Nikkor 28/2 any good ?

Hi,

 

I´m thinking of getting a 28mm lens for my Nikon F3 and FM2 bodies.

One of the choices is obviously the 28/2 which is tempting due to its

relatively high speed. Does anyone here have experience with this

lens ? How does it perform ?

 

Many thanks in advance

 

Carsten

 

http://www.cabophoto.com/

http://www.cs.kau.se/~nicke/private/photo/lenstest/naerfoto/

John,

 

wow, that was a quick response... Bjørn Rørslett obviously has a very high opinion of the lens and rates it higher than the frequently praised 28/2.8.

 

Many thanks

 

Carsten

I had one for a very long time, before selling it to a fellow photogrpher. It was a good lens, perfectly usable wide open, but much better stopped down (as most lenses). Compared with the 28 2.8 it had definitely less contrast and resolution, but more evenness of quality across the frame. Nevertheless, I would rate the lens very good. When I met Sebastião Salgado for the first time in 1989 he was using one on his Nikon F, along with the 28mm elmarit on a leica m5 when he didn't need the extra speed. His pictures taken with that combo (see the photos of South America in the book "An Uncertain Grace") are great, even from the technical point of view.

I have an old AI'd 28 F2. It is a wonderfull lens one of the best Nikkors.You wont regret having one. Mine is better than my much newer 24 F2.8 AI.

Bjorn's comments, at the above mentioned website, mirror my experience.

 

Basically, of all the Nikon wides that I've used, the 35 mm f/1.4 AIS is the best, the 28 mm f/2 AIS is second best.

 

Nothing comes close to those two, in my opinion.

 

That said, if you have the 35 mm f/1.4; depending on your shooting habits, vision, style, etc., you might be better served with a different ultra wide if you just have two lenses in the 35 and down area.

 

So, although I use the 35 f/1.4 and 28 f/2;

many other photographers who don't want to carry more than a few lenses might find the 35 mm f/1.4 and either the 20 mm f/2.8; 24 mm f/2 or 24 mm f/2.8 a better combination. Not knowing your setup, I just thought that I'd mention that.

 

But again, Bjorn's comments mirror my experience, for every lens that he rates with only 1 or 2 minor differences.

I own the 28/2.0 and had the pleasure of its use for too short a time: it was the victim of a mountain biking accident some time ago, one that I barely walked away from myself (now the lens' focus ring won't turn all the way to infinity, and I think that means a broken helical, though it could just be off-track or something - which is why I hang on to this lens; in the hope I might have it fixed someday soon). <P> Anyway, while I used it, I found it to be virtually flare-free and very sharp-appearing, with good contrast and well corrected for coma. It also had particularly nice, subtle, color rendition. It performed very well wide open, and its speed, combined with its focal length, made it ideal in low light (using ISO 800 film, it gave good results hand-hand at f/2.0 and 1/8 sec). Even though it isn't my ideal focal length (I much prefer 24mm) I miss it dearly and would buy it again in a second.

Many thanks to all for the responses. It seems that this lens enjoys a very reputation among the Nikon users. I´ll try to find a used one round here (I live in Bonn, Germany).

 

Carsten

 

http://www.cabophoto.com/

Now that´s funny, Carsten, I live in Bonn as well and bought a 28/2 Nikkor yesterday at Brell after thinking it over for 3 days... (375 Euro, looks unused, but definitely needs some fat/grease), you´ll find another one though. First impressions through the viewfinder are excellent; I almost couldn´t believe that there´s practically no flare shooting with the sun in the frame (which is a problem with the 28/2.8 Ais and very much of a problem with the AF 28/2.8 (old coating)). Let´s see how the slides turn out.

Tobias,

 

did you see that ProFoto has a new 28/2 in the window ? I didn´t ask, but I guess it will be around Euro 700 or so.

 

Carsten

Carsten,

it´s about 900 and something Euro, which is ridiculous, because it has a knock in the filter thread which looks quite severe.

Small world, isn´t it? When I read your post I was thinking: Well, his name definitely sounds german, could it be he´s inquiring because he saw the same lens in the same window... ridiculous thought, but somehow or almost true. That´s more than funny. It´s weird.

Do you make your living with travel photography?

Gruß,

Tobias