Nikon AF 20-35mm f/2.8D Zoom-Nikkor

Bought this lense last year with the 35-70 second hand to replace the 18-70 kit lense. I already had the Tokina 12-24 but figured Nikon would release a full frame I could buy in a few years. (D3 is just too expensive for me :-)

I believe the best pictures I made thus far are from this lense, and use it very often unless I must go really wide on the small frame.

Solid as a rock, probably outlives me

Very good in low light conditions

Very sharp. Appereantly the 17-35 is bit sharper but dont want to pay 4 times for a new lense

I could say flare, but hey I do like flare in my picture :-)

After a ton of research on the web and a visit to B&H in NYC and being confused between the 35-70mm f2.8, 24-85 (f2.8-3.5) and a few others I finally decided to buy this great piece of glass. Let me point out that this lens was not available at B&H so I tested all lenses except this one. 35-70mm f2.8 was great optically but not sufficiently wide. 24-85 f2.8-3.5 produced great colors but results were a bit distorted and the lens was not fast enough as such since the f2.8 was lost as soon as you went above 24mm. I already have an 18-70mm the kit lens so I needed something much better that that. The kit lens is great as long as there is enough light and you stop it down. So finally after reading old reviews and seeing that a lot of pros use it (or have used it) in the nikon legends site I finally decided to buy a second hand (excellent rated) one from KEH. I had heard that this is the best place to buy used equipment. This was my first purchase through them and I must agree that these guys surely have a strict rating system and excellent customer service. As soon as I put this lens on and shot some pictures I was impressed by the color rendition and the excellent contrast this lens offers at all f stops and all focal lengths. For me colors and contrast is the most important aspect of any lens. This lens proves its worth in both these areas. The build quality of the lens is among the best of the best- all metal, internal focus and 77mm filter size. I have already shot more than 500 pictures with this lens and I really know now what I was missing all this while. Since this lens is out of production please get a used one as soon as you can. You basically sacrifice about 3 degrees on the wide end compared to the bigger brother 17-35f2.8 and save about $800. The price of about $600 for a second had lens might seem a bit steep to some but once you shoot some colors with this and feel the build quality of this once most desirable lens you will happily give away $600 and still feel lucky.

Excellent color rendition
Sharpness
Contrast
Build quality
Fast with f2.8 constant.
Very sharp wide open.

Lack of AFS
Manual override of AF focus
Both these downsides are OK for me. Compared to what I paid for this and what optical quality I get I don't mind lack of AFS. Also since I exclusively shoot at AF mode 90% of times i don't mind the instant override of af mode.

excellent

Bought mine yesterday and did some shots with a NIKON D1 for first impressions of that lens. Let me say it in one word GREAT. It has very low distortion and excellent contrast. Can't wait to shoot some color slides.

optical quality !!!, built quality

Maybe the price could be a issue but it is worth every cent.

NIKKOR 24-85

Very nice lens, little distorsion even at 20mm so horizons stay straight, sharpness wide open is ok except for the far corners at the whole range. I did a critical test by photographing stars on Kodak VS 100. The earth-rotation was compensated. In de corners stars got a bit blobby due to some field-curvature and coma. At f/5,6 problems were gone. The ilumination the corners is no problem at all probably only at 20mm f2,8. Mechanically spoken this is a great lens, One minor point is that de lenselement at the back sticks out of the protecting body at 20mm. So its a bit vulnerable to scratches. Optics are on par with the nikkor mf 24mm and the sigma 15-30mm which I compared lately. BUt the Nikon 20-35mm is far better in backlight-situations even with the sun in the image, relatively little flare.

construction, image-quality especially from 24-35mm Lens could be used wide open. Altough not in critical situations.

as most zooms not very suitable for astroshots.

sigma 15-30, nikkor 24mm, Tokina 17mm ATX

none

What a lens! Got mine used in good condition. It was well used, but the optics are excellent. I thought I would be happy with just my 24mm, but now I see the light. Worth every penny!

Constant f/2.8 Excellent color, contrast and sharpness. Very low distortion.

Doesn't have ED lens elements like the 17-35 or 18-35, but it cost the same as an 18-35 and performs almost as well as the 17-35

20mm f/2.8, 24mm f/2.8d, 28-105 (close, but no cigar at 28mm - 35mm)

N/A, but when I have used Nikon USA service, it was quick and efficient (and under warranty).