WCpilot

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Price Paid:  $300.00 from B&H Photo

Summary:
A useful prosumer lense that does what it says is should do.

Strengths:
The 18-70mm range is usually nice for wandering around. It's a light lense so you won't have a sore neck/ arm at the end of the day. Quick autofocus. Well placed controls on the lense.

Weaknesses:
Noticeable distortion at the wide and tele ends, but easily correctable in PS. It is no the most solid lense with lots of plastic, but the mount seems to be solid. My lense hood has become somewhat loose after many cycles of attaching and reversing. The zoom is not even. It shifts slightly at about 50mm. Zooms quickly at the wide end and slowly at the long. But accurate zooming is still possible.

Customer Service:
none needed as nikon makes great products.

vespa55

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
4.50 of 5,
4 votes

Price Paid:  $299.00 from Complete Photo USA v

Summary:
Very fast AF. The contrast and sharpness of the pictures I have taken with this lens in conjunction with my D80 and D200 is superb. If you can get past the cheap build (it feels like a super-sized 18-55mm rinky dink nikkor), this lens is a keeper in my bag when doing shoots. The range is perfect for my style of shooting. I would avoid taking pictures at this zoom lens' extreme focal lengths (18mm and 70mm) due to distortion, but this is a trait that most lenses I own have anyway regardless of how much or how good the lens is. If you are in debate whether to go with a 18-55mm or 18-70mm nikkor as a casual lens or kit lens, definitely go with the 18-70mm. I wasn't disappointed at all. In comparison with taking photographs with the 18-55mm and with the 18-70mm, there is a huge difference in image quality. Despite the cliche-like term: You get what you pay for. In this case, you're paying for the great optics (but definitely not the build). It's a keeper.

Strengths:
Great Nikon optics as always. Sharp at all focal lengths with distortion at the extreme ends (18mm and 70mm). Contrast good. AF is fast and quiet.

Weaknesses:
Build. Lens hood feels fragile to the point where it can easily be broken in the area where it attaches itself to the front part of the lens. Vignetting and light falloff at 18mm wide open. Pricey for a 'plasticky' lens but good enough to be taken as a backup lens during shoots.

photophorous

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
4.33 of 5,
3 votes

Price Paid:  $850.00 from Beach Camera

Summary:
First, the price listed is for the D70s kit, not just the lens.

I've only used a few lenses, so the most important part of my review is the customer service section.

I go this lens about 6 months ago. I have been very impressed with the sharpness and color rendition of the images I get with it. It seems to do well through out the range between f5.6 and f16, and not bad outside that range. Image distortion (I don't know the correct terms) is evident mostly at the wide end, but there is also some at the long end.

Strengths:
It's a bargain. Images are very sharp. It's light. I love the AF-S focus ring, which allows fine tuning of the focus with out turning AF off.

Weaknesses:
It's plastic. Image distortion is obvious at the wide end of the zoom. Not very fast....

Nothing that isn't expected for a zoom in this price range.

Similar Products Used:
Nikkor 28-105 F3.5-4.5 (on a film camera).
Vivitar 28-105 (on an old Minolta).

Customer Service:
During a vacation in Europe something happened to the zoom ring...I'm guessing some dirt got lodged inside it, because at a certain point, around 24mm, the zoom ring would stick. You could push past it, but it made me nervous. Also, after a few months I noticed there were dirt/dust particles under the front lens element. They weren't too bad, and didn't seem to affect my photos, but they were obvious under a light. I sent the lens to Nikon to repair the zoom ring, but I also asked them to clean under the lens. I got it back in less than 2 weeks from the time I dropped it off at UPS. They fixed the zoom, completely cleaned the lens and checked the focus accuracy. The lens is as good as new. I can't believe how fast I got it back. Of course, there was no charge because it was under warranty. I'm very pleased with the customer service.