Nikon 28-80
This lens is compact, very light, has a fast autofocus and makes great pictures. Oh and it is one of the cheapest lenses you can find used, you can find it for 50 or less. Think about that for a minute.
Now of course there is a price to pay for this. The lens is mainly plastic, and feels also a bit cheap. There is no direct manual focus override, and the manual focus is really its strong point. The fast autofocus means that there is very little movement on the focus ring, and the plastic means that it does not feel as smooth as the heavier metal bodies. You can focus manually, but this lens is for autofocus.
The other part issue is the range. This is more like a kit lens and like most mid-range zooms I am not so sold on whether or not they are that useful. It is sort of like a just in case lens, imagine you carry some prime and then say wish I had a slightly longer/wider lens. This one is that. It covers a decent range, but not really that much of a range. Unlike the Nikon 24-70, this lens is very light. So it is actually a better compromise. You can pick a prime, work with the focal length you have and enjoy a faster lens. Or you can carry this, be more flexible with the framing but pay the price in speed or ISO. I can see myself carrying this one on a trip actually.
I wrote the tale of two lenses after I got this lens.
Versions
- The picture is the older D version
- There is a slightly newer G version which is lighter. It is easy to recognize with the gray plastic instead of the usual black Nikon lenses
- The 28-85 is a completely different lens, it is a bit older and about 2x heavier.
| Price | Very cheap |
|---|---|
| Weight | Very light, 250g |
| Good for | Indoors, people, landscape |
| New or used | This you can only find used, it is an older lens I got mine for 39 which is a steal. |
This was made for full frame cameras. It works great and weighs almost nothing. Normally it would be smarter to carry just one prime (any of 24, 28, 35, 50) which weights the same (or less) and would be much faster. But when you travel, and want to be more flexible, this is a very good mid-range zoom that weighs as much as a prime. It just is a bit slower, but you can compensate that with a bit of increased ISO.
Once again, this is a lens that would technically this would work on a APS-C body as a 42mm-120mm zoom. I guess that is quite ok, but also not that interesting. A slightly longer lens that does not go much wide. Since it is quite light, it could still work out decently, but maybe the 18-55 is a better choice here.
Gallery
I love this picture, it was a bit challenging as there was quite a tricky light, but this is a single take picture. That is what makes a lens better for me.
Well it was a crazy day, and all of a sudden I was happy that I could go a bit wider for this shot.
If you are a pixel hunter, you will find issues here and there. If you are reasonable, this is a 250gram lens that does not embarrass itself and you can get for less than 50. That makes it almost perfect.
These pages are for Amateur Photographers and not really for seasoned photographers and professionals. I have no affiliation or commercial interest with any brand/make. I write from my own experience. I ended up using mainly Nikon, so I am more familiar with this brand than others. See price for notes on pricing as well as photography related links.