An even cheaper smaller and lighter walk-around lens than the 24-85mm/3.5-4.5 IF-ED. It doesn't go as wide or as long, but for what it does, it does just as good! Even wide open it is very sharp on every focal length, but with somewhat lower contrast. Close the aperture one stop to fix that plus getting the edge on the sharpness. and stop down one more to make the corners very good also. This is the smallest and lightest FX zoom there is! 195 grams! My rating reflect the VALUE and shootability you get for very little money.

Of couse this lens has lots of weaknesses: It is not very bright, and it is designed right on the edge of every limit to get it this small. BUT its shortcomings can be fixed by stopping down, and that's the important thing! So in good daylight, when you don't plan to take many "bokeh"-shots and are able to stop down a stop or three, this lens takes images indistinguishable from even the 24-70/2.8!

Beautiful lens, sharp from corner to corner, beautiful colour rendition, has a unique aperture of 3.3 and sells damn cheap in the used market. Perhaps one of Nikon's most popular lenses ever made. Autofocus is fast. Unique performance at this price. I think Nikon intentionally discontinued this lens so as to boost the sales of their hugely expensive behemoths.

Plastic construction and mount, so you need to be careful not to drop it. Does not provide the distance info for TTL flash metering thus having a potential to result in over or under exposure in TTL mode. But there are no problems shooting in manual mode. Needs one stop positive exposure compensation on my Nikon D600. And remember that AF is only possible on cameras with an in-built focus motor. And manual focusing can be a little tight with the ring.

cheap
decent iq
fair build (plastic fantastic)

not as good as a f1.8 af 85 mm but that is a diffeterent price tag
plastic

the nikon nikkor af 28-80 g f3.3-5.6 is a great lense for the money , it weigh almost nothing and prodoces fine sharp images , i have this on my Nikjon D50 if i want to travel light the most lenses are f3.5 -5.6 , with f3.3 this lens is a little bit better in low light conditions . Can it match the qualtiy of a af 85 prime (f1.8) not completly but i lurks towards it

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none

Similar Products Used:

18-55
28-105 f2.8-4 (sigma)
18-70 nikon

Inexpensive
Lightweight
Compact
Decently sharp

Cheap build quality
Plastic lens mount and filter ring
Barrel rotation while focusing
POOR AF
Prone to flaring

This came as the kit lens with a Nikon D50. First impression was not real favorable. Plastic mount, plastic filter ring, and all around cheap construction. Before shooting there is one important thing to note, if you are not aware, you will need a camera to control your aperture! Another thing to note is that this lens is not internal focus and the lens rotates while focusing which can be annoying if you need to constantly adjust filters (grad filters, polarizers, etc). Upon shooting with this lens one thing will jump out right away, it has very slow AF if it focuses at all. The AF searches all over in anything but daylight. Speaking of light, watch for flares.

After reading all this, you must be thinking this lens is a POS. Despite the above comments I kind of like this little guy. It weighs NOTHING at all and is nicely compact. You can stop WAY down, all the way to F/40 at 80mm! You may ask "when would you need F/40?" Well, it's like my dive watch. It's rated to 300m. Am I ever going to go even a fraction of that? Not a chance in hell but, it's nice to know I could if I wanted to...LOL Upon uploading images, I was pleasantly surprised that the lens is decently sharp. Granted not as sharp as some of my other lenses but, nothing a little Photoshop/Lightroom work can't easily fix.

You really have to keep in mind the price of this lens. It cost NOTHING in comparison to other lenses. It has become a good fall back lens for walking around when I don't want to lug my other lenses. You can easily hang this around your neck for hours without soreness. Plus, at this price point, it won't make you cry if anything happens to it which is nice when I want to shoot at the beach with spraying mist.

If you want a very inexpensive, lightweight, mid zoom lens, this might be worth considering. Personally I think I might opt for the 18-55mm DX if looking for a DSLR instead of film, though this comment is based solely on the reviews I have read.

Customer Service

Never needed

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Nikon and Tokina

Sharp Images
Lightweight
Versitile

Not very fast (f/5.5) at 80mm
Not good for lowlight work.

The perfect kit lens for your modern Nikon. This lens will go from wide angle (28mm) perfect for landscape and large group shots to a short telephoto (80mm) for portrait work. I picked up this lens to go with my Nikon F80 (N80 for you Americans) and was not disappointed with it. Lightweight, good response, and sharp images.

The first real test of the camera was a fashion shoot with a friend of mine for one of her school projects. I originally planned to use my Nikkor AF-D 24mm lens, but instead opted for this lens, and I was pleased. I did not need to switch lens the entire time through all 3 hours we spent out on the shoot.

In addition to coupling this lens with my F80, I have also used it with my D70s, and the results are wonderful. Even with the 1.5x magnification factor, the lens is even more powerful as a portrait lens.

I am not disappointed by this lens at all.

Customer Service

2 year warranty from Nikon
1 year warranty from Henry's

Have not need to take advantage of either

Very light and compact, therefore easy to carry. What use is the 70-200 2.8 G VR if you cant take it with you? Provides wide angle to short telephoto cover therefore ideal to take along holidays as a 'single' lens.

Plastic lens mount. Has'nt given any trouble, but it still makes me nervous.

I got this lens with my N75 body. The light plasticky feel was'nt too impressive and the negative reviews by pros were not too encouraging either. Ken Rockwell has'nt even bothered to review it at all! When I actually used it, the results were surprisingly good and contrasty. It was also amazing how sharp it was, used wide open and without a tripod. My plan was to get rid of it, but I decided to keep it without any hesitation. My conclusion, even though it is affordable, it provides what Nikkors are famous for. Unless you need to shoot a cover for Vogue on a daily basis, go ahead and get this gem!

Similar Products Used:

Nikkor 35-70 mm f/3.5-4.5 Sigma 28-80 mm f/3.5-5.6

Light weight Very sharp Fairly fast focus

Mostly made from plastic, but I've not had any problems. People will shy away from this lens because it is so inexpensive. Front rotates when focusing Doesn't come with a hood.

Very good lens. This lens is almost as sharp as my 50mm F/1.8 Nikkor lens. I was amazed with the performance of this lens. I bought it thinking it would be a nice lens to just carry around for snapshots. It's perfectly capable of taking great pictures. I bought it new, but got the grey market version for $75. The USA warranty version was $100.

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Sigma 28-70 AT-X

Sharp, cheap, lightweight.

Plastic fantastic!

Excellent throw-in lens. It came as a package when I bought an N80 to replace my dying Pentax ME Super (which I've had since 1978). Construction feels a bit flimsy, but what can you expect from a plastic fantastic? On the other hand, glass is good.. showing very little signs of distortion. Don't let some of the mechanical-masturbators here discourage you. It's a good lens for those on a budget, or as a backup. Always remember, you can get excellent shots out of a disposable camera - these SLR's are merely just an upgraded tool to express yourself.

Customer Service

none needed

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Nikon 24mm Sigma 17-35 Nikon 50mm 1.8 Nikon 75-300D

Sharp, nice contrast and toning. Very good lense considering the price.

Awful build quality

It's a beginner's zoom that produces (in relation to its price, of course) very good results. When using the 80mm at f8.0 the zoom produces very sharp photographs. The manual focus ring however gives you an incredibly cheap fell. Other than that: Keep in mind that this is a EUR 100.00 or so zoom and cannot be compared to a Nikon 85 / 1.4...

Customer Service

Had to contact Nikon reg. a camera once, got a reply just within a few hours after posting a request on their website

cheap, performance o.k.

build quality

I only bought this lense, because i wanted the F75 (N75) it shipped with. It is made of cheap plastic and the focus ring is way too loose. The pictures are sharp enough but colors are a little bit dark. Filter size 58mm, so who has filters this size, eh? Not me, unfortunately. For my normal Slides i use the AF 50mm 1,8 instead. Nevertheless it is so cheap, i use it for shoots in crowded areas (japanese cities..) where you get hit every now and then by an umbrella, a bag... Hope it is strong enough to survive the superfast AF of my friends F5.

Similar Products Used:

50mm 1,8D 24mm 2,8D 60mm Micro 70-300mm ED