Build quality and materials way ahead of most of today's Nikkor lenses.
As good on FX Nikons as on Nikon film cameras for which it was originally designed.
Some characteristic edge softness wide open makes this a super portrait/wedding/street lens.
Excellent colour characteristics, saturation, vibrancy at normal settings.

Heavy and a bit unwieldy.
A bit slow on AF and difficult to use quickly on MF.

My example is just 30 years old and was bought new with a Nikon 2002 AF film camera body.
It had been quietly asleep for 15 years but last week I attached it to my newly acquired D800 - such a good combo I have
pretty much left it on permanently. The AF seems to be faster now and the results have even more pop and sparkle than
I remember. The push/pull zoom seems a bit counterintuitive after using so many modern zooms but I soon got used to it .
The Bokeh is outstanding even at f5.6 which is my most used aperture on this excellent lens. At less than $100 on eBay
it is an absolute steal.

bit heavy but not much..- stable i could shot in 1/8s in low light
colors very nice & seems 3d
sharp lens
can you in bright day light with out flare
usable focal length for travel dx & specially fx
f3.5-4.5 seems fast enough for a zoom lens like 18-70m rather than f3.5-5.6 of some modern lenses
built like tank w/c i love
zoom effect can be experimented to movie mode
nice macro feature which is a bonus w/c also can blurr the background very well for portrait at daylight at 105mm and sharp
nice details on the shots when focus very well
focal length very effective on FX bodies
52mm filter!!
cheap lens
will meter on FX & midlevel bodies
flexible due to zoom range

slow not a f2.8
focal length for fx body not wide enough
no af
new lens is more convenient to use as of today.
can't be use for fast actions
limited wideness on DX
few reviews
no metering in cheapest dslr
i observe that boke is not that good compare to 50mm ai-s & 105mm pc

i really love this lens..got it from my grandfather.he recommend it to me,he also like this lens when he was working in UAE.He used it as all-round lens during film days and weddings.nice optics.I'm searching few reviews about this lens but its sad that there are only few reviews i got except to this site.
For me,i'm not a pro but a beginner but i really like it.i notice the IQ of it and compare it to my other old lens & prime including some few new lens of my d40,and it really stands.color rendering was very nice & sharpness which i really admire.I done a night cityscape at f16 / 30s of the building around.& i see the details and amazed for some results..i recommend it for landscape shots & travel..
today there where lots of new lens that's fast & has AF & sharper.for convenience sake i'll use newer lens as a all-around kit.
but for image quality..i recommend it..
maybe i'll just keep it for future FX body..
im also wondering if i would use it on d90 upgarde on movies for zooming-in & out.
i'm not a pro..just some personal opinions & observation regarding this lens.i maybe mistaken

Similar Products Used:

nikkor 50mm f1.8 ai-s (sharper at 2.8)
nikkor 105mm f2.5 p.c (sharper at f3)
nikkor 28mm f2 ai-s (boke nicer)
nikkor 300mm f4.5 ai-s (bit sharper)

Build quality, it feels like it won't break on you if you drop it
Push-pull style zoom is smooth, focus is smooth, and its pretty easy to put it into macro mode.

3.5 aperture, but its really not a weakness

My grandfather gave me this lens along with a couple other manual focus lenses. I've used it mainly for portrait work along with some nature/product photography work. Its built like a tank, and it feels like one.

I've mostly used this lens with my D2h, and I love the images I've gotten from it. I used it at a wedding I shot for about a half hour or so, and again I was very pleased with the image quality. The macro feature on the one I have works pretty good as well. Its a push-pull style zoom, and I've found that when the lens is mounted it tends to want to creep down on me.

Customer Service

I've sent in a couple cameras/flashes to Nikon, and I have been very pleased with them.

Similar Products Used:

Nikon 50mm 1.8 AIS, 35 2.8 AIS, 80-300 AIS (I believe its an 80-300)

Hand holdable,compact,takes 52mm filters. No flare at all.Takes the place of 35mm,50mm,85mm and 105mm.Real usable for volleyball and general beach activity.I love the push-pull.

Gets a little slow is my only complaint.

Very nice zoom lens. No flare at all, even at the beach when used with the HB5 hood.The focal length is great for film and fine for digital on my D70.I took thousands of pics this summer at the beach with this and my 200mm F4 and my D70.This is an outdoor lens because it gets slow at F4.5.

Customer Service

None needed. Seems very rugged.

Similar Products Used:

24-85mm zoom.

Handling Build Quality Sharpness

Like all lenses, softer at the aperture extremes, than those at the mid point. Something we expect and get used to however.

A decent lens, that's free of hassles in day to day use. Price quoted is in UK £

Customer Service

Not required with this product, but from previous experience with others, Nikon UK are always quick to deal with queries.

Similar Products Used:

RB67 - 50, 90, 180, 360 Sekors D100 - 18-35, 70-300 Coolpix 990 Contax G2 - 28, 45, 90

Convenience. Robust construction.

Weight, which is normal for an all metal zoom lens. Price, a Quantaray from Ritz camera would probably give similar results.

OK for a zoom lens, enlargement limit is 5 x 7 max, anything larger looks soft. Use with a high speed 400+ film, the resolving power is not good enough for any finer grain film and it is a bit slow.

Similar Products Used:

35-105 AF D Nikkor

Solid, versatile, close-focussing macro feature

bit heavy?

Very versatile lens. I used it for just about everything whilst working around Peru. Great for people, landscapes, then whack it into macro and add a +4 filter and it's superb for orchid details. Pleasure to use and very sharp.

Small, light, good zoom ratio, reasonably priced, 52mm thread, pseudo internal focusing.

No DOF markers (what else is new), sharpness not all that good at 105 at the edges.

This is quite a nice, compact, reasonably priced, "internal focusing" lens. I''ve used it quite a bit for travelling photography and for casual picture taking. Overall, the lens performs reasonably well but at 105mm, detail gets a bit soft, especially at the edges.

Similar Products Used:

35/2, 35-70/2.8, 85/1.8, 50/1.2, 55/2.8, 50/1.8, 105/4 micro, 105/2.5. All Nikon.

Solid metal feel. Smooth focus. Handy macro feature with locking macro ring (very cool interface). Optically very sharp. Good focal length coverage.

Somewhat slow.

Love this lens. Great single-lens solution for my F3. Although the 3.5-4.5 speed is nothing to get excited about, for outdoor shots of nature and people, who cares? The macro function has made itself useful on many occasions, like when people want to crowd the camera. I also love the reduced depth of field with the macro function while taking portraits. The push-pull zoom action has allowed me to do some multi-second zoom exposures that are nice (I love doing this with neon signs for some reason). I could never sell this lens, because I couldn''t bear to part with it. With the lens/body Nikon case, I''ve got a great portable rig. With it in my big backpack, it fills up the midrange when added to my 50/1.4, 24/2.8, and 70-210/4. You might be able to snag this baby used.

Similar Products Used:

None

solid construction
all purpose
sharp images

heavy (compared to plastic AF)

For about 15 years this was the only lense I use at home & while traveling. No complaints waht's so ever. Best allround--it had to be.

Customer Service

none needed after purchase

Similar Products Used:

18-35 AF
28-80 AF
70-300 AF
100-300 sigma MF
50mm E Nikon