Nikon 17-55mm f/2.8G AF-S DX
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Review Date: Apr 20, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,270.00
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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It is very sharp, especially at wide open. At 17mm f2.8, it is the best I know of. The sharpness at f2.8 and f8 (peak in sharpness)is not much different at wide end. This lens is designed to use at wide open IMO.
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Cons:
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weight, very long with hood, sharpness at f2.8 55mm could be better, at 17mm small aperture for landscape is not quite sharp. Flare (sometimes)
Distortion at both wide and tele-ends. You will see it but this is not important to me much.
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I think people like this lens because of the performance wideopen. It is truly sharp for zoom.
I don't like the weight. I had 2 copies and returned the first one because of the softness at tele-end at f2.8. The second copy is better but still not excellent. At 55mm wideopen, the sharpness at center is good but at the edge it could be better. I stay at f4.5 or smaller for portrait at 55mm. If you want to use the lens for landscape and plan to use at small aperture like f 13, it is not sharp. (15mm on my sigma 15-30 is better at smaller aperture f11-f16) f11 might be the smallest you should use.
The lens will not replace primes you have. I have 20mm f2.8 to use when use directly at sun. I use 35mm f2 around f2.8 to shoot some portrait and use 85mm f1.4 for tight portraits. These lens are much better in terms of quality (17-55mm also has distortion at both wide and tele end). I thought about leaving all my primes at home when I bought the lens but I still have to carry them with me. Though I hardly put them (primes) on as I am too lazy to change the lens and image quality of 17-55mm is comparable if you know sweep-spot. I think 17-55 is the best for lazy person like me though I miss my primes.
I wish somebody told me all the negative aspects before I jumped in. Most people raves about how good it is and sharp wideopen. There are many things untold about this lens. I love this lens by the way but want to give negative sides of the lens for people making decision to buy.
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