el color, su color un tanto "pop" y a la vez sedoso, es impresionante, me recuerda a las postales de "Bel Epoc", con fuertes contrastes saturados, pero muy bellos y armoniosos

ninguna, aparte de ser analógico, que para paisaje hay tiempo para enfocar y no es ningún problema

Cuando le enseñe a un amigo fotográfo las fotos que hice en un viaje a Albarracin, hechas con este objetivo 25-50 F/4, lo primero que me preguntó fue que retoque tan impresionante. A lo que le contesté ¿que retoque?, no estan retocadas, son los colores de este maravilloso objetivo. Nunca había visto unos colores iguales, acostumbrado a los modernos zooms quedó impresionado

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a ciera distanccia el 28 F/2.8 AIS, el 20 F/2.8 también resuelve muy bien el 28-50 F/3.5, pero el 25-50F/4 tiene algo muy especial que cuesta de describir

Image quality: subjective image appearance, color rendition, low distortion, no chromatic aberration.
Build quality: built like a tank. It's all metal and glass. It shows us how far lens-makers have devolved with the latest plastic fantastic wonders.
Feel: Nothing feels like a pro-level, Nikkor, manual focus lens. The focus is buttery smooth, perfectly damped, and works the way I wish all focus mechanisms worked. The aperture is smooth, light, and has positive stops at each full f/stop.
Excellent landscape lens.

Age: If you buy one, it may need servicing.
Sharpness: Requires you to stop down to f/8 (wide end) or f/5.6 (50mm end) in order to get good images; f/4 just doesn't work.
Portraits/Still life: Since you have to stop down to f/5.6 or f/8 to get good quality, it's hard to get a good background blur.
Weight: While I love the heft and the feeling of quality, the 25-50 weighs 600 grams. It is NOT a good hiking lens.
Zoom range: Okay, a weakness for some, but I don't care. I generally prefer primes anyway.
Compatibility: on cheap Nikon DSLRs, like the D40, D60, etc, there is no metering. You can use the lens only if you do manual exposure with an external meter.

If you are thinking about buying this lens, especially after reading negative reviews about 'soft' and 'no contrast', please, read on, because mine was both, and now it is excellent.

This is a fascinating lens. It has limited zoom range (2x was considered limited even in 1980) and it's only an f/4, yet it has a giant front element (72mm filter size) and it weighs a whopping 600g. When it was designed and offered for sale (1979-1985), pros weren't much interested, because they worked mostly with primes, and the 25-50 was too expensive for most amateurs.

Fast-forward 30 years. Now rather obscure, you can occasionally find reviews of this lens. While lab reviews tend to be rather tepid, because 'sharpness' isn't up to standard, yet low distortion and limited chromatic aberration are characteristic. On the other hand, subjective reviews usually give glowing accolades based on perception of image quality. On the strength of these reviews, I searched and finally found one as part of a lot of film equipment. You can occasionally find them on eBay, though they are usually being sold by someone asking $300-400 for them.

My first couple rolls of film were very disappointing. No matter how carefully I focused, images weren't just soft, they were blurry, and contrast was dreary. I put the lens away. Last December, I finally bought a Nikon DSLR (D700). While trying out lenses on the D700, I pulled out the 25-50. Results were as bad or worse than they were with my 35mm Nikons. On a lark, I used a small penlight and looked through the lens. There was so much haze and dust I couldn't even see the through the lens. Now I know why all images were fuzzy and low contrast. I sent the lens to be cleaned, lubed, and adjusted (CLA). When it was returned, $140 later, I immediately mounted it on my D700 and started shooting.

What a revelation! Every picture that is focused and exposed properly is gorgeous. They look brilliantly sharp, and colors seem to stand out. Contrast and color saturation are wonderful. When I look at 100% crops, I find that sharpness really isn't that great--it's good, but not even close to my 105mm/2.5. However, as carefully as I've looked, I can't find any CA. None. I can't even find any CA in RAW images. I haven't done any examination for distortion, but of the pictures I've taken, no distortion is apparent.

It does have limitations. Even though max aperture is f/4, you still have to stop down to achieve good sharpness and contrast: f/8 at the wide end, f/5.6 at the 50mm end. This means it will be difficult to get good, out-of-focus backgrounds for any kind of portraiture. On the other hand, it is a great landscape lens.

A much as I like the 25-50 with my D700, it becomes truly spectacular with color slides. Some images seem almost 3D as they leap off the screen. So far, my favorite is Fuji Velvia 50, the 25-50, and my F2A--somehow, it just seems appropriate to use the old warhorse with this lens, even though slides look just as good taken with my F100.

The more I shoot with this lens, the better I like it. I've shot with a fair number of lenses, but only a few have made this kind of impression on me: my Nikkor 105mm f/2.5 (at more than 15 feet), 50mm/f/1.2 (at less than 15 feet), and a borrowed, Leitax-converted, Leica Elmarit APO 180mm f/2.8 (this one will spoil you--I just can't afford it).

In short, if you buy a 25-50, it is a used lens that is at least 25 years old. If you take a few shots and are disappointed in the result, the lens may need servicing; mine did. For a combined cost of about $270 (for me; your mileage may vary), it is easily the best landscape lens I have--not the sharpest, just the best.

Customer Service

I had a CLA by Gus at TLC Camera in North Carolina. It took nine weeks, from putting it in the mail to receiving it, and cost $140 plus shipping. Gus is professional, helpful, and did a spectacular job.

When I looked through this lens the first time, I couldn't see through it. It's amazing that it could make any image at all. The aperture ring was stiff and sticky, and the focus felt almost scratchy. On return, the glass is so clear, it looks like he left out the internal elements!! The aperture ring works perfectly, and the focus is the smooth, well-damped action for which manual focus Nikkors are famous.

Thanks, Gus! I've got a few more gems for you to polish!

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Nikon lenses
AF 17-35, AF 20-35, AF 24-70, AF 28-80
MF 28-50, MF 35-70 f/3.5 Ai, AiS, and 35-70 f/3.5-4.5 (this was a POS).

very good grip,easy to focus and zoom,72mm filters,just right wieght,built like a tank with a great finnish.

f:4 but not a problem with 200 asa and up. Hard to replace now as Niokn didn't make many of these gems. Constantly have to keep the filter clean to stop flare.

Hi guys,,,I am a seasoned Pro and use this lens every day . I still use film with my F-4e's but mostly D2xs with all my lenses. The 25-50 F4 Nikon Zoom is my number one choice for most shots in this range,both film and digital. It produces pictures that have no distorion at all . Yes the corners are a tiny bit soft but who is looking at the corners except in a lab test. I rate this lens at 5 of 5 and against todays lenses.
I have in my bag a Tokina 17mm f3.5 AIS, Nikon 20mm f3.5 AIS,28 and 35mm f2.8 Nikon,50mm f1.4 and 1.8 AFD , 50mm f1.8 AIS,55mm f2.5 Micro Nikon,105 f2.5 AIS Nikon,135mm f2.8 AIS nikon,200mm f4 AIS Nikon,300mm f2.8 AF ED Nikon,and zooms are 12-24mm f4 AF ED IF Nikon, 25-50mm f4 AIS,20-35mm f2.8 AFD, 35-70 f2.8 AFD Nikon,35-135mm f3.5-4.5 Nikon,50-135mm,f 3.5 Nikon,80-200mm f4 Nikon,80-200 f 2.8 AF ED Nikon as well as 2 Vivitar 70-210mm f 3.5 AIS series 1 zooms and 28mm f 2.5 Vivitar AI for the rainy day shots.
Also my favourite of all time is my Nikon F-2s with MD2 and MB1 that I will never sell.
Getting back to the 25-50 ,,it is the best lens in my bag and the same fro the guys I work with shooting breaking news events and spoerts.

Customer Service

Nikon only for me!

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perfect companion is the 50-135 f3.5 AIS zoom ,,20-35mm f2.8 AFD ,Nikon and 80-200mm f2.8 or f4 Nikon zooms with these lenses you can do anything with top notch results in any situation,,,,any..!

Just everything ! see above

Soft at f4.0

I bought this lens in as new condition, October 2006 Kyoto Japan - an amazing lens - I use it for panoramic shots on a D2x - using the The Panorama Factory software
I use 3 Nikkor autofocus zooms and 2 Nikkor fixed focal length manual lenses - very happy with all of them but...
This manual focus circa 1980 zoom beats the lot ! no distortion, no chromatic abberation, minimal flare and ghosting, smooth bokeh, sharp as you like f5.6 - 16
I can only assume that the designers sneaked this one past the accountants !

Customer Service

Nikon UK, used a few times, quick and friendly service

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12-24, 35-70 2.8 , 80-200 2.8, 55 3.5, 105 2.5, all Nikkors

Easy coverage of popular range of indoor and landscape lens ranges.

Fantastic crisp and rich rendition of colour into light at night and during daytime.

The proof of the pudding is in the photos with subjects which leap off the print or slide.

Loose focusing collar but this makes no difference to photos

Paid $AUD200 for this 16 years ago. I have used this lens for night photography on a cable released Nikon loaded with transparency on a tripod as well as for daytime photos handheld and on tripod.

Compared to my other Canon, Nikon and Leica lenses this lens produces brilliantly crisp and beautifully coloured photos that jump up at the eye.

I mentioned to someone knowledgable the extraordinary colour on a par with my Leica R 180 f3.4 Apo and someone suggested that extraordinary colour is a good indicator that this lens must be Apo corrected.

I don't know how the quality was achieved but I will not be parted form this lens.

I am now debating which Nikon digital to buy to allow me to keep using it or if I should go Canon to keep using Leica. I will have to test the latest digital bodies to make that decision.

Customer Service

Never required

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Nikon AIS 28mm f2.8, 50mm f1.8, 300 f4
Canon FD 20mm f2.8, 24mm f2.8, 35mm f2, 50mm f1.4, 100 f4 macro
Leica R 28mm f2.8, 50mm f1.4, 90mm f2, 180mm Apo f3.4

-Covers a good working range of focal lengths -Sharpness extends well towards the corners -Excellent build quality -Stopped down it becomes very sharp but is quite usable wide open

-Vignettes slightly at 25mm -Can be difficult to focus -Quite bulky for an f/4 zoom

I've been using this lens for street and documentary style work of late which is not the 25-50mm's best role but it performs admirably for a fraction of the cost of a modern wide-angle zoom and makes changing from a wide to a normal lens very quick. It's sharp in the centre at most apertures and this extends to the corners quite well. Focussing can be difficult if you're camera is fitted with a split image rangefinder and being only f/4 makes it difficult to judge focus at 25mm. Contrast and tonality are quite good, behind my primes but not significantly so. When you figure that this lens was designed and built in the late 1970s is very very good.

Customer Service

None needed so far, I wonder if Nikon would even repair one these days...

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Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 Nikkor 105mm f/2.5 Sigma 70-200 f/2.8 EX APO

1. Solid build. 2. Useful zoom range. 3. Excellent value. 4. Constant aperture.

1. Not fast or AF. ( not as important for landscape.) 2. Some vignetting at 25 with polariser.

This lens is an enigma! I can find very little written about it and opinions seem to vary greatly. Bjorn Rorslett has good things to say about it on his site. Contrast is excellent. Images ‘pop.’ There is superb clarity and almost a 3d look to some slides. This is a big, solid, well made lens that covers a useful zoom range for landscape work. I would rate it at 4.5 stars for performance and 5 (or more) for value.

Customer Service

Not used

lens construction

no contrast

Purchased it used and sold it again after several months. No contrast, images were flat. Too bad for the image quality-- the lens itself is built like a tank

Customer Service

-

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15-30mm Sigma

1.Sharp, contrasty with high resolution into the corners(maybe beyond the film). 2.Maintain focus while zooming. 3.Solid AIS lens quality.

1. Front rotate while focusing. 2. 72mm filter, would prefer 62mm

This lens can compete with my Contax lens. The lens mannual said it can meet the performance of fixed lens, it also said attention was made to correct lens distortion to the minimum. After thorough testing, I agreed all that's been said. At 25mm it's best at f9.5-f11. From 28mm to 50mm best at f6.5-f11. At these settings, sharpness, contrast n resolution extend to the last mm into the corners. The focus point would not shift while zooming. Other lens with similar performance are 28-50/3.5 and 50-135/3.5. Most of the current zoom which I have tested could not match their performance, other than the AF-S zoom, 35-70/2.8 n 20-35/2.8. Why can't Nikon make lens of this quality anymore!

Customer Service

In Singapore service is very good but sometime quite pricy.

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1.All Contax C/Y zooms n fixed lenses 2.Nikon AFS zooms, all f2.8 zooms n fixed lenses 3.Konica Hexar RF 4.Mamiya 645 Pro

Optical performance. Value for Money (used). Solid built. Zooming lens barrel.

Bulky and heavy (600g). Takes only one thin filter at 25mm without vignetting.

This lens can be a real bargain when bought used. Got mine from the internet for 360 DM (equ. $160). Filter diameter is 62mm and therefore it makes a nice travelling set with the Nikkor 80-200mm f/4 (same filter size, same constant aperture). Hood is rare, extremly big and not very useful (25mm). Found it annoying when in use. Optical performance is great. Tack sharp up from f/5.6. Does not differ visibly from primes. Vignetting is moderate even at 25mm. Disortion is close to zero at wide angle and very low at 50mm. Flare is very low :-)

Customer Service

never needed

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Sigma MF 28-70mm f/2,8, Nikkor MF 28-85mm f/3,5-4,5, a dozen other Nikkor MF primes.