Nikon lenses zoom clockwise?

JayM916

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Hi everyone. I'm new here and am glad to be a part of this community. It looks like there are a lot of helpful people here and it looks like a great place to learn a lot from each other. I have a question. I would really appreciate it if anybody out there can help me..
I have been a photographer for a long time and a user of Canon cameras and lenses. I've recently decided to purchase a new camera, and am ready to make the switch to Nikon. I've read countless reviews boasting your Nikon over Canon. I am very interested in the new D80. I stopped in Circuit City yesterday to see this baby in person and to get a hands-on feel for it. I really love the camera itself, but noticed a problem I ran into when using the zoom lense. I tried zoominig into an object with the lense, and this is when I ran into a little bit of a problem. I tried zooming the same way I've been doing for years, by turning the lense counter-clockwise, while looking threw the viewfinder. Instead of the camera zooming in, it zoomed out. Every camera and lense I've ever used (which is made up of primarily Canon brand), I've always turned it counter-clockwise to zoome in, and clockwise to zoom out. This operation of Nikon's lenses feels very awkward and unnatural to me. I am really dead-set on buying the new D80, but I'm hesitating because of this issue with their lenses. Does anybody know if there are any lenses out there for Nikon that zoom in "counter-clockwise", or are they all the same? Is there another manufacturer who makes lenses that would fit Nikon? I tried asking the Circuit City sales people, but they had no clue.

Thank you everyone!

- Jay
 
That is Nikon, it is different from all the others. There are no lenses that are made any other way, you just have to get adapted to it. Once you try Nikon you will see why so many of us love them. The older MF cameras did the same. Part of the reason for using Nikon is the lenses, the glass is the photograph, get the best glass you can.
 
Doesn't every lens do that?

If you want a real treat try an old Exakta...the world's first SLR was definitely lefthanded all the way.

LWW
 
I think most of us would view Canon as the more innovative company and Nikon as the more traditional and conservative. Nikon usually doesn't get into new technologies that involve compromises until they are forced to by market pressures.

A good example is the VR lens. Canon introduced image stabilization technology a long time ago and I know of several pros who moved from Nikon to Canon just to get that functionality. Nikon didn't want to do it because there is a slight optical performance price to pay for the technology. Lenses with the technology perform almost as well as lenses without it but not quite. That "not quite" is a bitter pill for the perfectionist designers at Nikon. Finally Nikon gave in after being pressured for years to adopt the technology.

When Canon redesigned its lens mount to have a wider opening, it gave them the opportunity to design their lenses with less retrofocus. That's a good thing and makes it easier for a designer to design faster lenses with less compromise. Nikon wouldn't do it because it would obselete all those lenses their customers had bought over the years. Canon went for the better technology. Nikon stuck to its guns and designed for backward compatibility.

Nikon has always done things its way and has stuck to its guns despite some head scratching in the photographic community from time to time. I bought my first Nikon in 1966 (an F) and I've owned them for years. Perhaps I wouldn't make the same decision today, but I did back then and I've stuck with the products for all these years. I've never been disappointed.
 

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