Introduction
There are a lot of lens reviews on the Internet (see links at the end of the page). Instead of repeating endless spec sheets and listing the lens' features, what I intend to do with this review is to give an end-user's perspective -- what it's been like for me, as an amateur photographer, to shoot pictures with this lens.
I have used this lens mainly with a Nikon FM2 camera, and only a bit with a Nikon F80. I have used it as my main lens since I got it in 1997.
There are at leastfive different versions of this lens. The one I own is the first generation (model 71D). Newer versions are smaller, lighter, and focus faster and closer. They are supposed to be sharper, too. In any case, I don't believe any of them is worse than the version I'm reviewing here.
What's to like
This lens is very versatile, going from wide angle to telephoto. It's very useful when traveling light, since it takes the place of many smaller zooms or primes.
I've never had much trouble focusing it manually. It has a long throw compared to newer AF lenses, and, although the focusing ring has almost no friction, one gets used to it.
It's durable - I've taken it to many places, from the beach to the mountains, and it has never let me down. I do take good care of my equipment, though.
The focal length is chosen by rotating a ring in the lens, instead of push-pulling a barrel. I like rotating zooms much more than push-pull zooms. Besides, there is no zoom creep; that is, the lens can be held downward and the zoom ring does not rotate because of gravity.
It's reasonably sharp, giving good 4x7in (10x15cm) prints, and I've had prints enlarged to 8x10in (20x25cm) with good results.
Given its low cost, I think this lens provides very good bang for the buck.
What's to consider
Although it's reasonably sharp, this lens is not very sharp. I don't think it is able to handle enlargements larger than 8x10in. I don't think it's appropriate for work where quality is critical.
When the sun or a very strong light hits the lens, flare can be expected. Flare can be very strong and completely destroy the photograph.
The focusing distance is large compared to newer designs, at 6.9ft (2.1m). Newer generations of this lens are able to focus more closely.
Autofocus is slow in a Nikon F80 camera, which is consequence of the long throw of the focus ring, the relatively heavy weight of the 72mm front element, and the fact that AF cameras suffer with smaller-aperture lenses. The lens also hunts a lot when the scene being photographed is not very bright. Again, this has been addressed in newer generations, at the cost of harder manual focusing because of a shorter throw.
AF is noisy.
Conclusions
This is a very good lens considering its low price. It's very convenient as a travel lens, or in situations when only one lens can be carried.
The latest generation is lighter, smaller, sharper, and adds macro capabilities. If there are situations when you need a do-it-all, economic lens, this is a no-brainer. If you need critical quality in your lenses, then it's also a no-brainer: you need to look elsewhere.
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You can see many images taken with this lens in The Gallery section of this website.
See photo links in my links page.
Read more of my reviews here.