The Nikon f3.3-5.6/28-80mm G AF Nikkor Zoom Lens Quality Images—Budget Price
Written: Jun 23 '02 (Updated Jun 23 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great Resolution, Cheap, and Lightweight
Cons: No aperture ring
The Bottom Line: The Nikon f3.3-5.6/28-80mm G AF Nikkor Zoom Lens is an exceptional performer at a real bargain price
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| Howard_Creech's Full Review: Nikon Zoom Wide Angle-Telephoto AF Zoom Nikkor 28-... |
The Nikon f3.3-5.6/28-80mm G AF Nikkor Zoom lens is a compact and lightweight standard zoom featuring excellent resolution, fast dependable performance, a newly designed seven blade iris diaphragm (for enhanced Bokeh and improved contrast), “D” type precision distance measurement for flash operation, and a tight 1.1 feet minimum focusing distance. This zoom is an excellent example of just how good an inexpensive lens can be. Nikon has been using computers to design lenses, and space age materials to construct them since the early 1980’s and has managed to fine tune efficiency to the point where the theoretical balance between production//marketing/distribution cost and quality/features/value is a reality.
Nikon is leading the way in producing inexpensive zoom lenses that perform as well as (and often outperform) lenses that just twenty years ago were regarded as pro quality “benchmark” zoom lenses costing five to ten times as much. Very good quality zoom lenses utilizing the most advanced computer design and manufacturing technology, the extensive use of inexpensive “space age” materials, lower labor/physical plant costs in the third world, and new advertising/distribution/mass marketing techniques are now sold for what Leica and Zeiss charge for lens hoods and Polarizring filters.
The primary material used in “consumer” camera bodies, lens barrels, and bayonet mounting flanges is polycarbonate, a tough resin polyamide related to epoxy. This space age material is often referred to as “plastic”. Polycarbonate is to plastic, what caviar is to fish eggs and there’s a lot more to the equation than meets the eye. Polycarbonate is light weight, super strong, wears very well, is inexpensive to produce and mold, and is as durable as steel in most cases. The cutting edge F117 “Stealth” fighter is constructed of this “plastic” material
In the Field/Handling & Operation
I have an old friend who sells new and used (digital and film) cameras, he knows I love to play with new techno toys so when he called and told me he had something really neat he wanted to show me, I told him to come on over. When he showed up, later that same morning, he had a brand new Nikon N55 35mm SLR with a Nikon f3.3-5.6/28-80mm G AF Nikkor Zoom lens.
We took the camera to Cave Hill Cemetery, Louisville’s only arboretum and one of my favorite shooting locations, and spent an early afternoon photographing the ancient grave markers and mausoleums. The weather was almost perfect, sunny and hot with cobalt blue skies and huge cottony white clouds, no wind, and an absolutely beautiful front lighting. Nikon’s new ultra light N55 camera provided the perfect platform to test the Nikon f3.3-5.6/28-80mm G AF Nikkor Zoom lens. At one point I was able to shoot about half a roll of Ektachrome EliteChrome 100 slide film of a Moorish styled pink sandstone mausoleum in absolutely gorgeous afternoon light.
The glowing pink sandstone building with cobalt blue skies (filled with puffy white clouds) above made a striking composition. The f3.3-5.6/28-80mm G Nikkor (@28mm & f8 and mounted on a favorite old Leitz Tilt-All tripod) produced slides that were sharply focused and perfectly exposed. When we viewed the EliteChrome 100 images on a color corrected light box with a 6X Schneider loupe they were as sharp as a tack, easily capable of professional quality 8x10 enlargements. There was no discernible distortion, and absolutely no color fringing.
After the groundskeepers drove us out of Cave Hill Cemetery (so they could close) we drove to Louisville’s south end to shoot in Iroquois Park. Louisville has one of the finest City Park systems in the United States, and Frederick Law Olmsted, America’s most famous 19th century Landscape Architect, designed most of our parks. Olmsted also designed New York City’s Central Park and the reflecting mall in Washington, D.C. Iroquois Park covers a large heavily forested hill that rises more than 800 feet above the surrounding suburbs. Once you are inside the park, it is quite easy to believe that you are "out in the country" rather than completely surrounded by a large metropolitan area.
Olmsted designed a small wildflower prairie with several diminutive marshy areas near the top of the hill. This quiet and serene hilltop refuge, seemingly far away from the busy city below, has recently been restored to its late nineteenth century appearance. Earlier this year Louisville Parks Department employees conducted the first ever controlled burn (to rid the area of invasive non-native plants and duplicate the seasonal cycle of fire and re-growth that kept America’s extensive prairies healthy) in the Olmsted prairie area. Neither of us had been to the park since the burn and we were very interested in seeing how different the little prairie looked with all the non-native plants removed.
The little prairie is a photographer’s paradise, especially in the spring, early summer, and fall when the area sports dozens of varieties of colorful seasonal wildflowers, the perfect place to check out a new camera. My friend and I stayed until dusk on Saturday afternoon shooting groupings of wildflowers and one late but absolute gorgeous little stand of Wild Irises. The Irises were in a very marshy area at the edge of one of the small ponds. It took some pretty impressive contortions to get close enough to frame the flowers (with a small patch of mirror still water right in front of them) and get just the right angle on the side lit purple blossoms without getting muddy. We’ve had an especially wet spring this year (Louisville’s rainfall this Spring is about 8-10 inches above normal).
The new Nikon N55 did a pretty good job, although I would have really liked an aperture ring on the 28-80. The Ektachrome 100 slides were almost perfect when viewed on a color corrected light table with a Schneider 6X loupe. Color, resolution, and contrast were all in the very good to excellent range. The Nikkor f3.3-5.6/28-80mm G Zoom lens did an unbelievable job for a sub $100 Zoom. Color transmission was faultless and resolution was sharp as a tack. There was a bit of softness at the edges of the images, but shooting outdoors in natural settings it just disappears into the background. Color accuracy (we always test color by shooting a collection of brightly colored “kiddie” plastic beach toys against a white background) was excellent.
Nikon designed the seven-blade iris diaphragm (the blades are rounded) in the f3.3-5.6/28-80mm G Zoom to enhance portrait backgrounds by softening and muting out of focus highlights. This effect is known as Bokeh, and generally short standard zooms (35-70, 28-80) actually accentuate and strengthen out of focus highlights, which makes them poor choices for environmental portraits. We wanted to check out Nikon’s claims and see if Nippon Kogaku’s engineers and optical experts could actually design a sub $100.00 zoom with decent Bokeh.
We took the N55 and Nikon f3.3-5.6/28-80mm G AF Nikkor Zoom to Mid City Mall on Bardstown Road and talked a couple of frizzy haired, baggy shorts, multiple piercings “Gen Y” teens into posing (with their ever present skateboards) against a tall hedge at the north end of the Mall. The mid-morning light was bright and spots of light showed through the hedge directly behind our models. We shot half a roll of EliteChrome 100 (with the zoom @ about 50mm and the f-stop somewhere between f4.0 and f4.5) and when we checked the slides on a color corrected light table with a 6X Schneider loupe the f3.3-5.6/28-80mm G Zoom was a real surprise, the out of focus “hot spots” were muted and noticeably softer than expected. The f3.3-5.6/28-80mm G Zoom won’t compete with Bokeh champs like the AF ED-IF 180/f2.8 Nikkor or the 85/f1.4D AF IF Nikkor, but it does a better job of controlling and softening background highlights than many standard zooms costing two to three times as much.
The lens is manufactured at Nikon’s state of the art lens factory in Thailand. Extensive use of Polycarbonate (to include the bayonet mount) and highly efficient precision manufacturing of lens elements, and robotic assembly at this plant has allowed Nikon to cut per unit cost dramatically and those savings are then passed on to consumers.
The Nikkor f3.3-5.6/28-80mm G Zoom Lens has an attractive satin black finish; the lens is very light and noticeably smaller than most similar lenses. The zoom ring is “easy grip” textured rubber-like plastic and the thin manual focusing ring is of the same material, both are very lightly damped but function very well. I observed no zoom creep and auto focusing was quick and very accurate, but a little noisy. The front element turns during focusing so using a circular polarizer (or split ND filter) will prove difficult. The lens exhibits very minor barrel distortion at 28mm and virtually undetectable pincushion distortion at 80mm. Center and corner sharpness is very good to excellent at all apertures except f3.3. Optimum aperture appears to be f5.6-f8.0. Minimum focusing distance is 1.1 feet and flare and interior reflections are very well controlled throughout the zoom’s range. The Nikkor f3.3-5.6/28-80mm G Zoom is a very good performer, especially considering its modest price.
Technical Specifications
Focal length Range: 28-80mm
Maximum Aperture: F3.3
Minimum Aperture: F22
Lens Formula: 6 elements in 6 groups (including one aspherical element)
Minimum Focusing Distance 1.1 feet. (13.25 inches)
Diaphragm: 7 blades (rounded for improved Bokeh—very rare in an entry level lens)
Weight: 6.9 ounces
Filter Size: 58mm
Mount: Nikon”F” AF/G
Optional (recommended) Nikon HB-20 lens hood
Street Price Range $99.00-$79.00
A Few Concerns
Based on the Nikkor f3.3-5.6/28-80mm G Zoom’s remarkably good performance (and for eighty dollars) I have no concerns whatever. The lack of an aperture ring is a bit difficult for long time photographers to get used to. For older photographers, it will take a while get over the surprise every time you reach for the aperture ring (and find nothing there) but most shooters will quickly get used to changing the lens aperture using the controls on the camera, or by manipulating the exposure compensation settings, or using the auto bracketing feature.
Conclusion
Nikon’s production engineers and optical experts have designed a radically new series of compact and light weight AF zoom Nikkors that feature very good optical performance, lower prices, and simplified operation. The AF Nikkor f3.3-5.6/28-80mm G Zoom is the flagship of this new “G” series. The AF Nikkor f3.3-5.6/28-80mm G Zoom is very inexpensive, however its performance is exceptional even for an optic costing twice as much, making this Nikkor a very real bargain. For backpackers, travelers, and other weight conscious photographers, at less than seven ounces, the 2.9X zoom actually weighs less than many prime (single focal length) lenses. The Nikkor f3.3-5.6/28-80mm G Zoom Lens is best suited for beginning photographers advanced amateur photographers on a budget, and advanced amateur photographers (travel/outdoors) for whom weight is a major consideration. Nikon’s superb (and inexpensive) AF 75-240/f4.5-5.6D Zoom Nikkor is a perfect companion lens.
Be sure to check out my review of Nikon’s new N55, here’s the URL: http://www.epinions.com/content_67792506500
If you enjoyed reading this 35mm zoom lens review, you may find my other 35mm lens reviews informative:
Nikon Lenses
Prime Lenses
Nikon AF ED-IF 180/f2.8 Nikkor
http://www.epinions.com/content_50492313220
Nikon 105/f2.8D AF Micro-Nikkor
http://www.epinions.com/elec-review-ED0-62442B1-393AA9F1-prod5
Nikon 85/f1.4D AF IF
http://www.epinions.com/content_23241199236
Nikon 85/f1.8D AF
http://www.epinions.com/content_29370191492
Zoom Lenses
Nikon AF IF 24-85/f2.8-4.0D Zoom Nikkor
http://www.epinions.com/content_40820510340
Nikon AF IF 28-200/f3.5-5.6D Zoom Nikkor
http://www.epinions.com/elec-review-61AC-14E291B-3909BCF6-prod5
Nikon AF 75-240/f4.5-5.6D Zoom Nikkor
http://www.epinions.com/elec-Photo-Lenses-All-Nikon_75-240mm_f_4_5-5_6D_AF_Zoom-Nikkor
Nikon AF 70-300/f4.0-5.6D ED Zoom Nikkor
http://www.epinions.com/elec-review-4C5A-1489077-3909AEA3-prod5
Nikon AF 80-200/f2.8D IF-ED AF-S Zoom Nikkor
http://www.epinions.com/content_38412717700
Sigma Lenses
Sigma Designs AF 17-35/F2.8-4.0D EX HSM Zoom
http://www.epinions.com/elec-review-4C46-145B3FFF-39CE2ADE-prod3
Sigma Designs AF 28-70/f2.8D EX Aspherical Zoom
http://www.epinions.com/elec-review-5C92-1C455245-39CE9F60-prod6
Tokina Lenses
Tokina AT-X 20-35/f2.8D PRO Zoom
http://www.epinions.com/elec-review-2E59-2F3F6C0-390C5EB2-prod3
Choosing Lenses for your New Camera
http://www.epinions.com/elec-review-283E-10641A05-393D299A-prod1
Just “cut and paste” the URL into your browser’s address bar/window
Recommended:
Yes
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Howard_Creech
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Member: Howard Creech
Location: Louisville, KY
Reviews written: 333
Trusted by: 1274 members
About Me:
Photographer/Writer fascinated by Movies, Music, Books, American Diner Food, History, "Popular Culture", and Travel.
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