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Nikkor
20mm f2.8 AF-D - A fine lens that has brilliant color saturation.
Velvia chromes look like they had the benefit of a polarizer when they
had not. I thought about buying my own before settling on the 18-35mm
zoom lens for its versatility and convenience. If I was a prime lens
snob then I would make sure I had one of these in my collection along
with the 24mm, 28mm, 35mm, 85mm, 105mm and 180mm lenses. I wouldn't
exactly enjoy carrying a bag full of primes though and for my needs
from 35mm format, not necessary. |
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Nikkor
24mm f2.8 AF-D – A fine wide angle lens and quite frankly
I was foolish to have sold it (but that’s a bit of a story, which I may
tell later on). I would consider this to be just about an ideal focal
length when dealing with wide-angle lenses. It is neither too wide nor
too long so you can obtain a satisfyingly wide perspective without as
much blatant distortion as with a 20mm or wider. But if the altered perspective
is your thing then this lens is also capable of it too. Small but solid
and no vignetting when a protective B&W UV filter was mounted. Of
course you must remove it when working with polarizers otherwise you’ll
have nice little black triangles in the corners of your frame. |
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28mm
f2.8E AIS – I only had this lens for a short while during my brief
honeymoon with the EM body but after the EM’s meter died and my rededication
to 35mm autofocus, I sold this lens off. It was otherwise a satisfactory
lens if lightweight but not really any lesser then today’s autofocus lenses
in terms of build quality. I never did much serious work with this lens. |
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Nikkor
35mm f2 AF-D – I wish I could say something about this lens but
alas I cannot due to my borrowed sample having the sticky diaphragm problem.
Every shot I’ve taken with this lens has resulted in overexposed slides
and at first I was unable to determine why it was so. It negated a prime
and so far only opportunity I’ve had to compare Nikkor lenses to Leica
lenses and it invalidated all of my comparison testing with other zoom
lenses at the 35mm focal length. This is apparently a common problem with
the 35mm AF lens and quite frankly I’m more then a little disappointed
that Nikon’s quality control is so lax as to use inappropriate lubricants
for the diaphragm. One cannot even count on a service call to Nikon to
resolve the problem on a permanent basis. This is an even worse situation
that a $600 CAN lens may end up being worthless after the blasted warranty
has expired.
Update
October 18, 2001 - Some of you may have come across a tidbit of information
at Ken Rockwell's
site about Nikon USA offering a permanent fix to the oily diaphragm
problem of this lens. I called Nikon Canada about the cost of having
this lens serviced for which I was informed that it would cost in the
range of $150 CAN to take the lens apart and clean it. The Nikon Canada
technician in Richmond, BC claimed not to have heard of the world wide
problem of the 35mm f2 D AF lens suffering from the oil problem; first
he had heard of it apparently and as such, would not have known about
any permanent fixes offered by Nikon USA. As the technician put it,
the oil is caused by temperature variations the lens is exposed to.
Hmm...I did not figure a lens sitting in my cabinet for most of a year
should suffer from grievous temperature variations, especially since
none of the other lenses I have on hand, 35mm and medium format, show
any such trend to leaking oil from their apertures. I suppose the Nikon
technician was merely trying to minimize the corporate black eye of
an incompetent design (in terms of the oil problem, not the optics)
but it was still an insult to my intelligence and galls me that I will
have to eventually pay good money for Nikon to merely clean the lens
without any guarantee of it not happening again. |
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Nikkor
50mm f1.8 AF – I’ve owned three of these little lenses and after
the third one, I plan to just keep the thing around. These lenses are
so cheap that there's no excuse for anyone to not have one. Cheap in feel
and build, but very handy to have for low light photography and many would
suggest that it's far from cheap in optical quality. |
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Nikkor
50mm f1.4 AF-D Same Link as Above – My attitude towards
this lens is the same as towards the Made in China f1.8 version of the
50mm lens. Quality control and tolerances are not as stringent as the
Made in Japan lenses and I would really check over a new lens to ensure
that it focuses smoothly and mounts and dismounts smoothly on any camera
body owned. |
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105mm f2.8G AF-S VR Micro comments to come |
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105mm f2.5 AIS comments to come |
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200mm
f4 AIS Micro – I only had this lens for a short time and most of the
time I merely used it as a product shot lens for the older equipment images
on this site. It was a nice lens and interesting in the amount of hollow
tube space from the lens mount to the first rear element. It only went
1:2 by itself but the close focusing of the lens was really nice, especially
with a 2x TC mounted to it. Imagine a 400mm lens focusing to half a metre
(even if it is a slow f8 lens). |
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Nikkon
17-35mm f2.8 AF-S ED - My sample not as good as other reviews
would make this lens out to be for digital capture, e.g. living legend
amongst current lenses. Sample to sample variation probably accounts for
my lens seemingly to be merely average in quality compared to the giant
killer 18-35 lens. Otherwise seems quite stellar with film though. |
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Nikkor
18-35mm f3.5-4.5 AF-D - Very good lens for the money. Optically,
one may not need this over the 17-35 f2.8 lens that costs four times as
much for little else besides build quality and an AF-S lens motor. Definite
giant-killer status for this modest lens. |
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Nikkor
18-55mm f3.5-5.6G AF-S DX - Entry-level lens appropriate for the casual photographer, but not for
the serious one. |
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Nikkon
24-85mm f3.5-4.5 AF-S - Not a bad lens, but not great either. It's not a giant killer for
the money you pay, which isn't very much to get a lens with a ED element
and AF-S lens motor. The ED element appears to be marketing BS that
does not do much for the lens compared to other lenses. |
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Nikkor
24-120mm f3.5-5.6 AF-D – Very nice range, but not great build
quality. Never did much serious with this lens beyond mostly family snapshots.
A bit too slow at the long end to be of much use for portraits. |
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Nikkor
35-80mm f4-5.6 AF-D – My first lens and one that was actually
not that bad but quickly forgotten after I traded it in for the 35-70mm
f2.8 lens. Too much plastic in build especially for the lens mount meant
a bit too much worry as I swapped lenses back and forth. |
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Nikkor
35-70mm f2.8 AF-D – This normal range zoom lens is still the best
non-telephoto lens I’ve ever bought and it still is the best built and
heaviest non-telephoto lens I’ve bought. I’ve recently come across the
website of a professional train photographer who use to shoot Nikon then
switched over to Canon. In his reviews he castigates this lens as being
among the worst he has bought and he used two samples of them, one an
earlier non-D lens and the other a D lens. Quite frankly I’m not sure
what he’s talking about. To be sure this lens is most certainly not perfect
as for as ergonomics are concerned but it’s built like a tank and a fine
optical performer. I almost wonder if the guy was mixing up the consumer
quality 35-70mm lens to this pro-calibre optic. |
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Nikkor
55-200mm f4-5.6G AF-S DX - Entry-level lens appropriate for the casual photographer, but not for
the serious one. |
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Nikkor 75-150mm f3.5 Series E lens comments to come |
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Nikkor
80-200mm f4.5-5.6 AF-D – Of the same mold as the 35-80mm lens
above but otherwise another lens that was not that bad optically. Most
light users would be more then satisfied with the images obtained with
consumer quality Nikkor lenses (some old timers blanch at the thought
of calling these cheaper lenses real “Nikkors” though). |
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(old one ring version) |
Nikkor
80-200mm f2.8 AF-D IF-ED
Every serious
photographer has to own of these lenses sooner or later and the sooner
the better. When I’m out and about this lens seems to be the one I use
most of the time. There’s a thought out there that people tend to see
in certain focal lengths and I think I tend to see within the range
of this lens. I go for isolation more then the sweeping wide vistas
and this lens is key to unlocking that vision. |
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(newer
two-ring version) |
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Nikkor
AF-S VR 70-200mm f2.8 G ED-IF - Nikon's first lens to incorporate
the Silent Wave lens focusing motor with Vibration Reduction, something
that some opined could not be done by Nikon for various reasons. This
lens replaces the older 80-200mm f2.8 AF-D IF-ED lens in my kit. |
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Tamron
SP 20-40mm f2.7-3.5 AF – An otherwise fine lens that I was never
100% satisfied with because it wasn't a Nikkor. Further exacerbated by
the lack of color fidelity compared to actual Nikkors. Sharp enough though
and certainly better built then the Nikkor 18-35mm AF lens that displaced
it from my camera bag. It has however turned me off third party brand
lenses for the time being. |
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Lensbaby - a manual lens that is around 50mm in focal length with an interesting
and quaint way to focus and change apertures. Very interesting way of
being able to tilt and shift thanks to a bellows design. Cheap enough
to try out and have some fun with.
Lensbaby
2.0 - a new version with a multi-coated, dual-element lens
now for higher quality |
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Lens
Accessories
- Teleconvertors
- Extension
Tubes
- Fisheye
Adapter
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