nikon 18-35 D vs. Nikon 18-70 DX

[ptkeam]

Hi,

I currently have an 18-70DX lens -- I'm not absolutley thrilled with its

performance @ 18mm. Would the 18-35 D lens be any better on a D70?????

[juanjo_viagran]

18-35mm is a FF lens, 18-70mm DX is for Digital cameras only.

 

I had both and IMO the 18-35mm is a better lens.

[Peter_in_PA]

18-70 is a great lens, but buying the other just to get better performance at 18 seems the

wrong way to go. I'd go for the 10-20 from Sigma or the 12-24 from Tokina first. It would

complement your existing lens rather than be redundant for much of its range.

[ShunCheung]

Generally speaking, zooms tend to be at their weakest on the two extreme ends of thier zoom range. So if you indeed want excellent performance at 18mm, a 12-24mm zoom should be a better choice than another zoom that also starts from 18mm, not to mention that a 12-24 gives you more room on both sides of 18mm.

 

The down side is that the Nikon 12-24 is expensive. If you don't need AF-S, as the Nikon 18-35 is also not AF-S, the Tokina 12-24mm/f4 can be an option.

[walterh]

Peter the 18-35 lens is a nice lens and slightly better when pixel peeping but neither will this be any relevant improvement over the 18-70mm lens nor is it any faster.

 

I found a slight sample variation when I tested three 18-70 lenses so it might be worth a try and select one 18-70 lens if you ever get a chance.

 

The 12-24mm Nikkor or Tokina are better alternatives. So is the 17-55mm f2.8 Nikkor. Remember that the "kit" zoom 18-70mm offers "remarkable performance for the money" that seemed impossible a few years ago.

 

A cheap alternative would be the 20mm AIS f2.8 or the AFD version. These are small and light. The AIS is slightly better but usually cheaper than the AFD - a good choice if you can live without light metering and AF. At 20mm the costly Nikkor and Tokina zooms are about equal in optical performance.