Instinctive, sharp, great range, looks sexy, pleasing finish-a joy to use.

Distortion at edge on 17mm-correctable in Photoshop CS.

Excellent build, quality from first touch. Smooth operation in manual and autofocus. Mates perfectly with my Kodak 14N producing edge to edge clarity.

Customer Service

Not yet needed (touch wood!)

Similar Products Used:

Nikon 15mm 5.6 Nikon 20mm 4

Auto focus is brilliant! It's virtually inaudible and instant in operation. Colors rendition is very accurate and contrast is just right. The optical results are excellent throughout the zoom range. On a 35mm (F6 or F3HP), the zoom gives you very dramatic angles of view at the widest end (17mm-24mm) and at the narrowest end (35mm), it puts you close to normal lens perspective. (On a digital camera with 1.5 crop factor, you still get dramatic wide perspectives (at 25.5mm equivalent) and true normal perspectives at the narrow end (at 52.5mm equivalent). Very versatile. Works very well on manual focus, with large aperture giving a bright view for focusing.

A bit heavy and requires large filters (77mm).

I have used this lens for more than 2 years now, on both manual focus bodies and auto focus. It hasn't let me down at any time. The images come out crystal clear and sharp. On my manual focus (F3HP), it's very easy to focus sharp images. (At first, I was surprised when I found that the focus ring, after meeting moderate resistance at the end of either the infinity or close-focus limits, would keep spinning--without any further effect on focus of course. But I found out that this was normal and the way the lens focus ring was designed to operate. Once you get used to it, there's no problem and you know when you've reached the focus limit.)

The best of every respect. Sharpness, contrast, reach tonality, AF like a flash, silent and smooth.

None.

The best wide zoom from Nikon ever. Among best lenses of world's lensbuilding industry.

Customer Service

Never needed.

Similar Products Used:

A lot of them.

Speed, design, build, quality, performance.

Expensive

Got this lens for my F5 and have been impressed since day one. It has also come in real handy with my D1X. Build is awesome. Focus is instant. Shoot the occasional wedding and it stays on my camera. Great lens for altar returns, digital or film. Don't like to think about my photography without it.

Customer Service

Haven't needed it.

Similar Products Used:

17-35 IF 28-70 IF 50 1.4 D 60 2.8 Micro 105 2.0 DC 80-200 2.8 D

Performance.

Weight, price. I also much prefer the old Nikon crackle paint finish you get on some older designs, like the 85mm F1.4 I purchased at the same time.

Everything about this lens is spectacular - price, weight, performance. I upgraded from a 18-35 F3.5-4.5. Was it worth it? Well, the 17-35mm is the same, but more. Performance at f2.8 is respectable and useable on my full-frame Kodak 14n. In fact, it is as good as some mid-price zooms ever get. Stop down, and it gets very sharp by F5.6. There is some distortion, but not quite as much as the 18-35mm. Overall, it is just that bit better all round than the 18-35mm, plus it has Silent Wave focussing. So, its a very good lens, but at a very high price.

Customer Service

Not tried

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18-35mm is the closest. many others.

AFS for fast, quiet AF. It is as sharp as primes so it is like having 5 prime wide angle lenses in one. Image quality is amazing. Solid build

A bit heavy because of it's solid construction.

This lens is simply WOW!! Not very often do I have around Aud$4000 to spend on photo gears, but when the opportunity came, I had to decide. I was considering between a DSLR (D100 or S2), and the 17-35mm. At the end, the lens won and I'm glad I did (A DSLR dropped so much in price in the past 6 months). This lens is so sharp the photos simply jumps out at you. And the AFS is just smooth and fast.

Sharp, great colors, and good contrast. Compared to the 20mm/2.8AFD prime the colors from this zoom lens are much more vivid, contrast is high but not as bright as 20mm (which is very good). MF override without flipping any switches - just turn the focus ring at any time (while on AF) - wow! Built very solid.

Big, heavy, and expensive. (Definitely keeping the 20mm prime for it's small size) Only MF with my N8008.

I own the 20mm/2.8AFD and wanted to get a 24mm prime but tempted by this lens. It is incredibly expensive for me. I tried the 20-35mm/2.8AFD but the lens is faulty - gave me inconsistent shots but some came out great. So I decided to take the plunge. I closed my eyes, grit my teeth and almost crushed my credit card in my hand as I placed the order. The day I got it, I looked the receipt at how much I have spent and cried like a little girl out of guilt. But the next day I took some practice pictures with it and compared it with my 20mm prime. WOW! And I thought my 20mm prime was sharp and contrasty. This zoom lens is a bit sharper than the prime AND the colors are much more vivid. I use a Nikon D100 and used to set Cloudy -3 WB with my 20mm and still needed to increase color saturation often times with Photoshop. But the colors from this lens is so vivid and detailed, I have to set my WB to Cloudy 0 without needing to increase the color saturation. I need to exeriment more with WB using this lens. I don't see any light falloff at the corners even at 4.5. The AFS is dead silent - almost noiseless. This lens is short of incredible - but freakin' expensive. At the end of the day, I come out with a smile and dried tears in my face... This lens is great for quick candid shots - it's like having the 20mm prime but with fine tuning of perspective with the zoom.

Customer Service

Haven't used it yet.

Similar Products Used:

Nikkors 20mm/2.8AFD, 50mm/1.4AF, 35-70mm/3.3-4.5AF, and tried the 20-35mm/2.8AFD

* very sharp & brillant * very versatile lens * fast & quiet AF * 77mm to fit filters for most professional Nikon lenses * excellent built quality

* heavy and big * expensive

The 17-35 AF-S is an excellent and very versatile lens. Every so often, I use it along with my 85/1.4 for travel (no other lenses needed). It is as brillant and sharp as the best fixed focal lenses. However, it might be not the right option for everybody. Sometimes, a 20mm/2.8 would just do. However, for me it is the perfect standard lens (I do not use angles from 35-80mm any more - too boring).

Customer Service

* Fast and professional

Similar Products Used:

* Nikkor 20,24,28, and 35mm fixed focals

Useful zoom range for landscape shots. Very sharp image even at the edges. Distortion is well controlled, but become visible wider than 24mm. Of course, most ultra wide angles have the same problem. Colour production is very good and balanced. AF speed is fast. Very good constriction and built like a tank. Flare control is good, but not excellent.

Heavy compared with old 20-35/2.8, but that is why having a solid constriction. Pricing, almost the same as Contax N17-35.

There is quite a problem of flare control of old 20-35/2.8, but AFS version really improved, but still sometimes see a very little flare in sunset shots. I tried to take a image of magazine on the floor with using tripod and then enlarge the image to 10X12", the words of magazine are clearly shown. AFS function can still work with old nikon bodies like F4 and 90X unlike those G mount lenses.

Customer Service

HK nikon is very good.

Similar Products Used:

nikon 20-35/2.8, pentax 20-35/4, etc.

Very nice reach on D1X Very very autofocus. Real sharp

It's a bit expensive here in Europe Beside of that no weaknesses at all.

Excellent lens on D1X. Very fast autofocus and tag sharp.Very nice contrast and colours. You can't go wrong with this lens. It's my second used lens behind the 28-70/2.8.

Customer Service

Not needed yet for this lense

Similar Products Used:

28-70/2.8 AFS Nikor 60 micro/2.8 Nikor 300/4 AFS + TC14EII and TC20EII Nikkor 70-200/2.8 AFS VR IF ED Nikkor 50/1.4