Phase One introduces 3.5/45 mm Tilt / Shift lens
Phase One today have launched the 3.5/45 mm Tilt/Shift lens. Specially designed for the professional
photographer, this small, lightweight lens is ideal for location or
studio applications. It offers up to 12 mm shift and 8 degrees tilt for
maximum flexibility. When used with the Phase One 645 camera…
Nikon release the AF-S DX 18-105mm F/3.5-5.6G ED VR
The AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-105mm F/3.5-5.6G ED VR is a new lens designed to partner Nikons
D90 DSLR. The Nikkor 18-105mm lens offers a focal length equivalent to
27 to 157.5mm in 35mm format, built-in Vibration Reduction and Silent
Wave Motor, and…
Tamron announces three Di Full-Size Format lenses
Tamron today have announced the availability dates of three new Di lens series in
Full-Size Format. The Tamron SP AF90mm F/2.8 Di MACRO for Nikon is a
high-performance macro lens but also as a medium telephoto lens
suitable for all photographic applications including landscape and
portraiture. (The lens is already available…
Tamron announces new Di lenses for Canon and Nikon
Tamron today have announced two new Di lenses designed for exclusive use on Canon and Nikon (with Built-in AF Motor) small sensor DSLR cameras The SP AF10-24mm Di II, the first-ever ultra wide-angle lens for digital SLRs, features a focal length range with the 16mm ultra wide-angle to 37mm…
Nikon Wins European Professional Lens with 2 lenses
Both the Nikon AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm and Nikon AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8 G ED lenses have won the EISA Professional lens for 2008-2009.
Description
This
pair of Nikkor zooms represents the ideal optical partnership to equip
Nikon’s professional full frame cameras. Covering a broad focal range
at f/2.8, and delivering very high optical…
Canon announces EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens
Canon today has also introduced
the EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Zoom lens. With an equivalent focal
length of 29-320mm, the lens offers 11x zoom range. It also features a
16 element, 12 group construction including UD and aspherical lens
elements and a 4-stop optical Image Stabilizer. This lens has answered…
This lens is Nikon's latest offering in the superzoom category where one lens tries to do the job of many. With an 11.1x zoom ration is certainly packs a lot into a small body.
Features and handling.
The newer version of Vibration Reduction (VR)VRII - is fitted to this lens and has clamed to have a four stop advantage when handholding. We found no reason to dispute this claim, managing to shoot sharp images at 1/20sec at the 200mm end of the range, very impressive indeed. The optic is lightweight for its capabilities but manages to retain a solid and durable feel. As with the vast majority of Nikkors, all the controls feel smooth and well weighted.
Performance
Optics with this sort of zoom range are a compromise and this is no different, with the need to close it down a stop or so to get the best results. Performance as the wide end is slightly better that at the longer focal lengths. What is pleasing about the lens is Contrast, witch is good to excellent thought-out the range. Another area that has been well controlled is that of Chromatic aberration, which, although it does exist, has been evened out well enough for it not so show any great extent at any point.
For an all round lens with the ability to cover most subjects without the need to lug a tripod around, this optic fares well.
Why should you care what I think?
My relationship with this item: I have borrowed a friends Where did you buy this item?: N/A When did you buy this item?: N/A
Conclusions at a glance
Would you recommend this Item: Yes Pros: lengh of zoom, VR II Cons: none realy for this price and coverage.
User Lens Reviews
Average user rating from: 241 user(s)
Overall rating (weighted)
4.3
Sharpness
4.3
Build Quality
4.3
AF Speed
4.3
Value for Money
4.3
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0 of 0 people found the following review helpful
Where was I when this lens came out?, Monday, 01 September 2008
Overall rating (weighted)
4.5
Sharpness
5.0
Build Quality
5.0
AF Speed
4.0
Value for Money
4.0
Well, Nikon lives up to its company reputation once again. My only regret about this lens is that I don't know why I did not know about this lens when it first came out. I must have been living in outer space somewhere :0/ I would have saved some good money on lenses I rarely need to pull out of the closet anymore. I am thrilled with this DXVR lens. I just grab my backpack with this lens on my trusty old D70 and off I go to shoot virtually anything, anywhere. I do a lot of motion photography so I particularly like the VR feature for both the subject and me! I am satisfied with the smoothness and quietness of this lens as well. Some people have complained but I think they are being trivial. I have a good friend (a pro photog.) who bought the Sigma version for this lens with his D80, boasting it was good enough for less money - for 2 months that is! Then he called and asked me if I wanted to buy his Sigma becasue he went and purchased the Nikon! It was my turn to say "I told you so". If you want the best pictures, you need to buy the best tools to get the job done right! My next purchase will be the D300 since the D200 is too hard to find new nowadays. Then I will have the best camera as well! To that end I say, "WELL DONE, NIKON" :0)
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Pefrect walk around lens, Friday, 29 August 2008
Overall rating (weighted)
5.0
Sharpness
5.0
Build Quality
5.0
AF Speed
5.0
Value for Money
5.0
I already owned this lens, and had to buy a 2nd one. My wife and I always were fighting over which lens we wanted to use. We have the Nikon 7-200 mm VR lens, and while it is a great lens it is way to heave to take out on a hike or walking around.
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Very Good Investment, Saturday, 23 August 2008
Overall rating (weighted)
5.0
Sharpness
5.0
Build Quality
5.0
AF Speed
5.0
Value for Money
5.0
Was not real sure if I really needed this lens, but it has been absolutely great. I no longer need to be changing lens for indoor vs outdoor shots. It does everything as advertised.
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0 of 0 people found the following review helpful
Fantastic Lens!, Thursday, 21 August 2008
Overall rating (weighted)
4.8
Sharpness
5.0
Build Quality
4.0
AF Speed
5.0
Value for Money
5.0
I love this lens! While it does have some shortcomings, it is very very nice to not have to switch lenses whenever I want some more "reach."
With that being said, AF has some trouble locking on in low-light situations sometimes. No big deal, I just grab the focus ring and shoot.
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Well ... sticker shock is wearing off, Monday, 18 August 2008
Overall rating (weighted)
5.0
Sharpness
5.0
Build Quality
5.0
AF Speed
5.0
Value for Money
5.0
Ok ... sticker shock, it's wearing off, but it's hard to think my one lens cost more than my camera and kit lens. BUT one trip in the field with this one lens vs carrying the kit 18-55 and the 200 telephoto ... eased the pain. The lens in the VR mode make a slight clunking sound. That bothered me till I went to several camera shops and called Nikon. Seems they all do. OK I can live with that. The VR does works well. Doesn't seem to be that big a battery drain either. There's a warning in the literature that the VR doesn't work with the autofocus assist turned on ... that's annoying but workable. It's just really nice to be able to cover that much wide angle to zoom and only lug one lens. It's heavy but not objectionable. I use it on a D40 ... which I love much better than the D40x or D60 simply due to the strobe sync speed being double that of the later two. Anyway gave it a five star ... it's worth that ... and below 650 is a good price ... not great but better than the retail price.
Really appreciate the VR when zoomed out. So panning with it can make some very nice shots of a moving target. Hard not to like this lens
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Incredibly Versatile Lens, Friday, 15 August 2008
Overall rating (weighted)
4.3
Sharpness
4.0
Build Quality
4.0
AF Speed
5.0
Value for Money
4.0
I've had my 18-200mm lens for a little over a year now and can't imagine what life was like before I bought mine. The range is great and covers most of what I want to shoot. Sure, there are times when I want something wider or longer but that'll always be the case. This lens covers a very large percentage of what I need and keeps me from having to continually swap lenses.
You could go with the two kit lenses that cover the same range. They're lighter (individually, not together) than this one and they use the 52mm diameter filters. But you're back to lens swapping. The 18-200mm lens is as fast as the two kit lenses (f/stop), the focus motor is possibly faster and definitely faster than swapping lenses.
The VR on this lens is incredible. Once you get used to it, you'll never want to back to a non-VR lens. Enough said.
Couple of drawbacks: The lens is a Bit larger than either of the smaller kit lenses. Personally, I don't see this as a problem as one lens is much easier than carrying around two.
The other issue has to do with zoom creep. Supposedly this has been fixed in the later lenses but mine does tend to creep a bit. Wrapping a rubber band around the lens solves this problem handily.
Oh, and 72mm filters tend to be a bit more expensive than the 52mm ones that fit the kit lenses.
I'm giving this a 5 star rating. If I were rating the lens I own, I'd give it 4.5 stars for the lens creep but, seeing as Nikon has supposedly fixed the problem (and Amazon doesn't do half stars), I'm going with 5.
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Great Overall Lense. Very good in lower lighting. , Thursday, 14 August 2008
Overall rating (weighted)
5.0
Sharpness
5.0
Build Quality
5.0
AF Speed
5.0
Value for Money
5.0
This lens exceeded all my expectations. I used it with a Nikon D40X. I have taken several thousand pictures with the lens in RAW format. Excellent photos from a trip to Italy. The lens and camera without flash pulled out fantastic color from paintings that were hung in dark churches and galleries. The fact that I never had to switch lenses during the trip was so convenient and kept out all dust that might have been introduced. This lens is a "must have" for anyone that records their journeys via photos.
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0 of 0 people found the following review helpful
Absolutely wonderful, versatile lens but with some, Monday, 11 August 2008
Overall rating (weighted)
3.8
Sharpness
5.0
Build Quality
3.0
AF Speed
3.0
Value for Money
4.0
This is a perfect lens for all-around scenic use giving you everything from nice wide angles to just about all the focal length you'll need in most situations for scenics. It focuses fast, and makes a much better "only" lens than the lenses included with most camera bodies.
However, you do need to be aware of its limitations; specifically at full zoom there is quite noticeable light fall-off in the corners that becomes especially obvious if the image is enhanced at all or if you process the RAW data from your camera. The practical effect is that full zoom shots are less than useful if you need any of the image in the corners of the frame unless you're willing to do some manipulation to even out the exposure in the corners.
Still, it's hard to beat especially at the price. For those buying D40s and D60s it may be hard to justify a lens that costs nearly as much as the camera body, but take a look at the four figure prices you'd need to spend to get something better.
The absolute best thing about the lens is the VR feature; I've been able to take some handheld shots with razor sharpness in conditions that normally would have required a tripod - especially good when taking nighttime "city lights" shots.
In short, if you're looking for say, an 18-190mm lens, this is a great buy. If you need the 200mm length to be absolutely perfect, choose a different lens.
Otherwise, despite its drawbacks, I'm quite happy to leave this lens attached to my camera 99% of the time.
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Great walkaround lens, Saturday, 02 August 2008
Overall rating (weighted)
4.8
Sharpness
5.0
Build Quality
5.0
AF Speed
4.0
Value for Money
5.0
Terrific all-purpose lens for DX format.Very sharp with reasonable AF speed in most lighting conditions and good reach on the 1.5 crop make this a very useful piece of glass.Many thanks to the ever-readable and never less than amusing Ken Rockwell at www.kenrockwell.com for the constant source of wonderful technical hints and reviews of all things Nikon.
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0 of 0 people found the following review helpful
Great one Lens does All, Thursday, 31 July 2008
Overall rating (weighted)
4.3
Sharpness
4.0
Build Quality
4.0
AF Speed
5.0
Value for Money
4.0
I wanted the full range in one lens. I'm more or less a dilettante when it comes to photography but it more than serves my needs. Yes, it's very expensive, but now, I can get by with just one lens. It performs quite well over the whole range. Be aware that it is quite heavy compared to the basic lenses. Overall, I'm happy I got it.
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0 of 0 people found the following review helpful
Great for vacations, Wednesday, 30 July 2008
Overall rating (weighted)
4.5
Sharpness
4.0
Build Quality
4.0
AF Speed
5.0
Value for Money
5.0
I used this for a recent vacation where I wanted to carry only one lens and not have to be changing lenses. Worked just as advetised - wide zoom range and vibration reduction.
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2 of 5 people found the following review helpful
A very dissapointing lens, Tuesday, 29 July 2008
Overall rating (weighted)
1.8
Sharpness
1.0
Build Quality
3.0
AF Speed
1.0
Value for Money
2.0
As ap semi-pro with photography, I moved from Canon equipment to Nikon specifcally for this lens. In the last two months I have shot over a thoursand pictures with my D300 and this lens. Several years ago I had a Nikon 8800 as a secondary camera that provided stunning pictures all be it an extremely slooooooow camera. I kept asking myself, what is wrong with this highly sofisticated camera and lens? I found that shooting with spot metering provided the best results but still not as sharp and popping as I am use to getting. I finally went back to Amazon and read the 1 and 2 star reviews only to learn that so many have experienced what I have come to realize. This is truly a soft focus lens good for 4x6 famly pictures but do not attempt to blow them up at all. I do a lot of macro photography and would say that 90% of the photos I shot were unusable! I moved to the Nikon 16 to 85 and it is a night and day difference. If you are interested in large format printing and want to see the veins in the pedal of a rose - run from this lens as fast as you can!
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Best LENS?, Thursday, 24 July 2008
Overall rating (weighted)
5.0
Sharpness
5.0
Build Quality
5.0
AF Speed
5.0
Value for Money
5.0
This is my first lens, so it's hard to compare it's performance with anything else. But it is a really versatile lens that takes very nice pictures. There are better lens for specific items, i.e. speed, macro, zoom, but this is a good as it gets for having everything in one lens.
I recommend it, unless you have problems carring a heavier camera
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Excellent Glass, Tuesday, 15 July 2008
Overall rating (weighted)
4.5
Sharpness
4.0
Build Quality
4.0
AF Speed
5.0
Value for Money
5.0
My goal was to find a lens offering a broad range of magnification and capable of producing excellent pictures. I was looking for the "complete package" for my Nikon D80 camera. A lens I could leave on the camera. I understood the lens would not produce a picture as "tack sharp" as a prime lens but I was looking for something close in quality. I opted to purchase this lens and I have to say I made a good decision. The range this lens offers is terrific, the focus is smooth and quick, the VR is great for low light conditions, and best and most important of all the quality of the photographs are excellent. If you are looking for an excellent all purpose lens look no further.
