A Complete List of Weather-Resistant Nikon Lenses

Yes, this is about Nikon lenses but I'm showing a white Canon because the weather seal (the black rubber gasket around the lens mount) is a lot easier to see here than on a black Nikkor.

Update: Read no further, instead check out my
Updated for 2020 List of Complete List of Weather Resistant Nikon Lenses

See Also:
Sigma Weather Resistant Lenses for Nikon

Don't Own Any of these Lenses? How to clean your camera's sensor yourself


Being a new Nikonian, one thing I always wondered was what Nikkor optics were weather-resistant. Unfortunately, I haven't succeeded in finding a concise list of such lenses anywhere. So, seeing a solution rather than a problem, I decided to compile one myself. So, if you're in the same boat I was in, here you go: a concise list of weather resistant Nikkors. Know someone else you think would find this useful? Why not pass it on?

Companies are quick to tout cameras for weather-resistance. Unfortunately, what most beginning dSLR users don't know is this: there might as well be no weather sealing in the camera if it doesn't have a weather-sealed lens to go with it. Why is this? Simple: the lens/camera connection is the best avenue for unwanted junk, whether it be moisture, dust, or something else, to get into your camera. With a lens that has a rubber gasket at the mount, this problem is eliminated.

In terms of lenses, weather-sealing is one of the newer innovations for the simple reason that film cameras were nowhere near a susceptible to the elements as are today's “superior” digital versions. So, to keep their pros happy, camera makers started putting rubber gaskets on their lenses' mounts. Below is a complete list of Nikon lenses that have mount gaskets.



Film/Digital

14-24 f2.8
16-35 f4 VR
24 f1.4 AF-S
24-70 f2.8

24-120 f4VR
28-300 f3.5-5.6 VR
35 f1.4 AF-S
50 f1.4 AF-S
50 f1.8 AF-S

55-300 f4-5.6 VR
70-200 f2.8 (I and II)
85 f1.4 AF-S
200 f2 VR

200-400 f4 VR (I and II)
300 f4

400 f2.8 VR

500f4 VR

600f4 VR

DX Digital Only
10-24 f3.5-4.5

17-55 f2.8

18-200 VR (I and II)
18-70 f3.5-4.5

35 f1.8
60 f2.8 AF-S Micro

Now, even with all of these lenses, there is one important catch: Nikon does not market these lenses as “weather-proof,” only “weather-resistant,” which means that they probably won't go servicing your camera/lens that got dropped overboard on that fishing trip when your buddy was reaching for his beer but accidentally bumped your camera instead. If you want true weather-resistance, go buy a tough P&S like my Olympus Stylus 550WP or, if you don't mind shooting film, a Jacques Cousteau-inspired Nikonos film SLR.

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