I tried to buy a 20-35 f2.8D just when they were being discontinued and was too late, I sold my 90s & 20mm2.8D to "finance" the purchase of this expensive but exquisite lens. As well as being an excellent scenery lens and fantastic for catching trains up close, it is a teriffic "party" lens with a diffused flash...really nice group shots IF you watch your angles. A bit heavy, but that provides steadiness, just about perfect!!Balances well on my F-100

Heavy, filters VERY expensive if you buy an ultra thin design. Very expensive to purchase, BUT, most excellent fast lenses are....They could leave out that expensive case it comes packed in, most uf us put the lens in our bags and the case in a closet...never to be used again, would save a few bucks...for the price of the case, they could include a polorizer.I miss the black "crinkle" finish like Nikon's other pro lenses.

Loved my 20mmf2.8D, but image quality is equal with this exquisite zoom, allows framing and cropping that a fixed lens can't with NO compromise that I can see. Expensive, but worth it.

Customer Service

Never needed, but their tech support on the phone when I have had questions has been excellent....

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Sold my 20mmf2.8D, also use 35-70mmf2.8d, 80-200mmf2.8D, 60mmf2.8DMicro,& 300mmf4ED..am considering a 28-105mm as a 

I had a Tokina 20-35 but wanted the Nikon for the extra range of focal lengths. A big selling point was the 9" close focusing. I used the lens in Kelso Dunes and was able to photograph texture, line, and tracks very closely. Leaving the lens at 17mm provides a very different perspective when close focusing. I also photographed Indian Rock Art and made photographs entirely different than on previous trips. I teach Landscape Photography and the majority of my adult students might benefit more from a fixed wide angle (20mm-24mm) instead of this very expensive zoom.

I had to sell alot of equipment to afford the stiff price tag. It's a beautiful lens but is large and heavy. I wish AF wide angle zooms were as easy to use as my fixed 24mm when setting hyperfocal. I'm keeping my 24mm when I want to travel light. Also, the user of this lens will probably need an oversize 77mm polarizer to avoid vignetting at 17mm and 77mm polarizers are also expensive.

This is a great lens that I believe will become very popular in spite of it's price tag. Although it was designed primarily for the D1 it's great on the F5 and other bodies where full advantage can be taken of it's focal lengths.

Customer Service

Not needed so far.

Similar Products Used:

Tokina 20-35 Nikon 17-35 f2.8 AF Nikon 80-200 f2.8 AF NIkon 35-70 f2.8 AF Nikon 300 f4 AF Nikon 600 f5.6 ED AIS Nikon 85 f1.4 AF Nikon 105 f2.5 AI Nikon 24 f2.8 AIS

I bought this lens back in December, and after almost three months of use I wonder how I ever got along without it! This truly is a spectacular lens with swift (and silent) autofocus. I know it was designed with the new D1 in mind, but it really gives you that great 17mm "sweep" when used on a 35mm camera.

A little bigger and heavier than I thought it would be but it balances nicely on the F100. And, yes it is expensive. If you don't need the extra 3mms on the wide end, find a used 20-35 for around $1K. And, like most extreme wide-angle zooms, it's very susceptible to flare.

If you're a (very) serious Nikon-toting amateur you'll want this lens sooner or later. If you're a pro, you'll need it sooner or later. The only tip I would pass along is this: If you have a compact 24mm f/2.8, don't sell it! Take it along for those times when you have to shoot into the sun.

Customer Service

Haven't needed it

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80-200mm 2.8 AF-S
28-70mm 2.8 AF-S

One of the best 35mm ultra wide angle to normal wide angle zoom lens around. The silent wave motor is super quick and quiet. I have just bought this lens and love it for every aspect. The optics and picture quality are all first class. The AF-S from Nikon has indeed shown up as it is made for.

Nothing really but I know there are lots of people who say it is too expensive but good stuff will never come cheap. What you pay is what you get. Street price is around USD1600.00 and this baby is hot around town and you might not find it too easily.

I used this lens with my Nikon F5 and this is a killer combo. Never wish anything better than this. Other lenses used are AF 80-200mm f/2.8D ED and AF 60mm f/2.8D MICRO. I am looking to trade for the AF-S for 80-200mm in my next upgrade. I shoot everything and I can heartedly recommend this body together with all the above very fine lenses. These are among the best stuff your money can buy.

Customer Service

Never tried yet.

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Other Leica lenses and I can tell you that this Nikon's line is the same as the best in this world. There is no som

Very sharp edge to edge
Quiet
Fast focusing
Very solid build quality

None.

In the 17-35 mm range, there is no other lens for me. I find that its sharp and without chromatic abberation from edge to edge. Its also very flare and ghost tolerant as well as quiet and sturdy. Why this lens is rated overall at 4.92 is beyond me.

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Primes in the same range
28-70 3.5-4.5

excellent build quality, superb optics, constant f/2.8

not that I can think of

I used to own the AF 20-35/2.8 which I was most happy with. But after the hard time I gave it during the last few years including the photo trips to Turkey, Israel, Jordan and Egypt, I thought it was time to either service it or to replace it. I went for the latter option and tried this AF-S 17-35 f/2.8 lens. I recently took it to Malaysia and my jaw dropped to the floor when I got my slides back. I was amazed by its minimal distortion (important for my architectural shots), good control of flare and excellent colour rendition. There were no obvious signs of vignetting either. The smoother paint finish is smart but looks more prone to scratch than its predecessor's crackle finish. However I can confirm that it is just as durable after months of heavy use. It is true that this lens is heavier and larger than the 20-35, but when it is attached to my F3, F4 or F100, it balances very well and the extra bulk and weight are just not noticeable. This is a truely first class product from Nikon which they should be justly proud of. I will not hestitate to recommend this lens to anyone needing this type of glass.

P.S. If you buy this lens, make sure you turn the lens zoom ring carefully and slowly to note any unsmooth action, as I have come across some samples with such problem.

Customer Service

not required so far

Similar Products Used:

AF Nikkor 20-35/2.8

Nicely hammered black satin finish similar to the finish on the Nikon F5 body.

Warmer and deeper gold coloured band and Nikon ED nameplate compared to the lighter coloured band and nameplates of the AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 28-70mm f/2.8D IF-ED lens.

Engraved zoom ring focal length numbers and M/A mode switch plate letters.

Smooth low-effort zooming and focusing rings.

Solid construction.

Balances well on the F5 body.

Nice bokeh with the nine rounded aperture blades.

Handy fold out depth of field scale provided on the last page of the owners manual. This scale was not provided in the AF-S 28-70mm manual.

Easier to install the HB-23 lens hood on this lens than it is to install the HB-19 hood on the AF-S 28-70mm. One can easily misthread the HB-19 hood onto the latter.

In Canada, this lens is expensive relative to the U.S.A. prices.

Nikon can reduce the price by eliminating the CL-76 lens case that comes with this product. I would imagine most photographers would protect the lens in a camera case, backpack or similar hardware, and store the gold coloured box and black leatherette case in the closet.

Under indoor low light conditions (i.e. 60 Watt incandescent bulb in a 4.5 X 4.5 metre room), light fall off at the corners is strong at the 17mm and f/2.8 settings. The problem largely disappears at f/5.

Barrel distortion at the 17mm setting is visible but it is not as bad as on the Canon 17-35mm f/2.8L USM AF lens as witnessed in some of the photographs published in magazines, newspapers and on the internet.

Pincushion distortion was minor at the 35mm setting.

Although the comparisons between this lens and the AF-S 28-70mm may seem unfair to most; full frame illumination at specific focal lengths and aperture settings were darker with the AF-S 17-35mm lens. Also the AF-S 28-70mm lens is a sharper lens overall. Perhaps one of the top three sharpest Nikkor AF zoom lenses in production.

Even though the AF-S 17-35mm lens is in a different class than the AF-S 28-70mm lens, I felt that sharing the results will assist consumers in deciding which lens or lenses to buy.

AF-S 17-35mm versus AF-S 28-70mm results (tested at f/2.8, 5.6 and 22):

At the 35mm focal length setting, the 28-70mm was sharper and brighter (evenly illuminated across the frame) at f/2.8 and 5.6. The 17-35mm was sharper and brighter at f/22.

At the 28mm focal length setting, the 28-70mm was sharper and brighter at f/2.8, 5.6 and 22.

Flare and ghosting was better controlled on the 17-35mm.

AF-S 17-35mm versus the AF 20mm results (tested at all F5 controlled apertures):

At the 20mm focal length setting, the 17-35mm outperformed the 20mm in edge to edge sharpness, contrast, colour fringing, and especially control of flare and ghosting.

The bottom line:

Because of the awesome angle of coverage, this lens will quickly become the standard lens on my F5. For the moment, it is reassuring to hear from others that the AF-S 17-35mm is the most outstanding ultra wide angle zoom lens in its class. I expected the optics to be equal of better when compared to the AF-S 28-70mm at similar settings.

Customer Service

Have not used yet for the subject lens.

Similar Products Used:

My idea of similar products tried would involve any prime or zoom lens with one or more similar focal lengths and f/stops.

Including the subject lens, the following lenses were:

AF Nikkor 20mm f/2.8D (serial #31505X),

AF-S Zoom-Nikkor17-35mm f/2.8D IF-ED (serial #23128X), and

AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 28-70mm f/2.8D IF-ED (serial #20111X).

Well built, super fast focusing, sharp image, good contrast.

viginets at 17mm with pol-cir filter, Must watch out for flare.

When I compare the Nikkor 17-35 AFS to the Tokina, I am amazed at how much sharper the Nikkor is. The Tokina is no slouch. If you can afford it, get the Nikkor

Customer Service

None

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Nikkor 24-120-good travel lens
Tokina AF 20-35 2.8- good lens, but no match for the Nikkor AFS

Extremely sharp & contrasty. Focusing range of 0.9ft, AF-S blistering fast & silent, very well-built, internal focus technology. Easy to install & remove lens cap with lens hood on -(Supposedly inherent quality). Good resale value.

Very expensive, you can get 5 primes (18mm, 20mm, 24mm, 28mm, 35mm) & have extra $ left for the price of this lens alone, but who wants to change 5 lenses in the field? My HB-23 hood seems abit tight to click into place, probably need abit of usage to smoothen it out. The casing - it ended in my store room right after I placed the lens in my camera bag.

In order to ensure optical performance Nikon incorporated 2 ED & 3 aspherical elements which is why this lens cost a bomb. AF-S on a wide zoom seemed impractical, but once you get a taste of it, you reasoning will go out of the window, moreover coupled with my F100 - WOW!! (I tried it on the F80 & F70 as well). The lens is quite heavy, 745g but compact & is well-balanced on my F100. Because of the IF technology, the entire lens can be held without worrying about hindering the AF operation, providing extra holding area. The lens also does not change length while focusing. It also does not rotate making it easier to use POL-Cir filters provided it is of the thin design otherwise vignetting would occur at the wide angles.
Image is reasonably good wide open, stop down to f5.6 - 8 for enlargements to prevent soft edges from showing up. Good flare control - use hood at all times. Very slight light fall-off at the corners which largely disappears at f4. Very slight barrel distortion at 17mm which is hardly noticeable at all.
In Singapore the resale value of well-maintained Nikkor lenses are normally 85%. It is also a highly demanded item. This means I used 15% of the value listed in price paid to achieve such laudable results. 3rd party manufacturer lens in comparison, even in mint condition can only fetch 50%!! Moreover they may not work on future original Nikon bodies (F6?) due to the reverse-engineering method used to manufacture them.(Which is why I decided to put 5 stars for value)

Customer Service

None needed.

Similar Products Used:

Sigma 28-300mm f3.5-6.3; Sigma 28-70mm f2.8 EX; Sigma 50mm f2.8 macro EX; Nikon 50mm f1.4D

Extrememly sharp, passes, and surpasses some Nikon primes of it's range. Very fast focus. Bright aperature. Solid build. Comes with case/hood. Excellent manual focus feel. Reaches to 17mm.

None

This lens is as sharp as all the primes it comers, with no color fringing, and very little, to no flare even shooting directly into light.
It is a superb lens. Period.

Customer Service

Great

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Nikon:
16 fisheye
24-120
50 1.8
50 1.2
180 2.8
400 3.5
70-300 4-5.6
28-70 afs