Varexon EEK 28mm f/2.8

A beauty of a beast Similar lenses used: Nikon 43-86mm f/3.5 Nikon 35-70mm f/2.8 Sigma 35-70mm f/2.8 to f/4 (Nikon F mount) Kiron 28-70mm f/3.5 to f/4.5 (for Pentax ME) Tamron 28-200mm f/3.8 to f/5.6 (Nikon F mount) Fuji 16-55mm f/2.8 (on Fuji X it has angle-of-view equivalent to 24-82mm on full frame) Background In my film only days, I primarily used prime lenses. The two lenses I used the most were 35mm f/2 and 85mm f/1.8. The first zoom lens I purchased was a Nikon 43-86mm that I wanted to use when I only wanted to carry one body and one lens. However, this lens was a big disappointment for me. The lens was too slow, its images were not sharp, and there were many times when 43mm was just not wide enough. This lens was such a poor performer that I dumped it and refused to use zoom lenses for decades. Thirty years later, I was still primarily a prime lens shooter. My general purpose two-lens Nikon kit had not changed much. I was using a 35mm f/1.4 and an 85mm f/1.8. However, when I began shooting DX digital, my manual focus primes did not allow me to focus as quickly and as accurately as I could on a film body. Rather than replace my manual focus primes with auto focus primes, I decided to rely on auto focus zoom lenses on my DX digital bodies. Since a 24mm focal length produces the same angle-of-view on a DX digital body as a 35mm lens on a film body, I used a 20-35mm f/2.8 auto focus zoom to substitute for my 35mm prime lens. Since a 57mm focal length produces the same angle-of-view on a DX digital body as an 85mm lens on a film body, I used a 35-70mm f/2.8 auto focus zoom to substitute for my 85mm prime lens. This year, I finally decided to replace my 35-70 with the newer Nikon 28-70mm f/2.8. I did not want to replace my 35-70 with the newest 24-70mm f/2.8 because the 24-70 is a G lens that does not have an aperture ring and I need an aperture ring for exposure control in my older Nikon film cameras. *** Nikon 28-70mm f/2.8 pros: 1. Image quality -- excellent 2. Auto focus -- faster and quieter than the 35-70mm f/2.8 lens that it replaced. 3. FX lens -- lens works on FX & DX bodies. This is very important to me because I want all my lenses to work on my full-frame film bodies and my APS-size digital bodies. 4. Zoom Range -- 28-70mm is good range for FX body; range is ok for DX body 5. Construction -- rugged, lots of metal, well made 6. Constant f/stop -- f/2.8 constant aperture is a very important feature for me. 7. Aperture ring -- presence of aperture ring necessary for lens to function on older film Nikons. Newer 24-70mm f/2.8 lens does not have an aperture ring. 8. Compatibility -- the 28-70mm f/2.8 and the 20-35mm f/2.8 on DX make a good two-lens combo. The 28-70mm f/2.8 works well between the 14-24mm f/2.8 and the 80-200mm f/2.8 in a three-lens kit for DX or FX. 9. Usefulness -- serves as a general purpose FX lens; also makes a good DX portrait lens on the beach and in the studio. Nikon 28-70mm f/2.8 cons: 1. Lens hood -- plastic petal-shaped bayonet hood is its weakest feature for me. 2. Availability -- discontinued lens that is only available on the used market. 3. Obsolescence -- makes my Nikon 35-70mm f/2.8 lens and my Tamron 28-200mm f/3.8 to f/5.6 less useful. 4. Vibration reduction/Image stabilization -- none 5. Size & weight -- the large size and heavy weight contributed to the lens' nickname, "The Beast." 6. Repair costs -- about $400 to repair and replace silent auto focus motor. 7. Price -- high when it was brand new and high on the used market; but well worth it. Read full review

Intermittent Item worked, it seems not to auto focus smoothly, a couple of times I had to use my other lens instead because I couldn't get it to auto focus. It seemed to work intermittently. I'll keep it, as it's too much trouble to send back.

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 28-70mm f/2.8 D ED Lens Review I am a professional photographer, and I bought this lens to use on my Nikon D850. I purchased this lens to have as a back-up for my “go-to” Tokina 24-70mm f/2.8 which is an outstanding sharp lens. A couple days after I bought the lens, I first did a quick test at various focal lengths and all checked out. I then took it to photograph a tradeshow I was covering a couple days later to really test it in a working environment. Focus was super sharp and super accurate - at the tradeshow I took about 200 photos, there was not one missed focus in any of the shots. Back in studio when processing the photos (importing into CaptureOne, export as PSD), I was delighted with the image sharpness and color produced by the lens. I was concerned about the capability of the lens to resolve the 45MP sensor - I quickly saw that the images were all beautifully sharp and fully resolved the the high MP sensor. After using the lens in a real world job application, I absolutely LOVE this lens! It is now my primary lens for events, portraits and other applications requiring this focal length. Although an older lens, the lens that was sent to me looks almost brand new - and the eBay store that I purchased it from got it to me sooner than I expected (they were also very nice and responsive in their communications to me). This is one of the best quality and value purchases that I have made in years - I hope to be able to use this for my work for many years to come.Read full review