LensTip.com

Cons: Full frame FX, lightweight, inexpensive, good glass, very decent when stopped down.

Pros: Plastic lens mount. All plastic body. Requires outofocus motor in camera body.

Summary: I have used this lens on a D800 FX body and was surprised at the great daylight image quality given it's price and and some negative reviews I have read. First thing to note is that this lens was designed for full frame film use therefore equivalent to FX. It is probably a waste of time using it on a DX body as there are a number of inexpensive DX lenses available, designed for cropped frame sensors. On FX however, it offers a useful focal range and as with most zoom lenses, when stopped down to f8 or f11 in aperture priority mode it is really quite good with only a little softness in the extreme corners . The main image area is as sharp as many zooms in the mid price range and perfect with a little unsharp mask applied. If you are photographing in a hazardous, wet, dirty, dusty or sandy area, why risk your expensive zoom when lenses like this or it's equally good 28-80mm cousin are available and can give good service for 'peanuts' or the price of a filter? Real estate agent advertising | http://www.printradiant.com

Cons: - contrast not good at all - build quality - bad sharpness in the edges - backlight situations dismal

Pros: - light - small - cheap - good focusing range

Summary: To be clear: this is probably the worst lens I have ever come across. Apart from being cheap and light it's close to worthless. Maybe I've come across an especially bad specimen. Sure you can use it for landscapes with good light from behind or from the side and if you don't want to carry around you expensive lenses, but trust me: even though I'm far from a pixel peeper, this thing is not worth it on a full frame camera, and it probably makes no sense on an APS-C/DX camera for many people due to its lack of wide angle there. If you need a more or less disposable lightweight standard zoom with decent performance take the 28-80 G lens. It's quite a bit better in my opinion.

Cons: Plastic mount. Rotating front element. On FX (full frame) soft out towards the edges at full aperture. Like a number of popular zooms of it age, not a lens for use at full aperture unless you're after a somewhat 'dreamy' look.

Pros: At 28mm very sharp edge to edge with good contrast when stopped down to f8 - f11 on FX D800 with only slight softness in extreme corners. Better than some 28mm primes I've tried. At 100mm sharp all over at f11. Sold mine and then bought another due to its excellent performance once stopped down. Weighs very little and costs less to buy than some filters.

Summary: Used stopped down, it's a great, lightweight, casual walkabout zoom lens for full frame Nikons when you don't want the weight or to risk your more expensive lenses. This is my second example of this lens and it's as good as the first one I owned so I find the negative reviews around the web perplexing unless the reviewers just used it wide open.

Cons: rotating front element, plastic mount

Pros: excellent value and optical performance, light weight

Summary: good walk about lens esp for apsc - if you can live with the lack of wide angle for that sensor size.

Cons: rotating front element build quality

Pros: lightweight sharp images (especially on DX) cheap

Summary: a good allround lens