Nikon AF 35-70mm f/2.8

Nikon AF 35-70mm

This is a lens that I sold a few years ago now, but I wanted to add it to the list as I have such fond memories of it. The other reason I wanted to add it is because it offers an awful lot of performance for the amount of money it costs.

This was often called the photojournalists lens, but to me it was also the wedding photographers lens. It was the original fast f/2.8 standard zoom, and although it may not have the newest technological wizardry it is still a great performer all these years later. It lived on my F100 for a few years and I could always count on it to deliver the goods.

It gave very respectable sharpness straight from the maximum aperture and was great by f/4. On full frame I do remember some light falloff at f/2.8, but it wasn’t so bad as to render it unusable and on a cropped sensor camera it wouldn’t be of much concern. CA could be induced, but it wasn’t a terrible offender in this regard either. All in all, it gave great optical performance for its day and still offers the goods compared to todays replacements.

If you’ve ever held the 28-70mm f/2.8 which was this lenses replacement, you’ll be surprised by how much smaller this lens is. Of course it doesn’t have the AF-S motor, so it relies on the camera to auto-focus, but on a decent body it delivers quite sprightly performance, albeit not a silent one. It is put together very well but bear in mind that it is a push-pull variety of zooming which some people like and others hate. I quite liked it, but its not as precise as the turning mechanism.

Where it does start to show its age, it the rotating front element which can be irksome if you are planning on using a polarizer. The other oddity compared to todays professional zooms, is the non-standard 62mm filter attachment. All in all, if you have a lot of 77mm front filter lenses and use a polarizer a lot, this is probably not a lens you’ll like as it will be an annoyance even with its other optical qualities.

This Nikon lens costs less than half its replacements price, yet offers a very similar performance. I’m not suggesting its a better lens as its not. Even on full frame the new lens offers a more useful range and on a cropped sensor camera, you’d better make sure you want this range as its rather oddball now. When you take into account what you are getting for the money however, its a great deal and well worth a look if its range suits your style before Nikon stops producing them