opinions on Nikon 18-35mmf3.5-4.5

Hi,

I am looking for a lightweight wide angle zoom for the D700 and I was wondering if anyone has or has used this lens and what your opinion is of its optical quality. I looked on slrgear.com and they have only tested it on cropped DSLR's/
thanks
scott

I bought mine for use in the film days, so with the additional requirements of a digital sensor, YMMV. It's not a bad lens for the price, but it is consumer grade. The build is decent and I'd rate it on the high end of consumer grade lenses. It's solid, and the AF is the old screw drive. Optically, it's about what it's value tells you it will be, not a stellar performer but still capable of producing decent images. On film, I never noticed any light fall-off to the corners, but I always shot the lens at f8 or more. I suspect wide open it would show some fall-off on film, likely more on digital. I would not shoot this lens below f8 unless it was an emergency and I couldn't do anything else. Distortions are typical of a super-wide and you have to watch straight lines be they horizontal or vertical. I still have mine, it does ok on my D2x (but the crop factor helps). In summary, a decent value if you normally shoot f8 or above and accept the distortion inherant with the focal length.

I essentially concur with the above review. I, too, initially acquired this lens for use with a film camera. When I moved to digital six years ago (D100) I very briefly used this lens, then set it aside when I acquired the 12-24/4 when it was the only real ultrawide option for the Nikon DX format. I haven't used the 18-35 since, though I still have it mothballed somewhere. Since moving to FX with the D700 late last year, I'm using the 14-24/2.8 for ultra-wide and the 24-70/2.8 for more traditional wide angle and normal focal length shots. The 18-35 isn't even close to being in that class, but it's a fraction of the cost so that's no surprise. I'd regard it as a less than sensational--but arguably workable--option on full frame (though I must concede that I haven't tested it on a full frame digital camera) for the truly budget (and/or payload) conscious.

Thanks for the info, I'll have to think about it I guess, it doesn't sound like it is a particularly good lens, just inexpensive and light.