A well built lens--metal construction! Outstanding optical performance--sharp, sharp, sharp! Outstanding color and contrast Good balance with F100, or F4 (with MB-20).

Rotating front barrel--very inconvenient for me when using C-P filter. But I''m going to trade that for an inferior optics! No, no!

My only regret is that I should have owned this lens a long time ago. Starting out my hobby as photography 3 years ago, I thought I was being smart by reading and taking advice of other people on the website about the performance of this lens (and every equipment I want to get). Boy was I wrong, or have I read and taken the wrong opinion from the wrong person? At any rate, this lens is a super performer. It’s not too heavy or too large (compared with the AF-S Nikkor 28-70mm or the Tokina AT-X PRO 28-80mm); it’s well built, and sharp, sharp, sharp! Outstanding color and contrast. This is now my standard lens in the bag, with my 20-35mm and 80-200mm. In spite of the fact that I have to carry a different set of filters for this lens, its performance is every bit worth the sacrifice! My mistake for not getting this lens for a long time was based partly and more so on comments of other people (supposedly pro’s or experienced photographers). Some say the lens does not cover much of useful range; some say this lens sucks!; some say you could get a much cheaper 50mm f/1.8 lens and you can “zoom” it with your feet to cover the 35-70mm range; and plus the 50mm lens is 1 1/3 stops faster. After thinking about it for a while I thought to myself. How can you practically “zoom” your 50mm lens with your feet when you are restricted to one spot? What was the original intent of a zoom-lens?—you can zoom without moving your feet, not that you are lazy but due to other restrictions. And finally, with a 50mm lens being faster than the 35-70mm do people always shoot at the widest aperture 1.8 or 1.4? I also have a 50mm f/1.8 and never shot at f/1.8, because of my required sharpness and dept-of-field! Influenced partly by those people’s comments I decided to get the Tokina AT-X 28-80mm instead of this poorly rated 35-70mm lens. I thought that Tokina would be a better choice, because the Nikon 35-70mm has all the negative attributes, such as rotating front barrel (inconvenient for C-P filter), push-pull zoom, absence of instant MF/AF override, the “wrong size” of filter I use (77mm), and the short focal range. But the negative attribute was never the optics, and that was the gravest mistake I made or believed. I also mistakenly thought the Tokina’s optics would be better or comparable to the Nikon 35-70mm. I never realized the inferior optics of Tokina to Nikon 35-70mm until

Customer Service

Never used one, even for other Nikon products.

Similar Products Used:

Nikon AF: 35-70mm f/3.5-4.5, 24-120mm, 50mm f/1.8, 24-50mm Nikon AF-S 28-70mm f/2.8D ED Nikon MF 55mm f/2.8 Micro-Nikkor Tokina AT-X PRO 28-80mm f/2.8 AF Sigma 28-105mm f/4-5.6 AF Tamron 28-200mm

Compact and light, reasonable wide angle zoom coverage

Zoom mechanism in that need to pull out the lens. Lesser wide angle coverage compared to 28-70 2.8D lens.

Great lens as its compact and covers a reasonable wide angle zoom range, although less compared to the new 28-70 2.8D lens. Very bright lens with ckear potraits.

Customer Service

Never had to contact Nikon customer service!!!

Similar Products Used:

28-70 3.5-4.5D lens

Fast both in operation and F-stops Very good optics, specially 35 mm is super Solid like a rock, not for chicken to carry Only 62 mm filter

It´s long @ 35mm ( but so what ) Front hood is a little childish

Is somebody judging a lens by it´s design here? This lens performs and performs and performs without any questions asked. The short 35-70 range is perfect since you can trust that it performs in the whole range as it should. Take any other zoom and you have problems in either end of the zoom range. Yes, it´s true that only 35-70 instead of 28-70 and makes you move around the scene more for the angles and sometimes you loose a part of the scene. But, if you want a lens that covers everything, make the compromise 1) on quality and buy a 28-200 or 2) on price+size and buy the AF-S 28-70. This kind of push-pull zoom is perfect for really fast action - you never miss the shot trying to hold the camera, pan and rotate the zoom ring at the same time. For action people, I think both the 80-200 and 28-70 ranges should have push-pull zooms instead of rotationals. Maybe Nikon could make wonders and build AF-S into this lens together with a non-rotating front ring.

Customer Service

None

Similar Products Used:

AF-S 17-35, AF-S 80-200, AF-I 300

2.8 sharp contrasty

rotating front( actually not a problem for me as i don use filter when shooting people

bought this lens when i saw it new at US$340 in a shop. have since shot abt 4 rolls and very please with sharpness, color and contrast. some say the range is limited and compare it with a 50/1.8 saying its just abt 2 steps forward or backward leg zoom. i bought this lens perticularly for low light people photography. in Asia, there are a lot of interesting backlanes that offers great photo opportunities. but the lans are so narrow that to move 2 steps backwards to capture is just not feasible. 35 gives a good view of the stall and him whil 70 gives a good isolation of the stall holder. at 2.8, i can barely get a 1/125 w a 800 film.for my purpose, this lens is great

Customer Service

nil

Similar Products Used:

sigma 28-80 tamron 24-135(great travel lens) PENTAX 35-80

Sharpness Contrast Weight Excellent balance on a F5, F4s or F100

If any, the filter rotates as it focuses, so with a polarizer it has to be realigned. No big deal.

A gem of a lens. A worthy companion to the 20-35mm. Much underrated for its "limited" zoom range. Very sharp and contrasty. Quite inexpensive relative to the 28-70mm f2.8D ED AF-S. It has become my people lens. So sharp at times I need to add a Nikon Soft 1 filter, specially for mature ladies. A keeper in my bag.

Customer Service

None required on anything Nikon, so far.

Similar Products Used:

35-70mm f/3.5-4.5 AF 35-135mm f/3.5-4.5 AF 28-70mm f/2.8D ED AF-S

Lens Optics,Build Quality, Image Quality, Operation, Good Value for the money. F2.8 Fast.

No AF Funtion on macro and the lens barrel rotates when focusing so you have to ajust the polarising filter.(not a major flaw for me).

This is a realy good chunk of glass. When I purchased my F100 a year ago the sales assistant suggested the 28-80 plastic zoom f3.5-6. (It was a stretch to buy the camera)It was cheap but sadly this was reflected in the quality of the finished prints. After putting up with it for a while I finally took the plunge and bought this lens, mainly after reading the reviews here. This lens has been around for a while but when you use it you can see why.The finish is excellent and the optics are astoundingly sharp. This lens is a definate classic! It may not have all the fancy bells and whistles of the APS lens but its less that half the price here.If you are serious about taking pictures and you want a good well designed product that is very close in quality to a prime lens then buy this lens. For the cash it is a bargain and works well. I have shot some landscapes at dawn and dusk and there is very little flare. The lens is well balanced with the F100 camera body and the autofocus is quick and accurate. The APS Lens I tried was a whisper quicker and quieter but look at the price.The only comment I would make on the negative side is that the macro is a manual one, no AF, however the quality of the lens in macro mode is still very high especially with slides.I also shot some portraits of the kids and I was absolutly stunned they were sensational the colours were rich and saturated and the image was very sharp spot on in fact. Get his lens before Nikon replace it with some mediocre plastic rubbish.For the money you are just not going to find quality like this anywhere else.

Customer Service

Have not used

Similar Products Used:

Nikon 28-80 F3.5-5.6 Nikon APS 28-70 F2.8

SHARP!! and VERY CONTRASTY! Great in any environment. I''''ve shot with this lens in Rain, snow, and desert heat with no worries at all!

Have noticed slight distortion at wide angle. Learned quickly to keep film plane parallel to subject with this lens. Push-Pull?

Outside of shooting I''''ve worked sales at a local camera shop here in town for a few years. I have the unique opportunity of being able to constantly review equipment of various grades from pro level to consumer. Being a nikon fan of several years, I an tell you this one is one of their best ever! Sure some say it''''s dated etc. etc. blah blah blah. Well heres one for you, I''''ve noticed over time that nikon sometimes embodies the motto "if it ain''''t broke don''''t fix it". The fact that this lens has been in production scince 1988 and is still selling well new and hard to find used is a testiment to its overall quality. I shoot weddings and portraiture professionally outside of the shop and I have relied on this lens for some time now. Not even making the switch when I bought my 28-105mm. The 35-70 2.8 is RAZOR sharp even when shot wide open! The contrast is also superb almost equalling a few primes in its focal length. Build quality is fantastic also having that solid, cold, heavy feel of reassurance only found when the best glass is on your camera. Flare control is pretty good, I must say though I wish that the HB-1 hood was a little deeper at times. For outdoor landscapes this lens really shines at around F8 or so! All in all theres not really anything bad I can say about this lens. Some consider it''''s range of only 2x a bit narrow, but if you''''re like myself who started out with a 50mm prime, 35-70mm is a GREAT "standard" lens! Price is right for a constant F2.8 zoom, especially when compared to 28-70mm f2.8 for twice the price. (And the 28-70mm doesn''''t perform as good at 35mm setting either!)

Customer Service

None needed Thanks Nikon!

Similar Products Used:

18-35mm f3.5-4.5 Nikkor, 28-105mm f3.5-4.5 Nikkor, 80-200mm f2.8 Nikkor 50mm f1.8 Nikkor, 55mm F3.5 P.C. Micro Nikkor

Solid construction.

A little heavy. Flare.

A very nice lens that I bought second-handed (a new one is too expensive :-) I used it the first time during my holiday in Chile and Easter Island. Pictures are very sharp, nice and beautiful colors.

Customer Service

Not needed.

Similar Products Used:

Nikon 20mm f2.8 Nikon 28-80mm f3.5-5.6

SHARP and VERY CONTRASTY! will give almost 1:1 reproduction when used with nikon 6T close up lens in "macro" mode with corners still sharp especially at F5.6-F8. Excellent mid focal range lens, even shot wide open at 2.8!

Bokeh is good but I think could be even better with nine blade diaphram. Polorizers can be a pain so be patient.

Oustanding sharpness, contrast and overall quality you''d expect from a fast nikkor zoom. This lens is definately my "standard" lens. Some may complain of its focal range but, if you started out on fixed primes like I did, it sure beats a 50mm for convienience, and you won''t lose the optical quality (as you tend to with long range zooms). Lens is of push-pull design which I dont really mind, but do hope nikon will upgrade into a two-touch (given it''s production run I''m suprised they havn''t done it by now). My only real complaint is that it''s focusing design can be a hassle when using circular polarizers or square grads. Otherwise a fantastic "standard" zoom without the cost and bulkiness of the 28-70mm F2.8 AFS. When you see the first roll shot with this lens, you''ll throw that 28-80mm F4-5.6 in the garbage!

Customer Service

Never needed, thanks Nikon!

Similar Products Used:

80-200mm F2.8 nikkor, 18-35mm F3.5-4.5 nikkor, 28-105mm F 3.5-4.5 nikkor, 50mm F 1.8 nikkor.

Exellent performance through zoom range. Solid construction and feel.

Too tasty to fungus? Somewhat flare prone. A bit large. Manual focusing too loose. Rotating, exposed focusing ring (a minor pain with filters). Painted numerials wears off after a while.

It CAN be a fantastic lens but it''s a little dated now (mine is almost 10 years old) and Nikon could surely improve on this for the same price. I actually like the weight while shooting (not carrying!) for stability. It''s well balanced on the heavier Nikon bodies. If you need that wide aperture and excellent image quality the weight is worth the burden. I''ve had a problem with fungal attack on the internal lens elements twice now (same lens so perhaps it wasn''t thoroughly cleaned by Nikon first time around). I don''t know if this is a common problem with this lens. My suspicion is that the large dimensional change as you zoom is partly responsible. This pulls air in and out, possibly sucking in fungal spores in certain environments (in humid Cambodia in this case) Please note mine is not a D type but I believe the optical/mechanical design is the unchanged (except the aperture lock which is improved on the D type - it breaks off easily on the non-D).

Customer Service

Good first time around, they managed to get the fungus off. Poor second time. Couldn''t get the fungus off and it took 6 weeks to be told this (come on Nikon UK, get it together)! Nikon offered a ser

Similar Products Used:

Nikon 35-80mm f/4-5.6 AFD Nikon 50mm/f1.4 AFD