cheap, lightweight, 52mm filter, reasonably smooth zoom, very smooth focusing ring

very skinny focusing ring, Slow, only average glass

This was the first lens I had, and I thought it wonderfull as a beginners. I would highly recomend it to anyperson looking into a cheap SLR kit to try out. But, if you get serious about photography, don't expect to be 100% satisfied by enlargements bigger then A4 sized paper.

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24-120 nikkor

excellent sharpness, nice proportions, lightweight, inexpensive

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excellent lens, but manual focussing is difficult.

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don't know

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pentax 28-80

I BOUGHT THIS LENS TO USE WHILE MOUNTAIN BIKING! IT IS EASIER TO TRANSPORT IN MY LONE WOLF PACK THAN THE NIKON
28-105 ZOOM THAT I NORMALLY USE. I DID SOME TEST SHOTS USING FUJI REALA 100 AND COULD NOT BELIEVE THE SHARPNESS OF THIS LENS!

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THIS LENS TURNED OUT TO BE SHARPER THAN I HAD HOPED! I PLAN TO USE THIS LENS PHOTOGRAPHING MY RIDING BUDDIES AS WELL AS ANY NATURE I COME ACROSS WHILE ON THE TRAIL!

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NIKON 28-105 ZOOM 3.5 LENS AND NIKON F100 BODY

Very good sharpness even wide open. Light weight. Good minimal focus distance. Ideal for snap-shots.

Slow lens, that couses autofocus problems in low light. Manual focusing is close to impossible. Rotating front element causes problems when working with special filters.

Very good price/performance ratio. Sharpness is better than many more expensive zoom lens.

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Nikkor 50mm 1.8 MF as reference to compare.

Keep in mind the differences between the older metal lens mount and the current plastic lens mount version. I like the metal mount much better. Feels more solid than the current version.
Good range, pretty nice macro (1:2) on a general purpose lens.

None. Sharpness not bad. A 28-80 is more common now than 35-80. Actually, 28-105 is a golden range for a zoon.

Good value in the metal mount. You can find them used on eBay. Retail was $120 when new.

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Light weight and low cost.

The focusing is far too jiggly and loose for good manual focusing feel. I suspect the lens was designed primarily with autofocus use in mind. It's so jiggly that if I bump my tripod, I have to recheck the focus!

This is the lens I bought when I hurriedly had to buy a new SLR that would hold up to heavy use (my plastic-prevalent Elan's plastic gear stripped just before a big project). I switched over to Nikon F3 and, because I was a student, needed to save money on the lens (yeah, yeah, yeah, go ahead and flame me for that; I'm not a student anymore).

People might badmouth this for being a "consumer zoom" lens but it's a terrific value and good quality. One of my professors, upon seeing some prints I made from negs shot with this lens, commented on how much better zooms are than they used to be. I have heard this lens is Nikon's loss leader, so don't equate its low price with low quality.

The one thing I hate is the loose-feeling focus (I almost always manually focus). Other than that, I don't see why this type of lens gets such craptalk.

A HUGE benefit of this lens is its very light weight.

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