Nikon 17-35mm f/2.8D ED-IF AF-S Zoom Nikkor Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras by Nikon
|
Our Price: $1,768.00 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $1,079.00 (click here) Category: Digital Camera See more digital camera details and other models |
|---|
Digital camera reviews of Nikon 17-35mm f/2.8D ED-IF AF-S Zoom Nikkor Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras
Digital camera Review: A Go-To Carry Around with You Lens
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a great piece of glass and a great lens to have with you on a city street or out in the bush. It's great for general shooting and a superb lens for shooting landscapes. I wish it were a bit more compact, but them's the breaks.
You won't regret adding this lens to your camera bag.
Digital camera Review: A superb wide-angle lens for full-frame (FX) Nikon digital cameras
Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased this lens along with my D700 nearly 12 months ago. My choice was between this lens and the Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8G ED AF-S. I went with the 17-35mm for the ability to use filters and have not looked back.
During that time I have had a blast enjoying landscape photography with the combination. The lens is exceedingly sharp --corner to corner-- particularly when stopped down from wide open. I have no use for 'prime' lenses within this focal range anymore.
Indoors the extreme angle-of-view and large aperture have been great for candids and other interior shots. Obviously, 17-35mm is not a desirable focal length for portraits.
Some have complained about corner 'sharpness' wide open, but the depth-of-field at f/2.8 is so shallow on FX that corner sharpness is a non-issue since objects in the corner are unlikely to be within the focal plane of the subject anyway. With the high-ISO performance of the D700, aperture selection is an artistic choice for DOF, not a necessity for low light. Stop the pixel-peeping and just enjoy the lens!
I have also found DxO Optics Pro (Elite) a priceless software tool with this camera/lens combination. I always shoot RAW images and use DxO to convert to TIFF or jpg. DxO includes both the D700 and this lens in their database; the result: noise-free images with perfect optical corrections. Amazing.
Digital camera Review: Excellent lens.
Summary: 5 Stars
Right now, I still don't have a full-frame sensor, so I'm using this lens with a 1.5 multiplier which makes it the equivalent of a 26-50mm lens, still it's the widest lens I own and I'm delighted with my choice. I'm not having to deal with too much barrel distortion (almost none, to be exact), and the picture quality and the response to light is excellent. I've photographed both two-dimensional art pieces (canvases) and architecture, and post-processing to get edges 'square' has been minimal. (I do this by hand since Photoshop CS5's lens corrections seem a bit heavy-handed to me) so I appreciate that this lens makes my work a lot easier. My only complaint is that it is a bit heavy (which I'm willing to live with, given the quality) and a little difficult to install on my D-80. I'm hoping to get a D800, when they eventually come out, and then I will reap the full benefit of this lens.
I also have one minor problem I'm still trying to find a work-around for is that it comes in a huge hard-sided case. It's a beautiful case, well-built, good quality, finely lined on the inside--but it's huge (makes a nice mid-size purse, though). I keep my lenses in my camera case in soft pouches and I'm unable to find a soft-pouch that will accommodate this lens' width.
Digital camera Review: Extremely sharp, high quality images
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a superb lens. I purchased it along with my D700 and the results have been very impressive. It's very well made; the zoom control is linear (evenly spaced on the zoom ring), and it's not as heavy as I thought it would be given the pro level of construction. Its a nice chunky size ... it fits my hand well, and is well suited size-wise to the D700 ... yet doesn't feel too big or heavy. I've been using it mostly on a tripod for landscape photography, but I think it will also be a great walking-around lens.
The included lens shade is pretty much worthless and is so wide physically that its a PITA in my backpack. The lens also comes with a beautiful hard case which I will never use. It would have been nice if Nikon had shaved $50-100 off the price and skipped this high quality but impractical part of the package.
Highly recommended!
Digital camera Review: First Class Glass
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a first-class professional quality lens. I am using it on Nikon F5, F100, and D200 bodies. I bought it in anticipation of purchasing an FX digital format successor to the D200/D300 DX-format cameras. It is extremely sharp from edge-to-edge, rendering crisp images with great color and contrast. Good low-light performance for natural people-pictures. On my film-based shoots, it is nothing short of spectacular. With digital, I am presently using DX-format cameras, so the focal-length range is reduced. But, when used with an FX-format digital, I expect equally exceptional results. This lens is considered both heavy and pricey by some. However, I find the weight promotes better stability with hand-held images. The price is right for what you get. I also like a depth of field indicator on the aperature ring for doing wide-ange shots employing hyper-focal distance techniques. You don't get this with the newer g-series lenses. If you can afford this lens and are going to go FX-format, buy it.