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Expensive, but unique to the Nikon lineup, Friday, 26 February 2010


Overall rating (weighted)		4.0
Sharpness		3.0
Build Quality		4.0
AF Speed		5.0
Value for Money		4.0

If you're reading this you're probably cross shopping the 18-200mm. Is the 16-85mm worth it over the 18-200mm? Depends on if you need to shoot past 85mm. I shoot almost all 16-50mm so I chose this lens, although I found myself at an air show and at 85mm it was very inadequate to capture the planes in flight. For those who wonder if this lense is sharp, a resounding YES! It's very sharp for a zoom lense. Distortions and flare are well controlled. The 16mm wide end gives you a view that's impossible to see with the 18mm. Be careful with using the lens hood with the on camera flash at it's widest setting, I screwed up some of my pics unknowingly. I find my Nikon D50 has some trouble with underexposed shots with this lense. I'm not sure what it is but it always underexposes by 1/2 to 1 full stop, I can compensate by increasing the default exposure but it's still annoying. This lense is slow so there's no point in using this indoors without adequate lighting, I use my 35mm f1.8 for indoor shots.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

The best DX lens for the advanced amateur budget, Wednesday, 24 February 2010


Overall rating (weighted)		4.8
Sharpness		5.0
Build Quality		4.0
AF Speed		5.0
Value for Money		5.0

I was one of the lucky few that got this lens when it first came out, and I must say, it has been the best lens purchase I've made since shooting nikon DX digital. It has been a faithful companion to my D80. I've found it to be quite versatile and dependable. This is one of the least recognized lenses that nikon makes, a focal length which lies within some pretty steep competition. Many people have opted for the 18-200 VR, for its added telephoto reach, or the 17-55 2.8, for its faster aperture. I decided that since I had the longer focal lengths covered with my 70-210, I didn't need the 18-200, but needed something longer than 55mm in a zoom lens. I felt that there were too many trade-offs for having an 11x zoom lens, with regard to image quality; and that two stops in aperture speed wasn't worth the extra cash vs. VR. What I found was that this lens is in many ways, more versatile than the 18-200 and 17-55, with no trade-offs. For people who don't need the telephoto reach, the 16mm end of this lens is more valuable a feature. It approximates a 24mm field of view, equivalent to full frame. The perspective is noticably wider than 18mm. The lens itself is smaller than the 18-200, lighter than the 17-55, it uses more common 67mm filters, it has no zoom creep (an issue seen in the first version of the 18-200mm, the version most people are still using), less distortion at 16mm than the 18-200 has at 18mm, and the 17-55 at 17mm, and more effective VR compared to the 18-200 (I've taken well stabilized, one handed shots over 50mm, while walking, consistantly at 1/30 with VR set to "active"). The 16-85 VR has a stellar build, fit, and finish - much higher quality than any of nikon's kit lenses (I had the 18-135). I've not had any missed focus issues, which attests to the capability of this lens. I use the lens for mostly general purpose, in addition to some portraiture. The VR makes up for its slow aperture, if what you shoot doesn't move a lot, and is much better compared to having f/2.8 without VR (if you factor a 3 stop level of compensation vs. the two stop faster aperture). But for a portrait lens, I have found that it doesn't hold a candle to the 85 1.4D, at 85mm, with regard to bokeh. However, I have used the 16-85 VR for portraiture with acceptable results, which is a testament to its versatility. All around, this is a quality lens, for a relative good price compared to the 17-55 2.8 DX, which isn't any sharper; and on par with the 18-200, with regard to overall image quality, with better handling. It is a good step-up from a kit lens.

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0 of 0 people found the following review helpful

Painfully Expensive but Amazing Lens. Wide angle , Sunday, 21 February 2010


Overall rating (weighted)		3.5
Sharpness		4.0
Build Quality		3.0
AF Speed		3.0
Value for Money		4.0

You lose something on the long end, but the wide angle of 16mm is so incredibly useful. I compare this to my older tamron 18-200 and I only barely miss the long end (85-200). The picture quality is much much better head to head. It is painfully and unnecessarily expensive but...what the hell. I am saving on film.
4 stars because of the cost.
S

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

Great DX lens, Monday, 25 January 2010


Overall rating (weighted)		4.8
Sharpness		4.0
Build Quality		5.0
AF Speed		5.0
Value for Money		5.0

Although I have the full compliment of Nikon pro lenses, I frequently use the 16-85 as my "walking around lens" for casual shooting. It is very sharp and boasts high image quality, has an effective VR system (unlike Nikon's pro grade 24-70 lens, which has no VR), and is lightweight and compact to boot.

Although the pro lenses are marginally sharper and optically faster, I tend to see it as a balance. If I didn't use the 16-85, I'd probably be carrying at least the 24-70 and one other lens. Not only is the 24-70 quite a bit heavier than the 16-85, I'd probably miss some shots due to changing lenses. Still, the pro lenses are amazing and they have their purpose too (for instance, soon as you go to an FX camera)...it's just for maybe two-thirds of my casual shooting the 16-85 is more convenient and "good enough". Unlike some other long-range zooms (the 24-120 comes to mind), this lens produces very sharp and contrasty pictures with great color and that "pop" you get from top lenses. I never get the sense I'm using a substandard lens, and from what I've seen, it's well ahead of the 18-200 and Nikon's kit lenses.

One of my few complaints about this lens is that out of focus areas (bokeh) tend to be somewhat harsh and jagged, not soft and "creamy" in the tradition of Nikon's excellent 85mm f/1.4. This isn't a deal breaker for me...just means I spend relatively more time fixing backgrounds in the computer after the shot. The only other complaint I have is the the f/5.6 at the long end is really a bit too dark...I would have preferred a constant f/3.5 or f/4 through the range, even if it meant making the lens marginally bigger.

Mechanically, the lens seems rugged and well made, although just a hair lower quality than Nikon's pro lenses. Note that if you use filters with it, the very wide 16mm end of the zoom range calls for thin mount filters, otherwise you get a bit of vignetting. Still, it has been through many thousands of exposures on my D300 in conditions ranging from the tropics to frozen New England winters, and it has always focused quickly and smoothly and acts like new.

Highly recommended.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

Excellent all purpose Nikon DX lens, Tuesday, 12 January 2010


Overall rating (weighted)		5.0
Sharpness		5.0
Build Quality		5.0
AF Speed		5.0
Value for Money		5.0

Nikon 16-85mm is a general purpose lens designed for Nikon DX camera. DX camera is camera that use APS-C size sensor. There are plenty of DX cameras in the market from beginner (D3000, D5000) to advanced (D90, D300s). The focal length is equivalent to 24-127mm. It is capable to take wide landscape or very tall building in one frame without panorama sticthing. It is also long enough for close-up portrait or pulling subject from 20 meters away.

Like other non-kit lens, Nikon 16-85mm has metal mount. The outer shell are made by combination of metal and plastic. It is very sturdy and well made. Nikon 16-85mm comes with a plastic bayonet type lens hood.

Nikon 16-85mm features VR (Vibration Reduction) which stabilized the image sensor to prevent blurring on images due to camera shake. This lens also features AF-S SWM, which ensure fast and silent auto focus.

The lens is almost perfect but I wish it has constant aperture like f/4 or even f/2.8. But I understand it might increase the size and double the price.

Many people might compare this lens to Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G AF-S ED VR II Telephoto Zoom Lens for Nikon DX-Format Digital SLR Cameras. Here are some differences:
Nikon 16-85mm vs Nikon 18-200mm

* Nikon 16-85mm is a bit wider, so it is better for landscape / architecture photography.
* Nikon 16-85mm is more compact (85mm x 72mm / 3.4 in. x 2.8 in. vs 96.5mm x 77mm / 3.8 in. x 3.0 in.)
* Nikon 16-85mm delivers more consistent result especially wide open at f/3.5-5.6, however this advantage diminished when you shoot at f/8.
* Nikon 16-85mm is slightly cheaper. (Approx. 20% cheaper)
* Nikon 18-200mm has a much longer telephoto end, thus more versatile in various shooting condition.

Based on what I read, the 18-200mm is more popular than 16-85mm because of its zoom power, but professionals might prefer 16-85mm because of its consistent result across focal length and aperture.

Nikon 16-85mm like other Nikon DX lenses is also mountable in Nikon full frame camera. But because it is designed for much smaller image sensor, you will lose 50-60% image resolution.

Overall this is an excellent walk around lens, it delivers consistent high quality result in all focal lens and great for casual and professional use.

Tips: when you use built-in flash with this lens, you need to remove lens hood because it obstruct the light.
Additional tips: The size and weight balance very well when used with Nikon D80 or Nikon D90 DX 12.3MP Digital SLR Camera with 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED AF-S VR DX Nikkor Zoom Lens

for more reviews and image sample, please visit my blog. The address is in my profile page. Thanks for reading.

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

Broke!, Thursday, 10 December 2009


Overall rating (weighted)		3.5
Sharpness		4.0
Build Quality		2.0
AF Speed		4.0
Value for Money		4.0

I love this lens for an everyday walkaround. Many people have compared it to the 18-200 but without the range. I have to say that, trying both, I like the 16-85 better. It's wide end is noticeably different and the long end provides good reach. I would say the *slightly* better optical quality compensates for the shorter focal length.

IMPORTANT NOTE: After ~7 months of use and ~1500 shots, the zoom mechanism on this lens broke. I definitely do take good care of my equipment so abuse was not a contributing factor. It was covered under warranty, but Nikon's service dept is terrible which has taken some of the luster off of my fondness for this product.

Why should you care what I think?

My relationship with this item: I own it
Where did you buy this item?: JR Electronics
Price paid: 599
When did you buy this item?: February 2009

Conclusions at a glance

Would you recommend this Item: Yes
Pros: Quite sharp, nice range (especially on the wide side), fast AF
Cons: Could be priced more competitively

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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful

Great overall lens, Thursday, 08 October 2009


Overall rating (weighted)		5.0
Sharpness		5.0
Build Quality		5.0
AF Speed		5.0
Value for Money		5.0

Great lens to walk around with, very sharp, wide enough for landscapes (though with some distortion) and good telephoto for portrait shots with good bokeh. VR works great, build quality is solid. This is a great step up lens if your considering moving up from a kit lens.

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1 of 6 people found the following review helpful

Very Disappointed, Tuesday, 29 September 2009


Overall rating (weighted)		2.8
Sharpness		3.0
Build Quality		3.0
AF Speed		2.0
Value for Money		3.0

I purchased this as a midrange all-purpose lens for my D90. I also have a D300s. After using the lens on both bodies and taking all sorts of pictures - portraits, landscapes, closeups, wide-angle, I could not come up with a single image that I would be willing to display. All pictures were slightly out of focus and extremely soft at all focal lengths. Mind you, I'm accustomed to some sharp images from my 10-24, my 35 mm, my 17-55 ED 2.8, my 70-200, and my 105 micro Nikkor. I am returning the lens for its utter lack of sharpness (at $700 I don't regard this as a "cheap" lens) and am ordering the out-of-stock 24-70 mm lens at 2.5x the price. There is, IMO, no point in buying a lens covering this particular range unless it is a high end lens. I have a couple of overlapping focal lengths but with two bodies, I like to keep different lenses on different bodies and switch bodies rather than lenses. The 16-85 mm was a huge disappointment to me.

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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful

Nikon DX heaven, Sunday, 23 August 2009


Overall rating (weighted)		4.8
Sharpness		4.0
Build Quality		5.0
AF Speed		5.0
Value for Money		5.0

Remarkable zoom lens. Here's how I'm using it: my body is a Fuji Finepix S3 PRO Nikon mount with the wonderful Fuji Super CCD SRII imaging chip. I mention this because only a great lens will bring out all that this chip can offer. First, when I got the body I tried it with my old Nikkor 50mm f1.8 prime lens. Wonderful sharpness and color. Then I bought the 16-85 through Amazon from J&R in New York which has been an excellent supplier to me for several years - 1 day shipping to Massachusetts for regular rates. After some initial testing at home, I took it to Harvard Square and did my usual style of wide angle street shots, architectural, people, mild telephoto, and some interiors. The autofocus is rapid but with my Fuji body, which is based on an older Nikon design, focus at extreme telephoto end was iffy. But wait, I blame that on the Fuji autofocus detector feature which, being years older that current Nikon models, wasn't up to the task. So I could easily focus manually when needed. The payoff was at home when I uploaded the shots and viewed them in Picassa 3 under high magnification I saw that they were about as sharp as my 50mm prime lens. I saw no color fringing. And the barrel distortion at the wide end was less that I've noticed from my Leica point-and-shoot models V-lux 1 and D-lux 4. The color, using the Fujichrome setting in the body, was outstanding with excellent contrast. This is not a light, plastic mount lens. The combination of this and my heavy Fuji S3 body made my arms sore by the end of the day. So, now I am looking for a modern Nikon DX body, maybe the D5000 (when Nikon exhausts its stock plagued with power regulation problems), to mate with this lens which is as close to being my all round lens as I might have wished. Other that paying well over $1000 for an f2.8 Nikkor zoom, this seems to me to be the sweetest focal range (24mm to 128mm in DX) at a reasonable price considering its quality. Pair it with a quality prime telephoto or a 70-400mm zoom and you can cover nearly any situation with confidence in the resultant image quality.

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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

The perfect lens..., Tuesday, 21 July 2009


Overall rating (weighted)		5.0
Sharpness		5.0
Build Quality		5.0
AF Speed		5.0
Value for Money		5.0

You really don't want to keep swapping lenses unless you have to and with this one... you don't have to. Covering the most used and useful focal lengths from 16mm (c.24mm old style), which is probably as wide as you want to go in everyday shooting, through to 85mm (c.135mm old style), which is the most popular and useful telephoto length, it's all here in a single lens.

Size & weight wise it's okay - quite a bit bigger all round than a stock 18-55mm zoom lens (which, in practice, it's a replacement for) but still perfectly portable and, in fact, incredibly small given what it does. Maximum aperture of 3.5 to 5.6 is good and its VR (vibration reduction) system not only completely compensates for any problems with these aperture restrictions but significantly extends your camera's versatility by allowing you to shoot at slower shutter speeds without a tripod. And... the pictures it produces are, to me, indistinguishable in quality from my stock Nikon lens.

Sure you can get all of this much cheaper - but only if you're prepared to cart at least two or more lenses around with you and regularly swap between them. The bottom line is that you're paying for the speed & convenience of a genuinely portable solution to probably 99% of your photo shooting requirements. It's a lot of money but, as I've found, once it's on your camera it never comes off. Other than for very few, if any, situations you don't need a longer zoom lens given the pixel resolution of current cameras and the ability to blow their photos up to at least double the size without any noticeable loss of quality, and you rarely, if ever, need a wider angle lens unless you really are into specialist, ultra-wide shots. Brilliant!

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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful

The perfect lens..., Tuesday, 21 July 2009


Overall rating (weighted)		4.5
Sharpness		4.0
Build Quality		5.0
AF Speed		4.0
Value for Money		5.0

You really don't want to keep swapping lenses unless you have to and with this one... you don't have to. Covering the most used and useful focal lengths from 16mm (24mm old style), which is probably as wide as you want to go in everyday shooting, through to 85mm (128mm old style), which is in the most popular mid-range telephoto length, it's all here in a single lens.

Size & weight wise it's okay - quite a bit bigger all round than a stock 18-55mm zoom lens (which, in practice, it's a replacement for) but still perfectly portable and, in fact, incredibly small given what it does. Maximum aperture of 3.5 to 5.6 is good and its VR (vibration reduction) system not only completely compensates for any problems with these aperture restrictions but significantly extends your camera's versatility by allowing you to shoot at slower shutter speeds without a tripod. And... the pictures it produces are, to me, indistinguishable in quality from my stock Nikon lens.

Sure you can get all of this much cheaper - but only if you're prepared to cart at least two or more lenses around with you and regularly swap between them. The bottom line is that you're paying for the speed & convenience of a genuinely portable solution to probably 99% of your photo requirements. Other than where you need huge (A2 size or larger) photos at exhibition quality levels, you don't need a longer zoom lens given the pixel resolution of current Nikon SLRs and the ability to blow their photos up to at least double the size without any noticeable loss of quality, you only need a wider angle lens for specialist, ultra-wide shots, and (because of its VR system) you only need a wider aperture lens in equally specialist situations where absolutely minimal depth-of-field is critical.

It's a lot of money but, as I've found, once it's on your camera it very rarely comes off. Brilliant!

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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful

The perfect lens..., Tuesday, 21 July 2009


Overall rating (weighted)		4.8
Sharpness		5.0
Build Quality		4.0
AF Speed		5.0
Value for Money		5.0

You really don't want to keep swapping lenses unless you have to and with this one... you don't have to. Covering the most used and useful focal lengths from 16mm (24mm old style), which is probably as wide as you want to go in everyday shooting, through to 85mm (128mm old style), which is in the most popular mid-range telephoto length, it's all here in a single lens.

Size & weight wise it's quite a bit bigger than a standard 18-55mm lens, but it's still small enough to be used as a "stock" lens which, in practice, other much larger "single lens" solutions, such as the Nikon AF-S DX 18-200mm VR lens, are not. Maximum aperture of 3.5 to 5.6 is good and its VR (vibration reduction) system not only completely compensates for any problems with these aperture restrictions but significantly extends your camera's versatility by allowing you to shoot at slower shutter speeds without a tripod. And... the pictures it produces are, to me, indistinguishable in quality from my other Nikon lenses.

Sure you can get all of this much cheaper - but only if you're prepared to cart at least two or more lenses around with you and regularly swap between them. The bottom line is that you're paying for the speed & convenience of a genuinely portable solution to probably 99% of your photo requirements. Other than where you need huge (A2 size or larger) photos at exhibition quality levels, you don't need a longer zoom lens given the pixel resolution of current Nikon SLRs and the ability to blow their photos up to at least double the size without any noticeable loss of quality, you only need a wider angle lens for specialist, ultra-wide shots, and (because of its VR system) you only need a wider aperture lens in equally specialist situations where absolutely minimal depth-of-field is critical.

It's a lot of money but, as I've found, once it's on your camera it very rarely comes off. Brilliant!

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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful

The perfect lens..., Tuesday, 21 July 2009


Overall rating (weighted)		4.0
Sharpness		4.0
Build Quality		4.0
AF Speed		4.0
Value for Money		4.0

You really don't want to keep swapping lenses unless you have to and with this one... you don't have to. Covering the most used and useful focal lengths from 16mm (24mm old style), which is probably as wide as you want to go in everyday shooting, through to 85mm (128mm old style), which is in the most popular mid-range telephoto length, it's all here in a single lens.

Size wise it's a bit bigger than a standard 18-55mm lens; weight wise it's quite a lot heavier; but despite its weight it's still small enough and (just) light enough to be used as a "stock" lens. Maximum aperture of 3.5 to 5.6 is good and its VR (vibration reduction) system not only completely compensates for any problems with these aperture restrictions but very significantly extends your camera's versatility by allowing you to shoot at slower shutter speeds without a tripod. And... the pictures it produces are, to me, indistinguishable in quality from my other Nikon lenses.

Sure you can get all of this much cheaper, but only if you're prepared to cart at least two or more lenses around with you and regularly swap between them. The bottom line is that you're paying for the speed & convenience of a genuinely portable solution to probably 99% of your photo requirements. Other than where you need A2 size or larger photos at exhibition quality levels, you don't need a longer zoom lens given the pixel resolution of current Nikon SLRs and the fact that you can enlarge sections of their photos to almost double their size without any noticeable loss of quality, you only need a wider angle lens for specialist, ultra-wide shots, and - because of its VR system - you only need a wider aperture lens in equally specialist situations where absolutely minimal depth-of-field is critical.

It's a lot of money but, as I've found, once it's on your camera it very rarely comes off. Brilliant!

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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful

Nikon 16-85 mm lens., Saturday, 04 July 2009


Overall rating (weighted)		3.5
Sharpness		3.0
Build Quality		3.0
AF Speed		4.0
Value for Money		4.0

Nikon 16-85mm f/3.5-5.6G AF-S DX ED VR Nikkor Wide Angle Telephoto Zoom Lens for Nikon DSLR Cameras Outstanding. Should be kit lens for most if not all Nikon DSRL cameras

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

Superb lens! Worth the money, Friday, 19 June 2009


Overall rating (weighted)		5.0
Sharpness		5.0
Build Quality		5.0
AF Speed		5.0
Value for Money		5.0

This is currently my primary walkaround zoom lens with my Nikon D40. The lens optics are very sharp and the pictures I have gotten out of it are definitely outstanding. They do seem much superior to pictures I took with my previous lens, the 18-55mm kit lens. The lens itself is also solidly built, definitely not as cheap at the 18-55 or the 18-105 which I have also tried. I chose this lens primarily for the extra two mm in wide-angle power as many of my shots are wide-angle as opposed to telephoto zoom shots. However, if you make more telephoto shots than wide-angle then I would suggest getting the 18-200mm lens instead.

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