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Bean in Fremont

Just before I headed off to South America for my sabbatical, I purchased the Nikon AF-S 28-85mm f3.5-4.5G lens for use as my general, all-purpose lens. It had two huge advantages over previous Nikon AF-S all-purpose zooms: it was much cheaper and, more importantly, much lighter. Sure, a lens with more metal and less plastic in its materials will feel sturdier and more industrial, but if you're going to backpack across four countries, every gram counts. The real concern was how it performed relative to other Nikon all-purpose zooms like the AF-D 35-70mm f2.8 and the AF-S 28-70mm f2.8.

What better way to find out about a lens than to put it through its paces in real life situations? I caught up with Betina one afternoon and took the new lens along with me. We revisited my old stomping ground of Fremont and strolled the local shops. I loaded a roll of B&W and snapped some shots, a few of which are below.

Overall? I dig the new lens. It's slower than the other zooms I mentioned earlier, and the distortion at either end of the spectrum is noticeable. The 67mm filter size is different and thus annoying. There's more to photography than absolute sharpness and minimal distortion at wide angles unless you're an architectural photographer. This lens hits a beautiful price/performance target. The focusing is fast and silent, and the lens cap has a nice grip that can be reached through a lens hood. It's my new everyday lens.