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Archive 2012 · Any thoughts on 28-300?

  
 
hijazist
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Any thoughts on 28-300?


I have recently upgraded to D600 and was wondering if anyone has this lens and would like to share his/her thoughts on it... How well does it perform on the D600 or D800 in terms of AF speed, sharpness and color rendition. Is it better than the 28-105D?


Nov 07, 2012 at 09:32 AM
Kell
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Any thoughts on 28-300?


KR may not be the most popular dude, but here's his review, might help

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/28-300mm.htm



Nov 07, 2012 at 10:27 AM
Alan321
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Any thoughts on 28-300?


Any 28-300 is extremely versatile in terms of focal length range but they all have significant compromises somewhere in order to achieve that range and be affordable. You'll find that sharpness is lacking or even the resolution, especially away from the centre. Some focal length / distance combinations will be worse than others. Vignetting (light fall-off) will be obvious and correcting it will increase noise. It's most likely to be sub-par at the FL extremes (28 and 300mm) where it is most likely to be used.

A D800 is likely to get the best out of the lens but the lens will certainly not get the best out of the D800.

For some of us it may be the best single lens to have if we could only have one lens and did not have a single purpose for it, but it will not be the best or even a great lens for any specific focal length in its range.

The VR will let you shoot hand-held in lighting that non-VR lenses will not cope with. The smaller aperture is often needed for some DOF in which case the benefits of large-aperture lenses without VR are partially lost in poor light. Obviously, YMMV.

Colour rendition is largely irrelevant because errors in white balance will swamp any rendition errors. Some will disagree but most of us do not know what the correct WB should be for each shot and so we fiddle to make it "look good". Studio work would be different, as would any controlled lighting scenarios.

AF will be reasonable in good light but in poor light the smaller aperture will starve the camera of light and contrast and slow the AF down compared with using brighter lenses.

Search for some reviews and tests at SLRgear.com or at photozone.de
Just be sure to ignore kr's reviews because he's full of it.

- Alan



Nov 07, 2012 at 10:28 AM
jmcfadden
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Any thoughts on 28-300?


just a bit of searching yielded this recent thread:

https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1146011/0





J



Nov 07, 2012 at 10:37 AM
hijazist
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Any thoughts on 28-300?


Alan321 wrote:
Any 28-300 is extremely versatile in terms of focal length range but they all have significant compromises somewhere in order to achieve that range and be affordable. You'll find that sharpness is lacking or even the resolution, especially away from the centre. Some focal length / distance combinations will be worse than others. Vignetting (light fall-off) will be obvious and correcting it will increase noise. It's most likely to be sub-par at the FL extremes (28 and 300mm) where it is most likely to be used.

A D800 is likely to get the best out of the lens but the lens
...Show more

Thanks a lot for such an informative review... I am honestly not expecting this to beat primes or pro zooms but I am trying to see how it compares it with other "general" lenses like 28-105, 24-120, 18-200 and the like. It's not going to be my only lens. I have Sigma 12-24, 105 2.5 AIS, 50 1.8G and planning to get the 28 1.8G. So this will be for those "I don't know what I am going to shoot today" days.

I saw samples on flickr and here on FM and I felt it had better sharpness than it's DX equivalent the 18-200

As for KR, well I read the review and thanks for sharing it I like his simplistic take on things though he can be really contradicting at times



Nov 07, 2012 at 10:44 AM
hijazist
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Any thoughts on 28-300?


jmcfadden wrote:
just a bit of searching yielded this recent thread:

https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1146011/0



J



Thanks for sharing it. Actually this same thread is what made me enthusiastic about the 28-300



Nov 07, 2012 at 10:48 AM
MackDaddy1962
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Any thoughts on 28-300?


My random, test shot gallery with the 28-300VRII mounted on my D700:

http://public.fotki.com/mackdaddy/nikon-d700-sandbox/nikkor-28-300mm-vrii/

I've not really used it after testing. I need to "get out there" and do some more with it. It's got great build quality, and super ranger versatility.



Nov 07, 2012 at 10:49 AM
tntcorp
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Any thoughts on 28-300?


hijazist wrote:
I have recently upgraded to D600 and was wondering if anyone has this lens and would like to share his/her thoughts on it... How well does it perform on the D600 or D800 in terms of AF speed, sharpness and color rendition. Is it better than the 28-105D?


hi - it has been awhile since i have used the lens, but it's an appropriate walk-around all purpose lens for me. however, if you plan to use the longer focal length to shoot actions shots, the af speed is not fast enough to acquire focus.

if i remember correctly, there is slight distortion at the low end and vignetting on the high end of the focal lengths.

color rendition is good in full light. it's not a good low light lens because of the variable apertures and long exposure night shots left me disappointed. although, i've never used it at night w/ flash.

NOTE: i always rated the optical formula of lenses on their lowlight responses under long exposure. this lens left me disappointed.

sharpness is good under full lighting but then again, i'm not a pixel peeper. so i cannot comment on edge-to-edge sharpness or sharpness across the entire zoom length.

in summary, a good walk-around lens. plan to use flash or supplement lighting if you are using it at night. af speed is not adequate for sports shots.

good luck on your decision!



Nov 07, 2012 at 11:41 AM
cohenfive
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Any thoughts on 28-300?


i use this when i am going hiking or somewhere i can only take one lens and might need the long end...like any of the superzooms it involves compromises, but i find that when you stay in the 'sweetpsot' of the lens it performs well. it is not quite as sharp as the 2.8 zooms, but it's not terrible. focus speed is not quite as fast but generally is fine. you can get really good images with the lens, and i don't hesitate to take it when i need the versatility.


Nov 07, 2012 at 01:38 PM
Gregstx
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Any thoughts on 28-300?


I bought my 28-300 as a kit with my D7000. I have been very happy with it as a general purpose lens. I also have the 18-200 VR1 and it gets very little use compared to the 28-300. I also feel that it is sharper than the 18-200. I am very pleased with it.


Nov 07, 2012 at 08:14 PM
Dwight3
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Any thoughts on 28-300?


I got my 28-300 to use with a D3. Prior to that the 24-70 was the most-used lens. After that the 28-300 became the most-used lens.

Cons: slower than the 24-70/70-200; Sharpness is slightly less, but quite adequate for my purposes.

Pros: Versatile walkabout lens. It's the FF version of the old DX 18-200, which I enjoyed for many years.

For important work I go to the 24-70/70-200. For most of my work (which is only to please me and nobody else) I use the 28-300. On a 10-12 MPx camera it does just fine. On the D800 it may be marginal. Not sure about the D600. I'd guess it depends on just how obsessed you are with sharpness in your images.



Nov 07, 2012 at 08:45 PM
RRRoger
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Any thoughts on 28-300?


I bought the AF-S Nikkor 28-300 VR to replace my two versions of 18-200 lens.
On the D7000 and D5100 it was quite a bit better at any range.
The lens is surprisingly sharp at 28mm but does fall off towards 300mm.
It soon became dedicated to my D800 and now I have a second one for my wife's D600.
The only time they come off is in very low light or for special circumstances.
Only then will I use the Sigma 8mm or the Nikkors 14-24, 17-35, 28-70, 70-200, 80-200, or 80-400.



Nov 08, 2012 at 09:52 AM
MRM4
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Any thoughts on 28-300?


I had one for a while. If you're going to use it, the best results are daytime or even somewhat low light conditions. It's okay using at night with a flash, but nothing to brag about. Since I use mine at night shooting action shots, I decided I needed something better. Being at f/5 or more produced darker shots at the long end, even at 100mm. I actually found the Tamron 28-300 to be just a bit better shooting at night with a flash.


Nov 08, 2012 at 10:50 AM
hijazist
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Any thoughts on 28-300?


Thanks for the suggestions guys I am planning to use it when I don't want to carry my bag and haven't planned on what to shoot, particularly in daytime. I am not expecting to beat the 300mm AF-S at 300mm, but only for the casual tele every now and then. For night I think I will be using the 50 1.8G.


Nov 08, 2012 at 11:20 AM
kwilliam8
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Any thoughts on 28-300?


I have used the 28-300mm on my D800, and I like it. I have many other better lenses, but for an all around lens, with a big zoom range, it works well for me.

I was at a Camera Expo this weekend, and Vincent Versace gave an interesting talk with some slide shows. Prior to starting the formal presentation, he went through his camera bag. He said that when he goes into a situation where he does not know the type of shooting (or focal length) that will be needed, he puts on the Nikon 28-300mm. He said the lens is a compromise, but that it works pretty well for him. I can not remember his exact words, but he does like and use this lens.

Keith W.



Nov 09, 2012 at 01:56 AM
hijazist
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · Any thoughts on 28-300?


Thanks for all your responses. I bought the lens and received it today. I like the built quality though it's on the heavy side which is a good thing since it balances well on the D600. I only took a couple of test shots handheld and I am initially really impressed with the IQ. The VR works great and the FL range is crazy! I will post some pictures shortly


Nov 10, 2012 at 01:25 AM





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