Nikon 16-85mm f/3.5-5.6G AF-S DX ED VR Nikkor Wide-Angle Telephoto Zoom Lens for Nikon DSLR Cameras by Nikon
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Digital camera reviews of Nikon 16-85mm f/3.5-5.6G AF-S DX ED VR Nikkor Wide-Angle Telephoto Zoom Lens for Nikon DSLR Cameras
Digital camera Review: Nikon 16-85 AF VR
Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased this lens to replace an 18-70 AF "kit" Nikkor I was using on my D200.
I take a lot of low light photos and usually cannot use flash for various reasons. I was having trouble with images being blurred even when I braced the camera against objects such as door jambs or used a monopod.
Manually focussed test shots taken with the old lens and the new lens using the same aperture setting, focal length, ISO100 and at around 1/10 second exposure, were noticeably sharper on the images taken with the new lens. Test shots using autofocus appear sharper as well.
The extra range at the 16 and 85 mm settings are a bonus and make the lens just that much more flexible.
This lens was recommended to me by a semi-pro photographer I work with and I would recommend this lens to a friend.
Digital camera Review: Nikon 16-85 mm lens
Summary: 5 Stars
Very easy to use, I did not even need a tripod on dark interior photos. I used it in my trip to Europe and I have very descent quality photos inside churches. The vibration control works well.Digital camera Review: Nikon 16-85 mm lens.
Summary: 4 Stars
Nikon 16-85mm f/3.5-5.6G AF-S DX ED VR Nikkor Wide Angle Telephoto Zoom Lens for Nikon DSLR Cameras Outstanding. Should be kit lens for most if not all Nikon DSRL camerasDigital camera Review: Nikon DX heaven
Summary: 5 Stars
Remarkable zoom lens. Here's how I'm using it: my body is a Fuji Finepix S3 PRO Nikon mount with the wonderful Fuji Super CCD SRII imaging chip. I mention this because only a great lens will bring out all that this chip can offer. First, when I got the body I tried it with my old Nikkor 50mm f1.8 prime lens. Wonderful sharpness and color. Then I bought the 16-85 through Amazon from J&R in New York which has been an excellent supplier to me for several years - 1 day shipping to Massachusetts for regular rates. After some initial testing at home, I took it to Harvard Square and did my usual style of wide angle street shots, architectural, people, mild telephoto, and some interiors. The autofocus is rapid but with my Fuji body, which is based on an older Nikon design, focus at extreme telephoto end was iffy. But wait, I blame that on the Fuji autofocus detector feature which, being years older that current Nikon models, wasn't up to the task. So I could easily focus manually when needed. The payoff was at home when I uploaded the shots and viewed them in Picassa 3 under high magnification I saw that they were about as sharp as my 50mm prime lens. I saw no color fringing. And the barrel distortion at the wide end was less that I've noticed from my Leica point-and-shoot models V-lux 1 and D-lux 4. The color, using the Fujichrome setting in the body, was outstanding with excellent contrast. This is not a light, plastic mount lens. The combination of this and my heavy Fuji S3 body made my arms sore by the end of the day. So, now I am looking for a modern Nikon DX body, maybe the D5000 (when Nikon exhausts its stock plagued with power regulation problems), to mate with this lens which is as close to being my all round lens as I might have wished. Other that paying well over $1000 for an f2.8 Nikkor zoom, this seems to me to be the sweetest focal range (24mm to 128mm in DX) at a reasonable price considering its quality. Pair it with a quality prime telephoto or a 70-400mm zoom and you can cover nearly any situation with confidence in the resultant image quality.Digital camera Review: Nikon's best standard zoom for digital
Summary: 4 Stars
This lens is almost perfect. The only major things missing are a wider aperture and decent macro performance. (Unfortunately, it's only 1:4.6). I love having the extra 2mm - it does make a difference. The focusing is fast, accurate and quiet. This lens is very, very sharp. It outperforms the resolution of my D70 and looks downright amazing on my D90. There is some distortion on the wide end - usually not a big deal but definitely not a good lens for shooting architecture. There is no CA that I've noticed. Also haven't really noticed any flaring issues but then again, I do live in Seattle and we're not exactly known for our sunshine (haha). The colors are accurate but not quite as 'vibrant' or 'punchy' as I usually like (easily corrected with in-camera settings). The VR works fine but in this focal range it is less apparent than on longer zooms. The zoom ring is very stiff - too stiff. Nikon needs to work on this as it seems to be apparent in more and more of their new lenses. The focusing ring is perfect! To switch to manual you just grab the ring and start turning it - all lenses should be designed this way. All in all this is probably Nikon's best standard zoom lens for digital photography. It's a perfect compliment to the Tokina 11-16 and the Nikon 70-300 VR. I gave it four stars because it is semi-expensive and it does have some issues that I noted above. Add decent macro performance or a wider aperture and it would have been five stars. The bottom line is that you won't be disappointed if you buy this lens.