I've had a Nikon Nikkor AF 18-35mm f/3.5-4.5D ED (DX) kit lens for years now, and I've had a great number of lovely pictures captured using it. It's got a number of down sides for me though, so I've been looking around for a, not too expensive, alternative to replace it. My ideal would be the professional Nikkor AF-S 17-35mm f/2.8D IF-EDI, but finally settled on the Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 16-85mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR Lens. It's certainly not as fast as the 17-35, but at half the price it's a great compromise.
Allowing for the crop factor, the 16-85mm focal length used on a DX camera gives effective angles of view of around 24 - 125mm. This overcomes one of the minor issues I had with the 18-35mm: It's a good wide angle lens, but I was forever having to swap to my 24-80mm zoom to get the longer view. This lens covers that ground nicely. It's no replacement for my 28-80 f2.8 Tokina, but it's good to have the overlap.
The biggest problem I wished to overcome was that while the images from my older 18-35mm where pretty sharp, the barrel distortion at the 18mm end of the zoom was ridiculous. I can correct the bulging in Photoshop if I was careful to make sure that the plane of the camera in front of the photographic subject was well placed, but that's not always possible. The end result is that it can be very painful trying to straighten out wonky lines. There is still a little barrel distortion at the 16mm end of the 16-85mm lens, but even with the extra 2mm focal length gain, the distortion is very mild. If you're not photographing straight lines (alas, architecture is one of my favourite subjects) then you'll probably not even notice it.
Being restricted to smaller apertures is not great in poor light, and my old lens gave me problems in that department. I also like shooting graffiti, which is often seen in low light conditions. The 16-85mm isn't any faster then my old lens, but with the amazing VR mechanism built in I can hand hold in poorly lit places with long shutter speeds which would have me ramping up the ISO with the old lens.
The end result is that this lens is quite an upgrade. It's wider and longer at the same time, it's no faster then my old lens, but with VR it overcomes some of the issues associated with low-light shooting. It covers the ground that I needed two lenses to cover previously and it's all but removed the barrel distortion problems I've had in the past.
Shooting with the new lens is a real joy. The lens feels solid and robust, with a good heft to it. The zoom action feels smooth, and can be taken from the 16mm to 85mm extremes with one twist. The focus with the Sonic Wave motor is reasonably quick, and as yet I've not noticed any problems trying to auto-focus in low light, where other lenses I have had will tend to 'hunt' before eventually locking up under similar conditions. I've only shot a few dozen images through the lens to date, but those have come back sharp, with great contrast and little by way of colour aberrations even under close scrutiny.
In summery then, I think for a compromise lens (the 17-35mm f/2.8D ED-IF AF-S NIKKOR would be great but at around £1000... ouch!) this offers phenomenal value for money at this price. It will undoubtedly become the lens most attached to my camera going forward.
| Package Dimensions L x W x H | 21.8 x 17.9 x 11.4 centimetres |
|---|---|
| Package Weight | 0.62 Kilograms |
| Product Dimensions L x W x H | 8.9 x 7.6 x 7.6 centimetres |
| Item Weight | 0.93 Pounds |
| Brand | Nikon |
| Camera Lens | zoom lens |
| Colour | Black |
| Continuous shooting speed | 4.70 |
| Country of Origin | Japan |
| Has image stabilisation | Yes |
| Included components | CL-1018 Soft Case, HB-32 Bayonet Lens Hood, AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED Vibration Reduction Zoom Lens for Nikon DSLR Cameras, LF-4 Rear Lens Cap, LC-67 Snap-on Front Lens Cap |
| Lens Fixed Focal Length | 105 Millimetres |
| Max Focal Length | 105 Millimetres |
| Min Focal Length | 18 Millimetres |
| Model year | 2008 |
| Plug profile | Nikonbayonet |
| Part number | 2179 |
| Size | 18-105 mm |
| Warranty description | 1 |
| Zoom Type | Varifocal |
| Lens Design | Zoom |
| Maximum Aperture Range | F3.5 - F5.6 |
| Focus type | Ultrasonic |
| Photo Filter Thread Size | 67 Millimetres |
| Effective still resolution | 13.20 |
| Guaranteed software updates until | unknown |
