Nikon Zoom-Nikkor 28 mm-200 mm F/3.5-5.6 AF D IF Lens

The Nikon 28-200mm lens is my first non-kit lens that I bought for my D40.
This lens has good optics and a metal mount, which adds to its durability.

I have taken potrait shots, sport shots, and moon shots so far. The picture quality is excellent. Pictures that come out is very sharp.

With the D40, I gain 1.5x the zoom length while losing 1.5x the wide angle. Furthermore, since D40 has no auto-focus motor in the body of the camera, I cannot auto-focus with this lens. I bought the lens knowing this, but it is not a big problem. I do miss chances to take some good shots during sporting events but I am satisfied by the good shots I got.

The manual focus is helped by D40's focus indicator in the viewfinder. The little dot lights up when object is in focus.

I bought this lens because I am on a budget. I did not want to spend $600+ for the Nikon AF-S DX 18-200mm VR. It might performed better on my D40, but it is a DX lens. This 28-200mm lens is an FX lens, and it will suit my Nikon film SLR, should I ever shoot in films again.

Overall, the lens is good enough for me now, and I will be taking many amazing shots before I move up the Nikon lens chain.

First of all, the item I bought was A G version - AF Nikon 28-200mm F3.5-5.6 G Lens (not the AF-D one since the seller wrongly put it into the auto-generated description, and He verifed its G at Q&A.

After I got this 28-200mm G version lens and mounted it on my D700, I have been very happy about its performance -

1) Very sharp image. Sharper than I expected! The only thing I don't like is its pinchshion distortion at long end. But it can be easily corrected on my ACDSee 8 pro and PS. (Now I understand why it is discontinued - maybe film guys suffered from the distortion, which can't be corrected!)
2) Very versatile, small in size, and ligher to carry around, especially for traveling and candid. It takes away the pain to change lens from time to time, when you are taking general staff.
3) It can focus very close - just 14 inch (44mm) and can be a macro (actually, it reproduce 1:3.2), while a AF-D can NOT focus less than 6 feet.

If something else cons - it must be its plastic build. - But I didn't pay for the metals either! The used 28-200G version is sharper than Nikon's D700's kit lens 24-120mm AF-S G, which eat much more funds from you!

Again, this review is for G version. So if rate the 28-200D as average, I'd rate the 28-200G as excellent! Hope my words are helpful.
At Full frame digital age, this 28-200G is revitalized and funtastic. If you can, forget about the D version, and take the G version, which is lighter, smaller, handier and give you more staff, especially on your Full Frame Gear D3 and D700!

This lens was designed and manufactured as an inexpensive, small and sharp do every thing zoom to fit Nikon's consumer 35 mm film cameras. When Film was replaced by the Nikon DX digital sensor, this lens was no longer the do every thing lens it was designed to be. The sensor was smaller than the 35mm format and 28-200mm became more like a 42-300mm lens, thus dropping the wide end perspective of the lens. Nikon stopped producing the lens in 2006.

Now, with the introduction of the new high end D3-D700 and D3x cameras with the 35mm-FX sensor this lens is back in vogue, since Nikon sells nothing to replace it with, it is probably the best walking around lens for these full frame sensors. It is a cheap, slow, very small and light plastic lens with a plastic mount, not built to pro standards. It has a fair amount of distortion ( fix it in Photoshop ) but still better than most after market lenses of it's reach. It however is SHARP, focuses to 16" with nice color reproduction and good build quality. What else do you need? Just don't pick-up your D3 by the lens, it might break off.

Love this light weight lens. The pictures are crisp and clear. Even though the lens has a plastic mount, you would`nt want to pick up the camera by the lens because it possibly could break off and cause you to drop your camera. I would have to say it is one of the better lens that I own. I`m glad I found it on Ebay !

I bought this lens because I wanted one lens that would stay on my camera for 90 percent of the pictures I would be taking. The best lens for this purpose would be the Nikon 18-200mm but that lens is about four times the price of a 28 to 200. The lens has met all my expectations in a quality Nikon product. Clarity and sharpness are perfect and I could not be happier.