Nikon 28-70mm f/2.8 AF-S enlarge. I'd get mine at Adorama, Ritz or Amazon. It helps me keep adding this site when you get yours from those links, too.

More Nikon Reviews

December 2007

Introduction     top

Intro   Specifications    Performance    Recommendations

See my Nikon Professional Normal Zoom Comparison for exhaustive side-by-side image examples.

This is a spectacular lens. It's also spectacularly big, heavy and expensive: about $1,450 as of December 2007. Its price has been stable; it was $1,400 in 2002. I suspect it will be discontinued as it has been superceded by the improved, lighter and even more expensive 24-70mm f/2.8 AF-S.

I'm afraid of this 28-70mm lens because it is so big and heavy. It is Nikon's heaviest midrange zoom ever. I'd never want to walk around with this thing hanging off the front of my camera. If you spend more time shooting than carrying it, it's a great lens. The Nikon 28-70mm AF-S is not a lens for taking on vacation or for the timid. It's a lens to use all day long shooting.

Personally I'm not a fan of normal zooms, but that's just me.

Pros who shoot FX or 35mm film usually use two lenses: a 17-35mm and a 70-200mm. The midrange is skipped, or maybe a 50mm f/1.4 is dropped in a bag for low light. I can see why one might use this for weddings.

Compatibility: As an AF-S lens, it works perfectly on every Nikon digital SLR, and on almost every film camera, manual and autofocus.

It won't autofocus on some of the oldest and cheapest AF film cameras, like the N2020 or N55. It works perfectly on the N75 and F4.

Since it has an aperture ring, it works great with all the manual focus Nikons all the way back to the F. You may need to use stop-down metering with the F, or have a coupling prong fitted to the aperture ring.

See Nikon Lens Compatibility for details with your camera. Read down the "AF-S, AF-I" column for this lens.

Production History: Introduced in 1999 and still sold as current in 2007. I predict it will be discontinued in early 2008, if it hasn't already. Nikon has made about 110,000 of these.

Specifications    top

Intro   Specifications    Performance    Recommendations

Name: Nikon calls this the Nikon ED AF-S NIKKOR 28-70mm f/2.8 D.

Nikon Product Number: 1961.

Identity Plate, Nikon 28-70mm AF-S.

Optics: 15 elements in 11 groups. Two of these are of magic ED glass and one is a molded glass aspherical. It has Nikon's "SIC" Super Integrated multi-coating and internal focusing.

Filter Size: 77mm.

Diaphragm: 9 blades, rounded. Stops down to f/22.

Close Focus: 1.5 feet (0.5 meters).

Maximum Reproduction Ratio: 1:5.6. (The 24-70mm AF-S gets to 1:3.7.)

Infra-Red Focus Indices: Yes, at 28 and 50mm.

Focus Window, Nikon 28-70mm AF-S.

Size: 4.779" extension from flange by 3.493" diameter 121.39 x 88.72mm), measured. Nikon specifies 3.5" (89mm) around by 4.9" (124mm) long: big!

Weight: 31.265 oz (886.3g), measured. Nikon specifies 31.3 oz. (890g) or 33.0 oz. (935g) in various places. That's TWO POUNDS!!!!

A big, fat lens with an even bigger, fatter hood.

Hood: HB-19 plastic bayonet, included.

Case: CL-74, included.

CL-74 hard case, included (made in China).

Nikon Product Number: 1961, in catalog as of spring 2008. I suspect it will be discontinued with the introduction of the 24-70mm AFS.

Performance    top

Intro   Specifications    Performance    Recommendations

If you aren't scared of the size, weight and price, this is of course a spectacular lens. It was Nikon's best professional no-compromise normal zoom from 1999 - 2007.

See my Nikon Professional Normal Zoom Comparison for exhaustive side-by-side image examples.

Focus

It's easy to use; there are no annoying range limiters or macro lock-out switches. Oddly Nikon, Japan says the macro range is only available at 70mm, but the sample I tried got to the closest focus distance at all focal lengths.

AF Speed

AF is fast on a D3. AF is fast on a D40.

AF action is pretty fast on an F100.

AF Accuracy

AF offset at 70mm and f/2.8. Roll mouse over to see effect of a small manual adjustment. (crops from 100% images on a D40)

Every individual sample of lens and every individual sample of camera vary somewhat. This lens on my D3 had strong autofocus errors at 70mm leading to very soft results wide open. Results were fine at 28mm. In other words, this sample sucked at 50mm and 70mm on my D3.

I used my D3's "AF Fine Tune" feature, second from the bottom in the wrench menu, to fix this. This particular lens and my particular D3 needed a setting of about -15.

I wouldn't penalize this model of lens; this varies from sample-to-sample. It does underscore the importance of checking every lens you buy, as I do, on your camera, and returning it if it isn't compatible. This is why I only buy from places that allow 100% cash refunds if I'm unhappy.

That said, this lens, which I borrowed from a friend for this review, works great on my D3 once I fine-tune the AF in the appropriate menu. This is why Nikon provides this adjustment. Other cameras, like all earlier Nikons like the D40, have no such adjustment.

Manual Focus

Easy: just grab the ring at any time.

The manual focus ring is geared perfectly for use on manual focus cameras; put this on your F3 and have at it!

How fat? See the 77mm lens cap on top? The lens gets fatter from there!

Sharpness on the Nikon D3     top

Sharpness, presuming you have your autofocus system properly calibrated as described above, is excellent. Duh, what would you expect from any Nikkor lens with a four-digit price tag?

I'm looking very closely at the equivalent or 43" (1m) wide prints for this, and then shooting on top of a mountain so that I have unlimited detail throughout the entire frame all in focus at infinity. This lens is very sharp for any real picture taking; these comments below are for the few people who like to split hairs.

Center Sharpness on the Nikon D3

28mm and 35mm: Sharp, even wide open.

50mm and 70mm: A tiny little bit softer at f/2.8, perfect by f/4. This could still be focus issues. In any case, it is excellent in the center on a D3.

Corner Sharpness on a D3

28mm: A little smeary at f/2.8, much better at f/4, perfect by f/8.

35mm: A little soft at f/2.8, much better at f/4, perfect by f/8.

50mm: A little soft at f/2.8, much better at f/4, perfect by f/5.6.

70mm: A little soft at f/2.8, much better at f/4, perfect by f/5.6.

Distortion    top

Distortion is as expected: moderate barrel at wide, and minor pincushion at tele.

Plug these figures into Photoshop CS2's lens distortion filter to correct the distortion. These aren't facts or specifications, they are the results of my research that requires me to climb a bluff on a very clear day, shoot the ocean's horizon, and run calculations on the resulting data.

For scanned film, use the FX full-frame figures.

© 2007 KenRockwell.com

Nikon 28-70mm AF-S

Use with Filters    top

On film and FX digital, I get no vignetting even with a relatively fat filter with a 6.5mm thick ring. This is about the limit; thicker filters will start to vignette at 28mm.

On DX, don't worry. You won't get any vignetting even with a stack of filters.

Mechanics and Construction    top

Filter Threads: Plastic, surrounded by metal. This is good: filters often unscrew themselves from metal lens threads.

Forebarrels: Metal.

Hood Bayonet: Metal.

Focus Ring: Rubber-covered metal.

Focus Scale Window: Plastic.

Barrel around Focus Window: Seems like plastic.

Zoom Ring: Rubber-covered metal, painted focal length markings.

Aperture Ring: Plastic. Aperture markings are indented and filled with paint.

Lens Mount: Metal.

Internals: Look like metal.

Noises when Shaken: Moderate dull klunking.

Serial Number: Laser engraved into bottom of aperture ring. USA versions prefixed by "US," with a space between the US and the rest of the serial number.

Made in: Japan. (Case made in China, caps usually Thailand (front) and Japan (rear), hood made in Japan.)

Zooming    top

It gets bigger when set to 28mm!

The front group extends at 28mm. It is shortest at 50mm, which is how I and others photograph the lens for most of its representative product shots. It doesn't grow much from 50mm to 70mm.

Zooming is precise. This is great for landscapes, but the huge zoom ring might be a little slow for news and sports. The 24-70mm f/2.8 AF-S zoom ring is much lighter and faster, and the 35-70mm f/2.8 zoom can be pushed or pulled faster, too.

I can flick the zoom ring of this 28-70mm AF-S with moderate pressure from my middle finger while holding a camera with the same hand.

Zooming is best with the lens horizontal, which is how I usually shoot. When pointed directly at the zenith or nadir, you are working to move the front group up and down with or against gravity. I see no creep, but it is often more difficult to zoom pointed up or down.

The zoom ring of the 28-70mm is huge! It's calibrated at a lazy 5 cm/octave.

Recommendations    top

Intro   Specifications    Performance    Recommendations

Nikon 28-70mm AF-S

You people know who you are. This is a lens for full-time professional use 24/7, where you are spending more time shooting than carrying it. It is too big and too heavy to serve as a rich man's vacation lens.

Today, the newest and even more expensive 24-70mm f/2.8 AF-S weighs a little less and is narrower, but longer. Seeing how this 28-70mm AF-S is still selling at it's all-time high price of about $1,450, and used ones aren't much less, I would suggest getting the newer 24-70mm f/2.8 AF-S since I suspect the resale value of this lens will be dropping soon. This means that if you'd rather have the newer 24-70mm AFS, I doubt you'll take any more of a hit when you go to sell in several years than with this 28-70mm AFS.

Manual Focus Cameras

If you want to use this on your F3, go right ahead, since the newest 24-70mm f/2.8 AF-S won't work. You may or may not prefer the 35-70mm f/3.5 AI-s, which has similar optical quality in a far smaller and lighter package.

The newer 24-70 AF-S has been gelded (had its aperture ring removed to save cost: G-series) which makes it useless on manual focus cameras. This 28-70mm AF-S is the last Nikon professional normal zoom which works on manual focus cameras.

More Information: Nikon, Japan.

PLUG

If you find this as helpful as a book you might have had to buy or a workshop you may have had to take, feel free to help me continue helping everyone.

Thanks for reading!

Ken