Good for shooting in the area of 35-70mm, makes great crisp photos in this range, the lens is priced right for the beginner in photography. It is a Nikon lens and you can't go wrong there. It is a compact lens so it doesn't take up a massive amount of room in your camera bag. The lens is also light so the immediate need for a triod is lessened.

Photos shot at 80mm become blurry, the mount is not made of metal, this lens is soley for Auto focus cameras, if you try to focus it manually forget it, the focus ring is small and horrible to find, I would think that Nikon would have done a better job in that department. Also, when taking landscape shots, the lens lacks the aperture to let in enough light to get a really crisp and full of contrast photo.

This lens is great for the novice to photography, it is easy to use and takes good pictures. This lens is able to go down to a moderate wide angle, and also long enough to get to a moderate telephoto lens. However, I think that this lens shines best at 35-70. The 80mm on this lens is unclear when the photo is blown up past 5x7. Conversely the 28mm lacks the aperture to get a nice crisp landscape shot, unless in direct sunlight. However, this lens is great for quick snaps, and although at somepoints it can be outperformed, overall it is a great little lens that can always be found in my bag

Customer Service

None needed

Similar Products Used:

Nikon 50mm 1.8
Tamaron 100-300 3.5
Nikon 600 2.8 (rented, but I wish one day to own one)
Many other lenses

Well it is cheap and very convenient to use.

It broke after two weeks of use.

If you would like a lens that performs about the same as a good point and shoot, go for it. I would highly recommend the 50mm 1.8 for about the same price. The 50 is much sharper and faster, the wide open apperature lets you blur your background and its great for close ups. If you only want one lens though and mainly take snapshots then this cheap zoom lens is going to make you pretty happy.

Customer Service

Well, since I was sold a grey market lens from Camara City I am waiting for a replacement. DONT BUY FROM THEM.

Similar Products Used:

50mm 1.8 Nikor lens

Light and compact

Noticeable curvature at 28mm when shooting buildings.

This is a great learning lens, but a 28-80 f2.8 or the 28-105 f3.5-4.5 would be a better choice.

Customer Service

None Needed

Similar Products Used:

Tamron and Sigma 28-80 lenses.

Good zoom range, affordable, lightweight.

No distance/depth of field markings, not as crisp as I'd like.

A good lens for beginners and casual photography (travel and family snapshot type stuff), but for serious photographers I'd recommend investing in a higher-end lens like the 28-70 f/2.8 IF-ED AF-S D zoom, or a set of primes (I really like the 50mm f/1.4 AF D)

Customer Service

Not needed(yet)

Similar Products Used:

Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 AF D

cheap price
easy to handle
vivid and sharpness with less flare than it should

plastice but i don't mind for this price

i love this lens even if it is not a pro lens. i can take any picture that i plan without fear about the sharpness, vivid color, or flare. for beginner, it is the goood lens.

Customer Service

no need

Similar Products Used:

None

Weight

Build quality

My lens broke down after a year of light use and always been kept in a soft case. It has from start been difficult to zoom with. The zoom ring does not slide smooth at all, in heat it would hardly move. A while back a weak plastic ring inside the lens suddenly fell off. Now its useless and no warranty left! This is the worst piece of crap I have ever owned. Even as a entry level lens it should not have left the drawing board.

Similar Products Used:

None

Inexpensive, very convenient zoom range, reasonably sharp

Bad manufacturing quality, slow, noisy, cheap molded asph. glass, plastic housing

This lens carries a great contradiction. Placed in, generally, most needed range, it's my most often used lens, BUT - those buying new N60s, listen to me attentively - it is NOT APPROPRIATE for such usage. The common sense, according to professional photographers, says to have the most used lenses most rugged. Alas, I got very disappointed comparing the manufacturing quality to the good old AF35-70: it was so subtle I couldn't believe my eyes; when I tried to focus it manually, the edge of the lens bended (!) slightly in any direction. The tiny lever fixing the aperture is quite impractical and fragile, I already have to move it with a pen.
The lens gives reasonable quality pictures in a limited range between about f/4,5-8, but aberrations can be noticed while magnifying photos out of this range. I also had flare once, and I assure you, the lens was clean.
Destined to beginners, it won't serve them long. I understand fully that replacing it with a separate AF NI 28, 50 and 100 mm will cost much more, but those lenses can already compete (and sometimes beat!) Leica. So I'll do this as soon as I have money.

Customer Service

None yet

Similar Products Used:

NIKON AF 35-70mm
Minolta AF 35-70mm

Sharp, Cheap, light, Aspherical

Build quality, noisy and rough while auto focussing,

Having used the Cannon 35-80mm III and 28-80mm II lens earlier, my first impression of this lens was very bad. The barrel would shake while focussing and wasn't as smooth and made a lot of noise. I could literally feel the whole camera shake in my hand while it focussed from near to infinity and other way around. Also took a long time to focus in low light or didn't focus at all (with Nikon N65).
However, when I got the pictures back I realised that it is very sharp for 4x6 prints and gives good contrast. Any beginner or intermediate photographer would be satisfied with the results. Most of my photographs were taken at f5.6 and f8.0 and at 35mm - 70 mm. According to another site www.photodo.com this lens is sharpest at these two apertures.
Sharpness reduces greatly at f3.5 and f11 and above.
I also found that the pictures were quite sharp when taken handheld at 1/45.
Distortion is acceptable at the amateur level and one can recompose and choose different focal length to minimize distortion.
Comparing to similar Canon lenses, I found this lens a only a 'little' better in sharpness compared to the Canon 35-80/4.0-5.6 III lens (often sold in kit form with the Rebel G) and way sharper compared to the Canon 28-80 II lens (often sold in kit form with the Rebel 2000).
If you are on budget and do not wish to spend too much time & money on photography and will be making mostly 4x6 prints, this is certainly the lens for you. If you are buying this lens remember you trade off smooth, silent focussing for sharper pictures.

Customer Service

Not yet needed

Similar Products Used:

Cannon 28-80mm II
Cannon 35-80mm III

Inexpensive
Lightweight
Fairly sharp
Convenient range

Slow expecially at long end
Flimsy construction
Prone to flare
Signifigant light fall off at long end

An OK lens for a beginner. Lightweight, inexpensive and fairly sharp. Because it is so cheap I feel comfortable taking it anywhere. I also don't fool with a sky filter to protect it - if it gets scratched, O well. It is prone to flare but I am going to get a lens hood for it. Maybe that will help. It is slow, and not much use for available-light photography indoors. I may upgrade to the 28-105 or even the 24-85 eventually.

Customer Service

Not used

Similar Products Used:

Canon 24-85

Cheap, lightweight, decent AF speed.

Cheap built, very plastic(even the mount is plastic!!!), slow at both ends, prone to flare, pictures taken with this lens appear colourless. If you focus manually it is annoying - the focus ring is far too light. There are spaces between the zoom and aperture ring which aren't tight together - dirt can easilly come between them and jam things up.

This is a very bad lens, even for beginner. It is true that it is very cheap but Sigma's 28-70mm f2.8-4.0 costs a few dollars (10 or so) more and is a huge lot better in image and built quality. The only thing I can Imagine that this lens has over the Sigma's is it's resale value. I give it 2 stars for the sake of AF (which by the way sometimes hunts) and the fact that it still works and get's the job done after half a year.

Customer Service

If this lens starts to malfuncion, I would throw it away. It's not worth the money for repair. Otherwise happy with Nikon customer service.

Similar Products Used:

Sigma 28-70mm f2.8-4.0