( 8 reviews )
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Posted: 04-19-2009
I bought this lens to use on a Nikon D80 camera. The lens has some limitations as far as light gathering ability but overall I am quite pleased. It takes sharp pictures if it has adequate light. I find it has it's sharpest pictures at f8-f11. At wide open aperature the pictures are somewhat soft. I used this lens recently at school music program where lighting is always a problem and would have to say that overall I was quite satisfied. Although I ended up at Iso 1600 in order to operate shutterspeed where I needed it worked out rather well. In the past these music programs have been a problem. The lens seems well built and zoom and aperature work smoothly. I don't really like the fact that the lens revolves during focus as I will not be able to use my cpl very effectively. Over the course of the time I have used it the biggest problem I have encountered was some photos I took of canadian geese. It was a hazy day and the pictures I got were loaded with purple fringing. That is the only time I have had this problem but it was quite bad that day. The geese were lined on both sides and head with p/f. Overall though I would say for this price point this is a very nice lens.
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( 0 of 1 found this review helpful ) Posted: 01-02-2008
I haven't used long range lenses before and did not realize how challenging the job is. However the lens is very sharp. It has quite noticable chromatic abberation issue. The main part is that it's not designed to work with Nikon D40/D40X cameras (that's what I have) as their autofocusing mechanism is different and requires special kind of lenses. I did not know about it before I purchased the lens. Amazing thing is - no ad mentions it. So I focus it manualy. It's an extra challenge as under most conditions depth of field is very shallow and using the viewfinder you cannot tell for sure when your subject is really in focus. It only shows later when you review your shot in details. Long range shots must be taken from a tripod - no VR. You get what you pay for. I think it's OK if you are planning to use it in a bright day light for remote static scenes.
