Image quality. Little or no CA. ED Glass is a plus

Very cheap build quality, lens hood is a pain to apply onto or take off the lens, and yes.... variable aperture. It seems that asking for a constant aperture at all focal lengths is too much to ask for without asking for an arm and a leg pricewise (thanks Nikon).

I have to admit, I never understood why Nikon discontinued this lens. It's actually pretty darn good when used with proper technique. There is distortion at 24mm and 85mm but overall, I've been able to take amazing pictures with this lens. I used this lens briefly with my Nikon D80 and found it to be useful for specific shots, but the range wasn't useful for me. Another drawback was that the focus and zoom rings are "reversed". The lens hood is really really stiff to the point that applying it to the lens and taking it off feels like the hood is about to snap or break. Next to my kit lens - 18-55mm Nikkor, the build of this lens would be the only real downfall I could point out. The quality of pics I've taken with this lens in such a short time rival the ones I've taken with my cherished 18-70mm Nikkor. Definitely worth the price I paid for.

AF-S really quiet and fast. Image quality is superb. I've had it for a bit over a year and I m very satisfied with this aspects of the lens.

Slow... not a very tough, professional finish (the hood may break easily, I fear) but then, my F80 body is made out of policarbonate and has withstood some hardships, so can probably this lens.

I really lucked out the day I got this lens. It replaced the cheap 28-80D kit lens that came with my F80... and I couldn't be more satisfied. Now, it's not perfect: plasticky, throws a weird, warm cast on images (as seen through the VF, not on film), and the distortion at 24mm bars it from architectural photography. I like this lens a lot, and its focal range has come in handy on a variety of situations. It's a bit slow... but the Silent Wave compensates vastly for this one and any other fault. Never have I seen any lens focus so quicky and so quietly! No whirrs and wheels sounding...

Customer Service

None needed

Similar Products Used:

Sigma 70-300 DL, Nikon 28-80D f3.5-5.6, Tokina AF 193 19-35f3.5-4.5 (still in use)

all..its fast fast fast,.AFS- good colour .ok sharp.good saturation

a little plasticky

This Nikkor 24-85 ED is a very good lens for the money(i bought it used) i think then it might be a little bit of lemon ; the sample i got. well,although its very good indeed.Colour is super.Its fast and in work conjunction with my Nikon D1 H and other fast cams..this one shines.Its better than many lenses.! the AFS is super .! The balance of colour ,saturation is as i said very ED like,fine and detailed. I compared this one to other types.Nikon 28-70 2,8...Nikon 28-85 and Tokina 28-70 I believe this is no. 2 or 3 after the aboves,funny enough i find this one a little flat regarding contrast?! but i think this is normal in the samples ;contrast is missng?or sample variation??hmm i dono.Anyway i still think its the best lens you can get today ,with flash and inside for PJ work ,portraits,and work you need quietness ; it is a PRO lens.Its in the same league as canon 24-85 and 28-80 L and very very close to canon 28-70 L. ..so all in all..--very close To a nikon 28-70 for a little money IF you buy a good sample!? Distortion could be better BUT it is still ok for the money. BUY IT

Customer Service

nope.

Similar Products Used:

many many ..

Color, shapness, front element does'nt rotate, Good lens hood with it. Compact, fast and very quiet.

Plastique made but for the price, it's a very good deal. 67mm for filter. I would like 62mm or 77mm.

l bought this len to replace my Nikkor 28-105mm because a friend of me, recommand it to me. The front lens does'nt turn on focus or whene you zoom it. So it's just great whene using polar filter. And l just order my first digital body (Nikon D200) and this lens with my Nikkor 20mm, will be just fine for me.

Customer Service

Did'nt need it.

Similar Products Used:

Nikkor 28-105mm

- Color rendition - Very fast AF - Sharpness

- Vignetting with the Cokin system at 24mm(!) - 67mm filter: I had to struggle to find an appropriate UV filter and the corresponding Cokin adapter ring. - Difficult to zoom when the hood covers the zoom ring

I bought this lens with my F100 to replace the mediocre plastic 28-80mm I had. The very first thing I did with this lens was to compare it to my 24mm (at f4 and f8), my 50mm (at f4 and f8), and my 70-300mm (at f5.6 and f8). While my prime lenses were slightly sharper than this lens, the results at 70mm blew me away. I used to be rather happy with my 70-300mm... till I tried this lens. The colors were more natural and more saturated. Most of all, the pictures were much sharper. My major disapointement was to find out that the lens has a strong vignetting problem at 24mm with the Cokin P system. Even though I have a slim UV filter and use a Cokin holder that was cut down to allow only one square filter to be placed. To make the matter worse, I used a 72mm adapter ring that I fastened to the 67 mm UV filter, thus bringing the filter holder 1-2 mm closer to the lens.... to no avail. I have the same system on my 24 mm prime and I do not get vignetting (only a slight tint in the top corners when I set the lens at f2.8). As a result, I do not use this lens at less than 28mm if I need to use a polarizer. Whenever I shoot at 24mm, I always screw in my prime lens. More hassles but it's worth it. Is this lens worth it? Absolutely. It's the best deal around, with a very fast and quiet AF system. But it's definitely not going to replace my 24mm. I cannot recommend this lens for its wide-angle capabilities.

Customer Service

I never needed Nikon CS (yet!).

Similar Products Used:

28-80mm F3.5-5.6 D (yuck) 70-300mm F4-5.6 D ED (nice for the money) 24mm F2.8 (fantastic!) 50mm F1.8 (great)

silent operation is great- I think about it nearly every time it focuses! -very nice, unfortunately that doesn't make a good photo. The lense looks good with the hood (I'm tryin here...)

bad color (overly red... produces very pale faces), (creates?)incorrectly exposed results -unlike the tamron

Firstly, I'm claiming my non-expertness in photography.I purchased this lense at the same time as the N80 body about 5 months ago and its been a struggle to use. I didn't expect prime quality but I did expect better quality than my cheap ($150) Tamron 70-300 tele. I was disappointed- at first I thought it was buyers' remorse, but it wasn't. A photo taken with the tamron produced at very least equal results as the Nikkor. I enlarged a sample 8"x12" from each lense (each outdoors with overcast light and 200 speed negatives) the Tamron produced a great result(good exposure, natural color, and detailed) especially for that price. The Nikon's looked decent as a 4x6 but the 8x12 made me cringe; it was very grainy and not as clear as it should be. Also, makes pale-red faces when photographing people.

Similar Products Used:

N80, Tamron 70-300LD, digicams

Focusing speed is sensational, or maybe i'm just traumatized by my mom's 300mm minolta consumer telephoto zoom. Focusing is quiet (maybe not that important). Very flexible range - works almost like a zoom, and like a wide range. I rarely felt the need for anything wider. Price - this is, as far as I can tell, excellent value.

Distortion, perhaps. But really, none that concern my level of photography.

While I'm not the person who would judge sharpness, I'm very satisfied with this lens in that respect. As for the other factors, I think I have some input: It is blasingly fast to focus. The manual override for focusing takes a little time to get used to in comparison to traditional AF (I kept lifting my finger after having focused manually, and had the camera refocus my "error"), but once you've got it it's very convenient. The focus ring has a bit of a watery feel to it, going a bit too easy for my taste, but you still know when you hit the ends, and have a general sense of things without needing to look. The zoom ring is a bit more resistant, which I prefer. The 3.5-4.5 aperture is reasonably fast, and pretty much in tune with the price. It's real advantage is that it's compact, not too heavy, and offers flexible range, so you don't lug around too much glass. I carry a 50/1.8 for harder light, and i'm trying to save up for the 80-400. I think that should completely cover my needs, for the next few years. The focusing range is also convenient. At 85mm, with 38cm of focus, the frame is close to a macro shot. While not the real thing, for having fun it's good. One thing that bothers me a bit is when I'm tring to flatten out shapes, mostly of walls with doorways, corrosion and stuff like that, so that they look like paintings, distorition is visible through the viewfinder, let alone the film, at both ends of the zoom range. I usually take the 50mm for these shots, and just walk around till i'm in the right place for my frame. It's quiet, too. My 5 year old sister is extremely photogenic, except when she's trying to be. This feature has helped capture some beautiful moments, without a point-and-shoot type feel, of having to race with the subject. I had lots of time to figure out exactly what I wanted without her noticing. The last thing is that the front part of the lens never turns, so you don't need to readjust various fittings as you focus or zoom, and since the focusing is internal, mucking with the lens blindly on the outside (except, ofcourse, for the focus ring) does not change the focusing state.

Customer Service

Can't say at this point.

Similar Products Used:

Nothing comparable. Perhaps with some similar features, but mostly pro digital cam corder lenses.

AF-S (Extremely fast focusing with whisper- quiet operation) Light weight M/A Switch

Pincushion distortion at 85mm

This was my first lens for my D1H. I use it almost exclusively for portraits and still-life images. It focuses extremely fast and quietly. The AF-S is such an awesome feature that was incorporated into this lens. AF-S is more commonly found in the Nikon professional lenses (distinguishable by their 77mm filter threading.) The included lens hood HB-28 is much smaller than the lens hood provided with the 28-70mm f2.8 AF-S and provides very reasonable control over flare. This lens works fairly well outdoors, but even better indoors. I have shot very little with my N80, but on my D1H this lens performs well. I think one important point to bring up is that for most photographers today, shooting Nikon digital SLRs with the 1.5x crop factor...you will not be *using* the outside edges of the glass...Therefore distortion will be very well controlled. I have put out very professional results with this lens. I like it because if you pair it up with the 70-200mm f2.8 AF-S VR, you have a working day-package for event coverage that is very light and functional. The 24-85mm AF-S is much lighter and in my opinion can function (for most photography not requiring the short DOF) as good as the 28-70mm f2.8. But if you are shooting in low light, then by all means you know you need the speed. In summary, I absolutely recommend this lens if you shoot people, still-life or anything else not architectural. This lens also works great up-close, although not as good as the 60mm f2.8 MICRO. Thumbs up!

Customer Service

Sent into Nikon USA factory in New York. Didn't remove the spot I saw in the lens (but didn't show up in pictures)

sharp! good zoom range light great saturation

plastic flare reversed zoom/focus ring 67mm filters??? distortion at wide end

I had enough of my 24-120 and after initially trying out the 24-85 2.8-4 because of its faster big end, decided that this puppy was more suitable to my needs. The AFS is d*** fast and reliable, the optics superb for such a budget lens- light falloff is minimal and the caturation and detail are fantastic. I've noticed some flare that would not have occured in the 24-120 AF and you definitely cant stack a UV and polariser from 24-35mm. My main criticism is the amount of barrel distortion, especially but not only in the wide end, which is completely unacceptable for the architecture work I love. I had seen this mentioned in reviews and it sure is there, badly. But I still love this lens!

Customer Service

not needed yet

Similar Products Used:

nikon 24-120 3.5-5.6, many nikkor zooms/fixed

Very, very sharp. Fast focusing. Silent. Cheap. Light. Good color. This lens does everything well.

Flimsey hood.

This may be the best bargain going in Nikon lenses. As a professional photojournalist, I usually use pro lenses. I bought this one because of the weight and super reviews. The lens is light and fast. The AF-s works great. The focus is virtually silent and very fast. I noticed a little searching, but very little. I cannot say enough about how sharp this lens is. Even wide open. Shall I tell you about how, while working up a child's portrait in photoshop, I zoomed in on the child eyes, saw my own reflection and counted the buttons on my photo-vest?? It certainly rivals fixed focus Nikkors. In fact, I would be surprised if anyone could reasonably tell the difference. Distortion is well controlled. Color saturation is excellent. Amateur and Pro alike, everyone ought to have one of these. This would be a great lens at triple the price. I still have my 2.8's but why carry the additional weight?

Customer Service

Never tried. I have called Nikon on several occasions for advice and instruction. Who can beat 24 hour, 7 day per week, FREE, tech support.

Similar Products Used:

Bunches. 80-200 F2.8 Nikkor is my favorite.