1. Great lens for FILM cameras
2. Real glass and full metal jacket,
3. 3.5 to 4.5 you can't find much of those these days with cheap plasctic lenses.
4. MACRO function is great! This is a great bonus!

1. Terrible contrast and highlights on digital CCD / CMOS sensors
2. Highlights are all washed out!
3. This lens was designed for FILM and not for digital cameras

I have had this lens for over 10 years and used it extensively on sldie film and negative film with no problem. It is a great lens on film cameras. That is where the nice story ends. Since converting into digital cameras 4 or 5 years ago, this lens OVEREXPOSES on the digital CCD / CMOS sensors by as much as 2 to 3 stops! Pictures come out full of highlights and white burnouts! If you seriously still want to use this lenson digital cameras, be sure to set your EXPOSURE COMPENSATION to 3 stops lower to compensate! (Always check your HIGHLIGHTS monitor!) Other than that, a great lens for FILM cameras.
Rating:
5 Stars for FILM cameras
1 Star for DIGITAL cameras

Customer Service

Never needed

Similar Products Used:

28-70 F2.8
300 F4

great glass, manual operation, build quality

weight (for climbing purposes), push/pull design.

This has been a great lens! I love it as a standard-midrange zoom lens that does close-up work very well!

I have used this from closeup flower shots to landscape shots to climbing photography, it has given me sharp, well balanced photos every time.

Solid build, metal barrels, macro at 35 mm, good resolution, good contrast, relative fast (f 4.5) at long end, compared to f 5.6 on today's new consumer zooms. No vignetting on DX sensors. It is not nearly as big and in-your-face as 70-200 f 2.8 or
even the 70-210 f4 (which I also have).

AF a little slow on low light.

This lens becomes the equivalent of a 55-200 on my D70s. I bought it, not for the wide end, but for use as a mid-range tele for the above digital SLR. It is a good HD walkaround lens for candid ethnographic street photography in Mexico and Guatemala - my intended use.

Build quality - 9/10 - just one cut below the more expensive pro Nikkors, every bit the equal to my bag full of AI/AIS lenses, one cut above my 28-105 (8/10), several cuts above my 18-70 (7/10), and many, many cuts above the new DX lenses (4/10) with pastic mounts (already checked out 55-200, no way). It is a work of art, metal barrels, heavy, solid, precise movement of the parts, even a little finger indentatioon in the barrel where one locks the aperture ring to the minimum f-stop.

I tried it outside (it's sunny here in South Texas) taking images of my dogs - the AF is slower than the 18-70, but no hunting. Image quality - the little I've been able to see so far - clear, sharp, good contrast. I've been shooting at 86-100 mm. Here's a quick potrait, hand-held, indoors, f4 with SB800 flash and cropped.

http://www.pbase.com/lahuasteca/image/73556725

To my eyes, it looks sharp, with good contrast.

My reason for buying this lens - mid-range tele-zoom for street photography with my D70s. Everyone talks about the problem with wide on DX- I searched and searched for a good mid-range fast tele that won't break the bank, couldn't find anything, then another post here at photo.net alerted me to this lens. I had been looking at the new Sigma 50-150, but a bunch of mixed reports, and a $680 price tag made me hesitant. Yeah, I'd like a fast mid-range zoom with AFS and VR, but none exists as yet. I feel I obtained a pro-quality lens in terms of build for a bargain price.

Customer Service

KEH - excellent. The lens was advertised as EX+ - it appears brand new. Nikon, well, this lens is far beyond the warranty period so N/A.

Similar Products Used:

Nikon 28-105 AFD, Nikon DX 18-70, Nikon f4 70-210AF.

Build Quality is super, all metal body, heavy, aperture tring, manual focusing is super smooth, great build overall. I have the newer versionof the 18-200 and the build quality is poor, when I take the lens out I am constanty worrying that if I bump into something the lens will break. Not the case with the 35-135mm, this thing is built like a tank.

push pull design

Best all purpose zoom for the money. This lens is sharp, lots of contrast, minimal distortions (it is a FF lens) and from F/5.6 to F/11 it performs identical to lenses costing hundreds more.

Great image quality throughout the entire zoom range

some might not like the push pull for the zooming compared to rotating your wrist; just takes a little getting used to. The weight of the lens takes some getting used to since its built like a tank, but after a while it seems to balance out a D70 or D100 nicely.

This little gem has been forgotten about by many people as a GREAT lens that it truly is. I have used this lens at a few weddings and modeling shoots and it is SHARP. I can't brag about the macro since its not super, but it is better than say a Sigma/Quantaray 28-80 macro I took a picture of an outside wedding reception handheld using only available light and it came out very nicely. I will post some pictures taken by this lens soon. If you can get one of these lenses before the demand for it goes back up you can get it at a bargain price for a nice professional zoom catagory lens. However if you paid over $200 it is a great lens and for the price for what it is you cannot go wrong.

Customer Service

Have not had to use.

Similar Products Used:

everything under the sun by Nikon, tamron, sigma, phoenix, quantaray.

zoom, clean picture, feels tough and ridged. PRICE

the focusing ring is not as firm as the rest of the lens. Doesnt affect anything, but just feels like something is brokes. However it works perfectly

This is a very flexible lens. Perfect for candids. Images nice and crisp (for the most part). A tad on the heavy side, but balances well with my f4. This isnt my most favorite lens, but it is my most frequently used lens for candid photography. For non-candid people photo, stick with prime lens

Customer Service

na

Similar Products Used:

various nikon and tamron lens

Very good construction. Sharp if used correctly. Macro facility is useful.

You need to know what you are doing with this lens - not a snap shot lens for programme mode.

A great travel lens - all you need in one zoom. Well made and fast concidering zooms produced today (unless you have a big bank account). Best used on apreture priority to stop the camera selecting Max or Min apertures. Ok on programme in bright light. It is very tough and has survived many hard knocks from all parts of the World, including a Camel kick in Africa. This is a photographers lens and will prduce good results if you take the hints from the other on this review about controling sharpness etc - but most lenses wide open go soft so the Nikon is not alone here. I love this lens on my F80 for travel - higly recommended.

Customer Service

Not used

Similar Products Used:

Nik 28/80, 75/240, 35/80, F80, F100 Various Sigma attempts !!!
Bronica gear for pro work

Good zoom range and handy for travel lens

Wider angle will be appreciated. Take 62mm filter. Non "D" lens

This is a beautiful lens for my travelling photography. Carry one lens and you are set. This is my first lens and I still using it.

Customer Service

None needed so far

Similar Products Used:

28-200mm, 35-70/2.8, 20-35/2.8, 80-200/2.8, 70-210/4-5.6

nice wide range
has very close MACRO at 35mm
very nice images at f8 or smaller
max 4.5 (which is good these days)-thank god for royal gold 400

heavyish
focussing seems slow- eats batteries
5 feet min AF distance
not great wide open

I've been using my 35-135 AF much more now since I have more free time and find that its optical qualities are quite pleasing. This 35-135 is way better than my compact zoom camera, which made me so lazy and wondering why my pictures looked so awful/washed out. The 35-135 is a bit heavy and does focus slow, but be sure to use it. With 100 speed film in bright light or 400 in fading light, this lens takes wonderful pictures. Wide open (like 90% of the lenses out there, even a 50 f1.4) it is not great at all, but getting the image may be what's important. The range will fit the bill at least 75% of the time, otherwise my 24mm is good for that enviornmental shooting. I have taken some great shots at the long end along with some beautiful portraits. And even some large wall prints of golfers from a discreet distance. In the real world (not the magazine f1.1 fantasy world), with todays advanced films like royal gold 400 and the equivalent nph fujifilm, this lens is taking some of my best shots. Be sure to use Aperature mode to keep the lens at the "sweet spot". (*TIP:most "programs" are set optimally for a 50mm 1.4 standard lens, which leaves your 3.5 to 4.5 to 5.6 or worse zoom in the wide open range, where it likely doesn't have good sharpness nor good contrast)

Customer Service

nada

Similar Products Used:

most average zooms- and most are below average in all measurable characteristics.

Nice range for one lenspersonal travel photography. Good flare control. Much better when used at f/11 on a tripod. Better flare control than the Nikkor Af 35-70mm f/2.8.

Inherent average sharpness due to the extended zoom range. Poor sharpness when used wide open. Not good for low light photography.

Beautiful one lens for personal travel photography.

Similar Products Used:

None