Nikon 16-85mm VR Lens

Hey All:
Anyone using this lens? I've seen several reviews that give it a great rating and hopefully it will be in my camera bag soon.

Anyone have any experience with this lens?

Thanks in advance.

Steve - it's a great lens. You might be interested in this comparison, though -
http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/16-85mm-vs-18-200mm.htm

Sandy r

What will you use it for?


Kent in SD

Thanks Sandy; I looked at that site and the 18-200 doesn't look too bad. If this year is a good one, I'll be going after the 70-200 VR. That's a good site you recommended.

I'll be using it mainly for landscapes from the kayak Kent. If I get paid enough on my next check, the boss may let me get it to use at the Mindi Abair concert [front row seats]. I may even shoot some events with it. I looked at it yesterday in my favorite camera store [Colonial Photo & Hobby, Orlando] and was impressed.

I have had the Nikkor 16-85 for 1 1/2 years and found it to be an excellent lens for the price. I use it mainly for my landscape work on my D300.
Here is Tom Hogan's review of that lens:
http://www.bythom.com/Nikkor16-85lensreview.htm

Some other good sites for lens reviews are:
http://www.slrgear.com
http://www.fredmiranda.com/reviews

For shooting from a boat it will be good. For use in dim light, the Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 would be better.


Kent in SD

Steve, it depends on what you plan to shoot with it. I've got both the 16 - 85 and the 17- 55 F2.8 lenses. Since I have both I decided to test them at five different landscape locations in one our local park sites. I'm shooting from the same five locations in all four seasons and shot both lenses at the widest focal length. I left the tripod in exactly the same location and the camera body mounted to it. I then shot both lenses from the exact same compostions. The 16 - 85 shots were obviously a little wider. I shot both leneses at f8 and at f16. I shot raw files and processed them all in the latest version of Adobe Camera Raw. At f8 both lenses do very well and are pretty much equal. At f16 the 16 - 85 is excellent. The 17 - 55 f 2.8 lens loses significant sharpness due to diffraction. There is a substantial difference in the two at f16. I think this is fairly typical of fast zoom lenses at small apertures. At least it has been my experience with several of them. I'd highly recommend th 16 - 85 particularly if you plan to use it for shooting a lot of landscapes since you will probably use it stopped down fairly often.

Thanks very much Bill; I'm really cranked about getting this lens. My wife told me that if I get a good raise in the next couple weeks, I can get the D300s too.