Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G DX VR II Announcement

Along with the D3300 DSLR, Nikon has also introduced the new AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR II kit lens, another iteration of the lens with a completely new design. Compared to its predecessor, the new 18-55mm kit lens is now much more compact and lighter, because of its retracting design similar to some of the Nikon 1 lenses.

Due to the new retracting barrel, Nikon had to change the optical design of the lens as well and it looks like the lens went through major changes. Considering how weak the DX line of lenses is, many of the older DX lenses, including the 18-55mm simply could not perform well on the new 24 MP sensors that Nikon is now putting into all the entry-level DSLRs. The short term solution for Nikon was to remove the low-pass / anti-aliasing filter, which gets a little more detail out of lenses. However, the real solution is to redesign DX lenses and make them better optically. In the case of the 18-55mm, Nikon made it much better than its predecessor, as can be witnessed from the MTF charts provided by Nikon.

Here are some of the lens specifications:

Mount Type: Nikon F-Bayonet

Focal Length: 18-55mm

Maximum Aperture: f/3.5-5.6

Minimum Aperture: f/22-36

Format: DX

Maximum Angle of View (DX-format): 28°50′

Maximum Reproduction Ratio: 0.31x

Lens Elements: 11

Lens Groups: 8

Diaphragm Blades: 7

Super Integrated Coating: Yes

Autofocus: Yes

AF-S (Silent Wave Motor): Yes

Minimum Focus Distance: 0.92 ft. (0.28m)

Focus Mode: Auto, Manual

G-type: Yes

Filter Size: 52mm

Accepts Filter Type: Screw-on

Dimensions (Approx.): 2.3 in. (59.5 mm) x 2.6 in. (66 mm)

Weight (Approx.): 6.9 oz. (195 g)

If you would like to see more details, including lens construction and MTF, please see our Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR II page in the lens database.

Compared to Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G DX VR

Let’s take a look at how the lens compares to its predecessor optically:

As I have indicated above, the new version is much better optically, especially in the corners. Take a look at its performance at 55mm (Tele):

That’s a pretty big change in optical performance. The new 18-55mm should perform well on the new D3300 and other high resolution Nikon DX cameras.