Nikkor 35-105 F/3.5-4.5

Yesterday as I was looking around in a camera shop, I saw a 35-105mm

F/3.5-4.5 Nikkor AFD lens, which I had not seen or heard of before. I

checked the net, but couldn't find anything like it. It looked very

much like the 28-105, but was a bit shorter and had 52mm filter size.

As in the longer run I am planning to purchase a mid-priced normal

zoom to assist my primes, this would seem like a nice alternative to

the 28-105. Does anyone know anything about the optical performance,

built quality and cost of this lens?

It is a Nikkor. The glass is fine. For a vacation trip, the lens works very well. It does good in bright sunny weather.

 

 

 

For a wedding....?

The optical performancce is fine, the build quality is more old style, using more metal threading material and less plastic molding than is the current trend. The filter thread also doesn't rotate during zooming, like the newer 28-105 does. Except for the zoom range at the wide end, it is an better allround zoom than the newer 28-105 IMHO.

Oliver,

 

I had this lens for a while. I thought the optics and build quality were fine. The only thing I didn't like about it is the minimum focus distance is three feet, which is OK at the tele end but too far at the wide end to do any near-far shots. I sold mine because I discovered I don't like variable aperture zooms and liked using my primes in that range better. I used the money to replace my wife's lost wedding ring.

I first bought the 28-105 and later tried the 35-105. Still have both (because I never get around to selling anything) but it's the 35-105 that I'll keep. It's built much better, it's much, much smaller, the hood is a sensible size, it's just as sharp at any aperture, and it uses 52mm filters. Combined with a 24, it makes a great small travel kit. The downsides: that 3-ft close-focusing distance and the push-pull zoom action.

Note that the 35-105D has a longer manual focusing action so it should be better in that respect than the 28-105. I have the latter because I figured I could take advantage of the 28 mm setting in weddings. Still I wish I had the 35-70/2.8D instead.

 

The 35-105D is solidly built, which is much more than can be said of most current AF Nikkor zooms.

I home tested this lens a time ago in comparison with the fixed focal Ai-S lenses, (28/2.8, 35/2, 50/1.4, 85/1.4 and 105/2.5) and with the Sigma AF-EX 28-70/2.8.

 

I found that the 35-105 in the wide angle range performs very good, moreles the same that my Ai-S lenses. Sharpness, contrast and color rendition are aproximately the same. At 50mm, the image start to be slightly softer, and at the end of the range, my 105 Ai-S gives a sharper image.

 

Moreless the same for the Sigma, (very good at 28mm, like my Ai-S lens), with the same softness over 50mm, but with and ugly color rendition, all the slides are yellow... I discarded the Sigma.

 

Now use this lens (35-105) when I want to go with one lens for all. (I prefer the F/1.4´s) But my recomendation is to go for the 28-105, best in the wide side, with internal focus, and the aperture doesn´t change while zooming... Their optical performance must be the same or better. I read some serious tests about it, with very good results. Good luck,