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Nikkor 28-70 Aspheric zoom (2)
Cost vs. Performance
The important question though is how does such a lens perform in practice? I must say, first of all, that I am not a natural user of zooms... I have always preferred to carry a couple of fixed focal length lenses... and having earned my crusts largely with Nikon equipment for over 30 years I've come to rely on faster, fixed aperture lenses of proven ability.
Thirty years ago the few zooms available were of questionable quality, but not so today. Their only drawback now is that in the interests of compactness many zooms' maximum apertures have become slower and variable depending on the focal length range. While the 28-70mm fits into this category in having a variable maximum aperture of f/3.5 at 28mm and f/4.5 at 70mm the topic of "questionable quality" does not apply because of the aspheric element in its construction. And the old argument about not being able to accurately set an exposure manually doesn't apply here either... the lens is for everyday photography, not for the Zone System exponent!
Having said that the Nikon system of exposure is second to none in terms of precision... its 3-D Distance Data Detection metering being the key. All recent autofocus lenses (plus some specialist manual ones) hold a microchip which relays the all-important subject-to-camera distance and combines it with a set of stored algorithms to provide the optimum exposure under many different lighting conditions. Therefore with with this lens on a compatible autofocus camera the user basically cannot get the exposure wrong.
The autofocus speed is perfectly adequate for most uses this lens will be put to... noticeably faster autofocus is now available with Nikon's professional “Silent Wave” telephotos and wide-angle zooms, but for most photographers there is nothing to be gained, or even seen through the viewfinder, with the few tenths or hundredths of a second difference focusing between them.
In manual focusing, which some prefer for critical use, the lens performs smoothly with a reasonably well-damped action made nicer by the arc of travel of only 120 degrees from the infinity setting to the minimum 0.35 meter distance. The minimum focus distance is marked as 0.5 meter but there is a "macro" mode clearly marked in orange at all focal lengths down to 0.39 meter. In case you wonder why an arc of travel of 120 degrees is a plus point I find that it allows a complete infinity-to-macro focusing movement to be completed in one movement of the thumb or forefinger by rotating the focusing ring without having to readjust one's grip on the camera and lens.
I've never tested a lens against a paper test chart (my eyes are now too old for such critical interpretation) but can attest that the results from this 28-70mm Nikkor are of a quality most would expect from a set of prime lenses. OK, you are going to have to be working stopped down to around f/8 for the best resolution, whereas with an f/1.4 prime lens the optimum resolution would be reached by f/2.8 or f/4 thus enabling a faster shutter speed relative to the film speed in use. But having studied the results from lens tests in magazines, from the UK's "Amateur Photographer" to Italy's "Tutti Fotografi" all reviewers and testers say the same... the results from this lens are from "very good" to "excellent."
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