Nikon Zooms | Photocrati

Nikon 70-300mm f/4-5.6G Review Round-Up

If you own or have used this lens, let us know what you think! Leave your comments and thoughts below.

Ken Rockwell

If you are looking for a cheap, lightweight zoom for film or FX this is excellent for the price. I can’t see any reason to buy the so-called ED version over this except for the metal mount and compatibility with my manual focus cameras. On my D70 I can hand-hold it fine down to about 1/125 at 300 mm, at which point only about 50% of my shots are clear. Light weight works against you here, since a heavier lens would do a better job of stabilizing the setup. If you stop it down a little or don’t zoom beyond 200 mm its images look the same as the $1,000 lenses. Just don’t expect it to last in heavy, daily professional abuse. “¦ READ FULL REVIEW

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Nikon 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED AF-S DX Nikkor Review Round-Up

If you own or have used this lens, let us know what you think! Leave your comments and thoughts below. Get information and user reviews for this lens at Amazon:Nikon 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED IF AF-S DX VR Zoom Nikkor Lens

Photo Zone

The Nikkor AF-S 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED DX delivered a more convincing performance compared to its kit companion (18-55mm DX). The resolution is very high throughout the zoom range (best at 55mm) and there’s only a slight decrease in contrast at large aperture settings (200mm). Vignetting at large aperture is quite pronounced though and there’re very pronounced distortions towards the long end of the zoom range. CAs are very low. Corresponding to its price tag the build quality is quite a bit less impressive due to the extensive usage of rather cheap plastics and accurate manual focusing is next to impossible. All-in-all it is a good choice for casual users but the rather small max. aperture is a limiting factor for creative tele photography. READ FULL REVIEW

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Nikon 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6D ED AF VR Nikkor Review Round-Up

If you own or have used this lens, let us know what you think! Leave your comments and thoughts below. Get information and user reviews for this lens at Amazon: Nikon 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6D ED Autofocus VR Zoom Nikkor Lens

Photo Zone

The Nikkor AF 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6D ED VR is a decent performer but it also comes with a few glitches. Optically the lens shows a very good but not exceptional resolution characteristic except at 400mm at wide-open aperture where the borders could be a little better. Vignetting is basically non-existing on an APS-C DSLR and the level of distortions is quite low. CAs are an issue at 80mm and 400mm, less so in between Generally the build quality is pretty good but regarding the price class of the lens Nikon should have used a little less plastic and a better tripod collar. The AF performance is acceptable on the D200 but don’t expect it to be a speed daemon in this respect. READ FULL REVIEW

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Nikon 75-300mm f/4.5-5.6 AF Nikkor Review Round-Up

If you own or have used this lens, let us know what you think! Leave your comments and thoughts below.

Photo Zone

The Nikkor AF 75-300mm f/4.5-5.6 exhibited a very good performance in the lab EXCEPT at the long end of the zoom range. At 75mm and 200mm the resolution figures are very good but beyond there’s a rapid decline in quality. At 300mm f/5.6 the results are downright soft and it takes f/11 to recover the quality to very decent levels across the frame. Distortions are a non-issue with this lens and both vignetting and CAs are well controlled. The build quality is very good and puts most of today’s consumer grade tele zooms to shame – at the price of weight which is probably too high for the general taste of the target group. Regarding the results at 300mm you may consider other options if you require good quality with a 10mp camera at this setting. … READ FULL REVIEW

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Nikon 24-120mm f/3.5-5.6G ED-IF AF-S VR Nikkor Review Round-Up

If you own or have used this lens, let us know what you think! Leave your comments and thoughts below. Get information and user reviews for this lens from Amazon: Nikon 24-120mm f/3.5-5.6G ED-IF AF-S VR (Vibration Reduction) Wide Angle Telephoto Zoom Nikkor Lens – Refurbished by Nikon U.S.A.

Photo Zone

The Nikkor AF-S 24-120mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED VR showed a quite impressive performance for a zoom lens with a 5x focal length ratio. Apart from a few weak spots the resolution figures are very high and on an APS-C DSLR vignetting is not a big issue. The amount of barrel distortions may be a little objectionable at 24mm (only) and the level of CAs could be a little better. Mechanically the lens is roughly in line with other consumer grade lenses made by Nikon so don’t expect a tank-like construction. The VR (Vibration Reduction) is a welcome addition to the feature list as is the very fast Silent Wave AF drive. All-in-all it’s a nice package but on APS-C DSLR the focal length range isn’t all that great anymore and most users shopping for a new lens will probably prefer to have a look at the new AF-S 18-200mm VR II. READ FULL REVIEW

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Nikon 24-85mm f/2.8-4D IF AF Review Round-Up

If you own or have used this lens, let us know what you think! Leave your comments and thoughts below. Get information and user reviews for this lens at Amazon: Nikon 24-85mm f/2.8-4.0D IF AF Zoom Nikkor Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras

Photo Zone

The Nikkor AF 24-85mm f/2.8-4D IF is an very good standard zoom and it was the right decision by Nikon to discontinue its younger cousin (AF-S 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED) rather than this lens. The resolution characteristics is very good to excellent throughout the zoom range with a sweet spot towards the wide end. The contrast suffers somewhat at large aperture settings, specifically at 85mm, but is lifted significantly when stopping down a little. Vignetting and CAs are very well controlled whereas distortions are about average for a lens in this class. The mechanical quality is decent without reaching the true pro grade Nikkors here due to a rather extensive use of plastics and an old style AF. … READ FULL REVIEW

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Nikon 55-200mm f/4-5.6G IF-ED AF-S DX VR Nikkor Review Round-Up

If you own or have used this lens, let us know what you think! Leave your comments and thoughts below. Get information and user reviews for this lens at Amazon: Nikon 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED IF AF-S DX VR Zoom Nikkor Lens

Photo Zone

The Nikkor AF-S 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED DX VR delivered a very sound performance with very few weaknesses. The resolution characteristic is generally very good and neither CAs not distortions are something to worry about. The vignetting is a bit more pronounced at 135mm @ f/5 but otherwise not a real problem. The bokeh (out-of-focus blur) is naturally a bit underdeveloped due to the slow max. aperture but apart from this limitation is seems pretty smooth. … A highly desirable new feature is naturally the VR (Vibration Reduction) mechanism. … However, I’d state that it isn’t quite as efficient as specified by Nikon though. The best thing of all is the very low price tag of the lens – by now it sells for less than 300â‚¬/US$. So you can get lots of bangs for you bucks if you can live with the comparatively slow max. aperture. READ FULL REVIEW

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Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G AF-S IF-ED VR Review Round-Up

If you own or have used this lens, let us know what you think! Leave your comments and thoughts below. Get information and user reviews for this lens at Amazon: Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED-IF AF-S VR Zoom Nikkor Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras

Photo Zone

The Nikkor AF-S 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED VR may not be the Ãœber-lens everybody was hoping for (nor was that realistic) but it is still a very good lens. At 70mm the results are nothing short of stellar and still easily on a very good level at 200mm. At 300mm there ´s a performance penalty specifically at the image borders @ f/5.6. Stopping down to f/8 helps to overcome most of the problems but unfortunately there ´s also a quite pronounced but still correctable degree of yellow/blue (lateral) CA. Distortions and vignetting are basically non-issues throughout the range. The build quality is pretty decent and about in line this Nikon’s recent medium grade zoom lenses. The AF is quite fast and almost silent and unlike most lenses in this league the front-element does not rotate during focusing nor zooming. The pricing of the lens may be relatively steep in absolute terms but price/performance-wise it remains a harmonious package. … READ FULL REVIEW

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Nikon 75-150mm f/3.5 Series E Manual Focus Review Round-Up

If you own or have used this lens, let us know what you think! Leave your comments and thoughts below.

Thom Hogan

This is one of Nikon’s best telephoto zoom designs. Wide open, the lens is reasonably sharp, certainly far better than you’d have any right to expect with an inexpensive lens. The large maximum aperture and focal range make this an excellent portrait lens. 150mm doesn’t get you very far into the true telephoto range. If you can live with that as your top focal length, you’ll be happy with the performance. Even if you find an example that’s still relatively stiff, the Nikkor one-touch zooms all had a proclivity to develop lens creep with use. An inconvenience, to be sure, but considering the performance of the lens, one that I can overlook. READ FULL REVIEW

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