0<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>138.5mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/5.7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr align='right'>\n  <td class='mm'>24.5mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/3.9<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>33.6mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/4.2<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>50.4mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/4.6<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>80.0mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/5.2<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>151.0mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/5.7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr align='right'>\n  <td class='mm'>25.9mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/3.9<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>35.6mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/4.2<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>51.9mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/4.8<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>82.3mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/5.2<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>169.5mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/5.7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr align='right'>\n  <td class='mm'>26.7mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/3.9<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>36.7mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/4.4<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>55.0mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/4.8<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>89.8mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/5.2<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>201.6mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/5.8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/center>\n<\/div>\n\n<div style='margin-top:40px'>\n<center><b><span class='nobr'>Nikon 18<\/span>-200mm Minimum Aperture at Reportable Zoom Positions<\/b>\n<br\/>\nFrom the EXIF Data\n<br\/>\n<table cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' border='0' style='border: solid 1px #666'>\n<tr align='right'>\n  <td class='mm'>18mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/3.5<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>31mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/4.0<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>44mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/4.5<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>62mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/4.8<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>105mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/5.3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr align='right'>\n  <td class='mm'>20mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/3.5<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>32mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/4.0<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>46mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/4.5<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>65mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/4.8<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>112mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/5.3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr align='right'>\n  <td class='mm'>22mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/3.8<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>34mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/4.2<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>48mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/4.5<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>70mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/4.8<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>120mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/5.3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr align='right'>\n  <td class='mm'>24mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/3.8<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>35mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/4.2<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>50mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/4.8<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>75mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/5.0<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>130mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/5.3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr align='right'>\n  <td class='mm'>26mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/3.8<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>36mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/4.2<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>52mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/4.8<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>80mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/5.0<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>135mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/5.6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr align='right'>\n  <td class='mm'>27mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/3.8<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>38mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/4.2<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>55mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/4.8<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>82mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/5.0<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>150mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/5.6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr align='right'>\n  <td class='mm'>28mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/4.0<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>40mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/4.2<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>56mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/4.8<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>90mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/5.0<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>170mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/5.6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr align='right'>\n  <td class='mm'>29mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/4.0<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>42mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/4.5<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>60mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/4.8<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>95mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/5.3<\/td>\n  <td class='mm'>200mm<\/td><td class='fs'>f\/5.6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n\n\n<\/center>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> The only lens I own for my Nikon D200 is a Nikon \"<b>AF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkor ED 18-200m F3.5-5.6G(IF)<\/b>,\" also known as \"the 18-200mm.\" <\/p><p> I really love it as a fantastic all-around lens, but at f\/3.5-5.6, I find that it is sometimes a bit slow (that is, it doesn't let in enough light for me to use a fast-enough shutter speed). So, I've been thinking of getting a faster (allows in more light) lens for use in lower-light situations. <\/p><p> Because of its \"18-200mm f\/3.5-5.6\" name, I know that my lens is f\/3.5 at 18mm, and f\/5.6 at [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,7,4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=263"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}