Excellant focal range
Small/compact
Not too heavy

Big-Time distortion, even at 120 zoom

Excellant versitility, acceptable weight, and too much distortion. I haven't had it long enough to perform sharpness comparisons against my other lens, but it seems ok thus far.

Concerning distortion: It seem almost every Nikon zoom has this problem, and unfortunately, they don't seem to be solving it! This lens is fine for "non-geometric" shots, e.g., shooting outdoor scenes where there are no straight lines, etc. But BEWARE shooting in the city with this lens: you will see pronounced distortion on the ends, buildings will curve like they're on the dance floor, and you basically be wasting film. :(

Customer Service

None yet

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Nikon 35-105 3.5-4.5
Nikon 70-210 4.0

Great range from true wide to medium tele. focuses relatively quickly. Built tough.

Could be 4.5 rather than 5.6. Not as sharp as primes. A bit on the pricey side.

If you want one lens for travel, this lens should be seriously considered. Sharp enough for casual use. Sure, I've heard 28-205 is a bit sharper, but if sharpness is the issue, then one should go primes. 24 mm is great to have. Great for catching trains (leaving and arriving) on the platforms in Europe. Although the 72 mm filter size can be expensive, but if you standardize your lens collection, it's no problem. After 4 years of use, it still is the most versitile lens. Dropped it a few times, but still keeps on ticking.

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AF 28-70, 3.5-4.5

Long range covered, light weight

Case not included

I use this lens for almost everything, I am very happy with the pictures I am getting with it. Would not trade it for anything..except a D1 maybe. Sharp, clear, great quality for the price.

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N/A

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35-70

Compact and light, considering its range.

Decent speed at the wide end.

Good close focusing.

Excellent flare control, an amazing accomplishment considering the broad focal length range.

Relatively low distortion at the wide to middle range. I see others below have complained about the distortion; perhaps my sample was better in this regard than theirs.

Field curvature minimal from about 35mm to about 85mm. Even outside that range, the corners are sharp at about f/8 and smaller.

Even illumination wide open, except with broad expanses of sky at 24mm (stop down to about f/5.6 in that case).

Tack sharp from 24 to about 100mm.

Slow on the long end.

Hood offers only marginal coverage. Use your free hand to shade the front element.

Noticeable pincushion at focal lengths beyond about 100mm. Also, a reduction in sharpness at the long end. Think of this lens as a 24-90 or so with a bit of extra reach in case of emergency.

Sweet-handling lens with an immensely useful focal length range. Yes, the 24/2.8D, 28/2.8D, 35/2D, 50/1.4D, 50/1.8, 85/1.8D, and 105/2.5 are all better lenses at their focal lengths, offering more speed and less distortion. Yet, as a one-lens rig, the Nikon 24-120 is hard to beat; for three years mine practically lived on my N90s. Huge (72mm) front element and long telescoping action attracts more attention than I'd like. For portrait work, it's intimidating to subjects, especially with its huge hood. It might be sharp and relatively light, but it ain't subtle. Some people say it's heavy, but I can't think of many options that provide this much range for less weight. Odd note: I had trouble getting a Tiffen circular polarizer to screw into the polycarbonate front filter threads. So, I bought a brass-ringed B+W circ pol for this lens, which screws in fine, but may vignette at 24mm because the B+W filter is twice as thick as the Tiffen. I sold mine to buy the new 24-85/2.8-4 because I felt that the 2/3-to-1-stop of added speed was more useful to me than the range between 85 and 120mm (which is the weak point of the 24-120 anyway). I'll post a review of that lens after I've had a chance to live with it for a while.

Customer Service

Not needed

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28-85/3.5-4.5 AIS and AF-N (yuck!)

A host of Nikkor primes within the focal length range.

a useful, useful range
a nikon

a little slow on the long end

The lens is sharp and like most good Japanese lenses, has fine line sharpness. The contrast is good, but not like the great contrast of some of the finest German lenses (obvious). I'm sure that you will not see a great difference between shots from this lens at 1-2 stops in than any other zoom lens unless you are looking for superwide aperature or out of focus objects. For some reason, the photos which I get from this lens have varying exposure quality, meaning that since this lens can go from wide angle to telephoto in a twist, my metering bias changes. (Nikon should add this into calculation, like the D lens technology). Matrix metering is fine for the wide angle end, but towards the telephoto range, a centerweighted metering patter would be better. I used to think that a compact camera would be better for car street photography, but this lens is way faster and technically better at tracking moving objects and has better metering overall. This is a great lens, which works very well (see all below). The only drawback is the long end speed or the lack of, and the average performance there. Keep in mind, at least you have that long end just in case. The long end at f8 is pretty darn good for a wide angle zoom. That all brings brings us to the speed issue-It is just amazing that Nikon put out the 24-85 in a 2.8-4.0 optic. I really think that Nikon could've just totally replaced the 24-120 in a 2.8-4.5 and then ended all the trouble without designating a new lens. Nikon is really listening to the users and really fine tuning their gear. Look at the N65 which has DOF- sure it's missing the stats/pro durability, but you aren't getting less features, which should've been the philosophy all along. This is a great time, when all the gear is remarkably very close to what people want. Very nice quality for the value and still one of the best wide range slr zooms out there.

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None

nice range
small for range
nikon's matrix is good

not great wide open

This is a great lense biased toward the wide end. Now that Tamron has virtually copied the range and Canon popular 24-85 is doing well, everyone has access to a 24-X lens. Firstly, when stopped down 1-2 stops, the lens works very well with nice sharp images. Colors are nice, too. Distortion is ok- wide distortion doesn't bother me as much as the ones at 120- stay away from straight lines. Here's my problem and it may because I'm not a professional and don't use my lens all the time-> You have to be a master at all the focal lenghts to be able to use its potential. If you don't, all you do is just stand still and zoom away. I brought this lens with body along with a Konica Hexar to a short trip to Peru and discovered that my images were much more intimate and meaningful with the Hexar. People can argue about sharpness all they want or even about saturation. With the right exposure and composition, you'll get great pictures, but you still need to concentrate on the image. This lens gives a nonpro an incredible arsenal and potential to get a shot without changing their lens, but you still need to develop your phtographic skills to get that great shot.

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None

One lens does it all range for when full kit can't be packed.

Sharpness not exactly optimal.

Reading the reviews the one I agree with the most is the gent who said something to the effect of 'people don't understand'. No, this isn't the sharpest lens Nikon has produced, not even close really, but it's adequate for most purposes and I've had numerous images published in magazines taken with this lens. When packing space is a concern don't hesitate to take this lens, but no, it isn't up to spec compared to the best primes, or even the better zooms, Nikon makes. Be realistic about expectations and you'll be happy.

Customer Service

Haven't used yet.

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Primes

It's greatest strength is it's range.

I find a tendency for flare in brightly lit senics, especially off moving water, shading in addition to the furnished hood is often necessary.

I just finished reading all the reviews on this lens & HAD to add a few comments. First, I have been utilizing 35mm SLR's for 45 years (Before Nikon had one on the market) For those of you who think this lens is heavy, try lugging around the same focal length coverage in F2.8 lenses for a few days & get back to me with your impressions (they will be in your shoulders or across the back of your neck) For you Sharp, Sharp , Sharp nuts, I blow up my photo's generally to 11X14 & frame with a 2" mask. I have never had any one ask to have the mask removed so they could examine the edges with an 8X loop, yet I get plenty of requests for copies. In wildlife photography, one has a tendency to shoot larger F-stops to isolate the subject from the background anyway, same for portraits, why the insistance on SHARP TO THE EDGES? And lastly, for you complaining about the filter size, may I suggest you by a Cokin filter holder with adaptor rings to fit each lens size you own. That way you only need one filter of each type you utilize, no step-up/down rings etc., make your life easy instead of complaining about minutia. I hike almost daily with my equipment & cover 6-10 miles a day. I have really put a great deal of effort into minimizing the weight of my equipment, while maintaining reasonable quilty. My standar "Kit" consists of a 19mm Vivitar, 24-120mm nikon, 105mm Nikon Micro, & 70-300mm Nikon. If I know I'm going to be shooting something specific, for example, fawns in the spring, I'll lug along my 80-200 F2.8 and/or 300 F4, but only if I KNOW I'll need them. I know I'm running on , but this lens, the 24-120 is a GREAT general purpose instrument for the amature, beginner or advanced, who usually shoots color negative films in the 200, 400 or even 800 speed ranges. I firmily believe that composition & exposure are the greater part of any good photograph, & this lens is certainly more than capable of holding up it's end.It is certainly one of the best general purpose zooms that I have owned or borrowed & I would recommend it to anyone. It you require technical excellence for your type of photography, or you're a pro with publishers requirements, stick with your huge F stops & wonderful prime lenses, but please remember you are in the minority, most folks don't have your requirements or funding, so stop trying to impose you values on the rest of us.

Customer Service

None on this lens, satisfied with Nikon service on other products with one notable exception

Similar Products Used:

tamron 28-200, Nikon 28-85,Nikon 35-70, Nikon 35-75 (own & use many other Nikon products)

24 zooms, I like them all
range is almost perfect

a little slow
long end is too smooth- maybe a plus for portraits

For travel and street photography, I favor the wide end. 24 is the most I am will to go wide, but the tiny 20 f2.8 looks stealthy. The 24-120 is good if you know what you are doing. You almost can't go wrong in the short end, but have to be careful at the long end because it is a bit slow at f5.6. Indoors, even with 400 speed film, my built in flash barely can save the day. Outdoors, though, the long end is fine. The short end is almost as good as the primes, especially at the f8-11 range. The long end at f8-11 is about as good as a prime one stop in. Given this, at the long end, isolating the subject for portraits can get hairy if you don't have enough light. There's plenty of light though at sunset and morning light, so this lens can cut it. Colors are a little bit on the cool side or very accurate side if you are using normal film. More saturated films make the shots look more rich, but are still good since the lens has decent contrast. Not having to change lenses makes a big difference for me- so I know that this lens has let me get some shots I normally wouldn't have. The front element is large (72mm) which needs cleaning quite often as dust and ocean spray seem to head straight for it. I keep a nikon UV filter, but sometimes worry that I am getting less contrast because of it. Either way, try to use a hood or shield extra light with your hand. I would rather clean that filter once a day (with heavy use) than clean the front element that's for sure. I like the results from this lens- the images are clean and crisp with no falloff towards the edges. (No P&S zoom is without significant falloff.) In comparison, my 50 f1.8 is more contrasty and has a bit more sharpness, but the flexibility that this lens gives me is much more useful.

Customer Service

only for Samsung

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a few zooms, here and there
a few primes, classic and AF

Great zoom range, good for travel using just one lens, reasonablly sharp and contrasty for a zoom of this magnitude.

Heavy and tiring to carry all day, slow to focus, large and expensive filter size, very long when fully extended, overwhelms my N-80 in size.

I like this lens for vacations and travel, the pictures blow up well to 11 x 14 with reasonable sharpness and contrast, will not replace prime lenses but will be with me for a long while when I'm travelling.

Customer Service

Great - no problems

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Other Nikon consumer zooms like the 70-300, 75-300, 35-105, 28-70 zooms