Comments On AFS 17-35/2.8D

chgoh · 12th July 2003

Hi,

Wondering if anyone uses the 17-35. Any comments about this lens? Any gotcha?

TIA,
chgoh

Ian · 13th July 2003

It's one of my favourite lenses overall, in fact I like it so much I currently have 2 of them.

It's sharp, contrasty and like all ultra-wide zooms suffers from a bit of vignetting in the corners and light falloff at 17mm when wide open. However the light falloff and vignetting off is greatly reduced at f4 and gone by f5.6. Optimum apertures are f8-f16 where this lens is in a class of its own.

The lens has slight barrel distortion at the wider end of the zoom settings (17-21mm or so) and slight pincushioning at the 35mm end. Flare resistance is excellent. The lens MUST be used with the HB-23 hood or all sorts of nasty things occur. Field curvature is very low.

I've found that using a UV/Skylight filter with this lens while shooting towards the sun increases flare and ghosting.

Chromatic abberation (lateral and color fringing) which is the bug bear of most wide angle lenses is almost non existant .. the same can't be said for the Canon 17-35/2.8L

Overall this is one of Nikons best lenses and frankly I use it more than my short primes in the field these days. As with all zooms there is some variability in unit to unit so it's essential to test the lens before purchasing.

chgoh · 13th July 2003

Quote:

Originally posted by Ian
...
The lens MUST be used with the HB-23 hood or all sorts of nasty things occur.
...

Might be a dumb question, but does the lens come with the hood? Or is it a separate purchase?

chgoh

jimmyc · 14th July 2003

Quote:

Originally posted by chgoh
Might be a dumb question, but does the lens come with the hood? Or is it a separate purchase?

chgoh

complete with

12th July 2003	#1
chgoh Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 668	Comments On AFS 17-35/2.8D Hi, Wondering if anyone uses the 17-35. Any comments about this lens? Any gotcha? TIA, chgoh

13th July 2003	#2
Ian Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Perth Australia Posts: 2,334	It's one of my favourite lenses overall, in fact I like it so much I currently have 2 of them. It's sharp, contrasty and like all ultra-wide zooms suffers from a bit of vignetting in the corners and light falloff at 17mm when wide open. However the light falloff and vignetting off is greatly reduced at f4 and gone by f5.6. Optimum apertures are f8-f16 where this lens is in a class of its own. The lens has slight barrel distortion at the wider end of the zoom settings (17-21mm or so) and slight pincushioning at the 35mm end. Flare resistance is excellent. The lens MUST be used with the HB-23 hood or all sorts of nasty things occur. Field curvature is very low. I've found that using a UV/Skylight filter with this lens while shooting towards the sun increases flare and ghosting. Chromatic abberation (lateral and color fringing) which is the bug bear of most wide angle lenses is almost non existant .. the same can't be said for the Canon 17-35/2.8L Overall this is one of Nikons best lenses and frankly I use it more than my short primes in the field these days. As with all zooms there is some variability in unit to unit so it's essential to test the lens before purchasing. __________________ The Ang Moh from Hell Professional Photography - many are called, few are chosen! Last edited by Ian; 13th July 2003 at 03:51 PM.