Nikon Nikkor AF-S Zoom 17-35mm f/2.8 IF-ED
Sharpness
Value For Money
Nikon Nikkor AF-S Zoom 17-35mm f/2.8 IF-ED
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User Reviews
Value For Money
Sharpness
I've Used The Nikon Nikkor Af-s Zoom Lens For A Li
I've used the Nikon Nikkor AF-S Zoom lens for a little over a year now. I really have no complaints. I have a 3 lens setup. This one and a 50MM Nikkor prime and either the 75-150MM F3.5 E or the 80-200MM F2.8 AF ED. These lenses cover pretty much what I need.
Value For Money
Sharpness
Yes Its Expensive - For Good Reason...
Yes its expensive - for good reason...
Value For Money
For Those Of You Bone-heads Who Worship This Lens,
For those of you bone-heads who worship this lens, why don't you try shooting at 17mm/f2.8 and 20mm/f2.8, blow up the print and judge the results? I have tried this lens and got the following results: (1) significant barrel distortion (2) soft at the corners (3) vignetting. This product is far from perfect, and any good photographer can comment on the results. The Tokina 20-35/f2.8 is by far the better performer, at more reasonable cost, if you are looking for quality, not merely brand. To me, this lens is merely for the sake of convenience. Glad I did not buy it, as I was able to borrow one to try out first!!!
I think the reviewer has some valid points. But using terms like 'boneheads' to describe people who like the lens does not add to his credibility. Why comment on potential users at all? Why not comment on the lens?
Second, distortion is to be expected in such a wide angle lens. It is not something the designer typically worries about. Spherical, coma and astigmatism are much more difficult to correct and that is where his efforts lie. I DO expect image quality to vary from brand to brand, such as MTF from center to edge of field. But I do not believe that distortion will differ significantly between brands.
By the way, I design lenses for a living.
But reading reviews is very valuable and I'm happy to have come across a site where I can read others comments. I have tested Zeis lenses vs cheapo stuff from KMART and found very little difference in performance, but a large difference in price. As the reviewr says, don't buy for brand name.
This lens is incredible. Granted, the comments about softness are ridiculous, and as for the vignetting issue...well, think about this for a moment. 17mm...that's quite a field of view, and any vignetting is the filters/hoods fault, not the lens.
What I really don't understand is how this reviewer can keep a straight face and comment on the lack of AF-S in Nikon's consumer line? Really, what relevence is this in regards to a pro lens? Please stick to the issues at hand and compare apples to apples. And besides, what do you need AF-S/USM for in a wide angle lens? The focusing ring will hardly move do to the great depth of field, or am I misunderstanding wide angle lenses?
Value For Money
I Do Not Own This Lens But Had An Opportunity To B
I do not own this lens but had an opportunity to borrow one for a couple of test rolls. This lens is PRO quality but one must know when and where to use the wide end of the lens. It does not distort if used correctly and is sharp at all apertures. There are many other reviews of this lens and uniformly, they praise this lens. Objectively and subjectively, this lens is an EXPENSIVE, HEAVY winner. And, hey, I like heavy!!!
Hard To Say How Good This Lens Is. But This Lens
Hard to say how good this lens is. But this lens is one of many problems to cause me and many friends change to other system. If you have this lens handy, shoot it at f/2.8 and see what happen!
i have this lens and after shooting over 2,000 shots with it i find it is verry verry sharp at 17mm all the way to 35mm and i have shot them all at night at noon at dawn at dusk in the sun in the shade in the rane in fog in heat indoors out doors with flash without flash with filters without filters on a monpod hand held from a moving car
Why not try shooting at f/8? This seems only to be common sense since almost all lenses perform best at this aperature. Some might say that "I shoot at f/16 for depth of field." I say that if an ultra-wide lens doesn't offer you enough depth of field at f/8 you must still believe that the earth is flat. At f/8, the only thing that will reasonably limit the DOF is the curvature of the earth!
You wrote what? Did you ever use this lens?!
Value For Money
I Waited Several Years For Nikon To Introduce This
I waited several years for Nikon to introduce this lens. Now I'm glad I did. The Silent-Wave motor is incredible. Focusing is fast and almost inaudible. If you shoot as many wide-angle shots as I do you'll want this fabulous optic. It's especially handy when you're covering any kind of social gathering. You can get fairly tight group portraits at 35mm or get the whole room at 17mm! (By the way, after using this lens for a while, 35mm seems like a short tele!) In all a star performer if you can justify the expense.
Like yourself - I am looking forward to this short zoom wide angle lens - but please tell me if it will fit the FM3A Body?
Thanks
Joe
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