Updated for 2020: Complete List of Weather-Resistant Nikon Lenses

It's been almost 9 years since I compiled my original list of weather resistant Nikon lenses. Well, as time goes by, it is only natural that Nikon will launch new lenses, many of which belong on the weather-resistant list. So, here goes: the updated from 2011 list of weather-resistant Nikkor lenses.

Before delving into the list, a few points have to be made.

First up, Nikon does not market these lenses as “weather-proof,” only “resistant” to dust and moisture, 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.

Next, Nikon hasn't done that great of a job updating its website through the years and only a few lenses are actually marketed as dust/moisture resistant by Nikon. These lenses where there is such a mention on Nikon's website are in bold red type. As for the others, references to dust/moisture resistance was found on retailers/reviewers websites. The common denominator between the two: neither exactly specifies as to what "dust/moisture resistance" actually is other than there being a rubber gasket at the mount. This is in sharp contrast to Tamron's revamped website, which offers cutaway views showing exactly where all the rubber seals are located in each lens. 

Lastly, as evidenced by this huge list below, Nikon has gone on a spree of adding rubber gaskets to its lenses of late as this list is much, much longer than the original from 9 years ago. Rubber gasket aside, this list actually says nothing about overall build quality of the lenses themselves. A good example would be the old Nikkor 28 f1.4D Aspherical I reviewed awhile back versus the contemporary fast primes. Having played around with both, I can confidently say that the old 28 f1.4 is far better built (it's solid metal) than any of the contemporary lenses, which are mostly plastic but that do have a gasketed mount. In fact, most of the lenses on this list, gasket at the mount aside, are anything but professional grade in terms of construction quality.

To keep this list somewhat concise, I only focus on lenses in the Nikkor lineup as of January1, 2020.

Current FX/DX Primes
20 f1.8 AF-S
24 f1.4 AF-S
24 f1.8 AF-S
28 f1.4 AF-S (not the 'D' mentioned above)
28 f1.8 AF-S
35 f1.4 AF-S
35 f1.8 AF-S
50 f1.4 AF-S
50 f1.8 AF-S
60 f2.8 AF-S Micro
58 f1.4 AF-S
85 f1.4 AF-S
85 f1.8 AF-S
105 f1.4 AF-S
105 f2.8 AF-S Micro
200 f2 AF-S VR II
300 f2.8 AF-S VR II
300 f4 AF-S VR II
400 f2.8 AF-S VR FL ED
500 f4 AF-S FL VR
500 f5.6 AF-S PF ED VR
600 f4 AF-S FL ED VR
800 f5.6 AF-S VR

Current FX/DX Zooms.
8-15 f3.5-4.5 AF-S Fisheye
14-24 f2.8 AF-S
16-35 f4 VR AF-S
18-35 f3.5-4.5 AF-S
24-70 f2.8 AF-S
24-70 f2.8 VR AF-S
24-85 f3.5-4.5 VR AF-S
24-120 f4 VR AF-S
28-300 f3.5-5.6 VR AF-S
70-200 f2.8 VR AF-S
70-200 f2.8 FL ED VR AF-S
70-200 f4 VR AF-S
70-300 f4.5-5.6 VR AF-S

80-400 f4.5-5.6 VR AF-S
180-400 f4 VR AF-S
200-400 f4 VR AF-S II
200-500 f5.6 VR AF-S

Current DX Only Primes:
10.5 f2.8 AF-S Fisheye
35 f1.8 AF-S
40 f2.8 AF-S Micro
85 f3.5 VR AF-S Micro

Current DX Only Zooms
10-24 f3.5-4.5 AF-S
16-80 f2.8-4 VR AF-S
16-85 f3.5-5.6 VR AF-S
17-55 f2.8 AF-S
18-140 f3.5-5.6 VR AF-S
18-200 f3.5-5.6 VR AF-S II
18-300 f3.5-5.6 VR AF-S
18-300 f3.5-6.3 VR AF-S
55-300 f4.5-5.6 VR AF-S


Z-Mount Mirrorless
As of this writing (January 1, 2020), all Z-mount lenses are marketed by Nikon as dust/moisture resistant except for the 16-50 and 55-250.

See Also:
Sigma Weather Resistant Lenses for Nikon

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

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Man Killed by Meteorite in India

UPDATE: it has been determined that the rocky fragments in the bottom of the crater are not of extraterrestrial origin. However, it still remains to be determined what fell from the sky, though. 

For the first time in recorded history, a person is reported to have been killed by a falling meteorite. Authorities in India are reporting that the falling meteorite created a crater 4 feet deep and killed a man standing nearby. The culprit was believed to be a meteorite as rocky fragments have been found in the crater.

The event took place at a university campus in the Tamil Nadu state. A bus driver and some gardeners were standing near a cafeteria when the impact, which could reportedly be heard for 2 miles away, took place. The bus driver was killed in the resulting impact explosion and three landscapers were hurt. The explosion's shock wave also shattered windows in nearby buildings and cars.

NASA is also investigating the matter but has yet to make an official pronouncement on what happened as other causes, namely space debris falling from orbit, have yet to be ruled out as the rocks found in the crater have not yet been determined to be of extraterrestrial origin. In fact, the rocks could have already been there if something else caused the explosion.

It is estimated that, on the average day, over 60 tons of meteors rain to Earth. Despite such vast tonnage, very few make it to the Earth's surface as most incoming pieces of space rock are no larger than a grain of sand. Needless to say, as the size of a meteor rises, the frequency that earth will encounter them falls exponentially. Still, in all of recorded history, an impacting meteorite (or artificial space debris) has never been reported to have killed anybody as ancient reports of people being killed by meteorites are considered scientifically invalid. 

Until this event, the closest a meteorite came to hitting anybody was when a meteorite fell through the roof of a house, deflected off a piece of furniture, and hit a woman's led as she laid on a couch. This aside, no other scientifically confirmed example of a meteorite hitting anybody, either directly or indirectly, has been confirmed. Another close call took place in 1992 when a meteorite fell through the trunk of a car.

Stay tuned on this one as analysis of the rock fragments should be forthcoming.

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