a-z of Nikon lens jargon
N
Nano Crystal Coat. This is a lens coating that makes use of nanotechnology to ‘virtually eliminate’ internal reflections, which can otherwise cause flare and ghosting. Nikon uses it in a wide range of its optics, but it’s particularly useful in very wide lenses. Those with the technology on board are easily identified by a gold N logo on the barrel.
Nikkor
Nikon’s brand name for its lenses. This is a standard part of every current Nikon lens, although it’s often written without this when ‘Nikon’ is included in the title.
Noct
Noct stands for ‘Nocturnal’ and denotes a special type of aspherical lens designed for extremely low light photography. The construction of the lens eliminates an optical aberration that fast lenses usually suffer from called ‘coma’, which may introduce unattractive blobs around points of light at wide apertures. The rare 58mm f/1.2 Noct-nikon is the only Noct lens to have been produced to date. However Nikon is currently working on an even faster Z 58mm f/0.95 S Noct for its full-frame mirrorless Z system, which will be the company’s fastest ever lens when it is released in 2019.
PC and PC-E
PC stands for Perspective Control, and this is the term that Nikon applies its tilt-shift lenses. These are typically used by architecture, product and landscape photographers, as it allows them to control perspective and depth of field in a way that conventional lenses cannot. PC-E lenses are simply Perspective Control lenses that have electronic diaphragm control (see E, above).
PF
A lens with this suffix employs a Phase Fresnel element in its construction. Traditionally used in lighthouses, Nikon says that this allows for the correction of chromatic aberration while also creating a smaller and lighter lens than is otherwise possible. At the time of writing, Nikon has only released two lenses with this technology, the AF-S Nikon 300mm f/4e PF ED VR and AF-S Nikon 500mm f/5.6e PF ED VR. The 300mm lens is 30% shorter and 1.5lb lighter than its predecessor, while the 500mm lens weighs less than half as much as Nikon’s regular 500mm f/4 lens.
S
Appearing as a suffix on Nikon’s range of Z-mount lenses designed