NikonGear'23
Gear Talk => Lens Talk => Topic started by: MFloyd on June 09, 2016, 11:44:41
-
Here, we call it the "Swiss knife" lens. I have an excellent experience with this often disregarded lens. I use it where I have to travel light and where I have to use as well wide-angle and tele, without having the opportunity to take two bodies; where changing lenses is risky; or where I'm doing other things at the same time e.g. serving as a crew member; air shows and yachting are some of my favorite domains. The relative low aperture has never been a major problem, except for some situations were I need a very shallow depth of field (in the latter case I make a Ps fix). To illustrate the above:
air shows:
(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1591/26356512041_20a7418b70_k.jpg)
Nikon D4s @ 36mm f/11
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7536/15822896635_cba8a87390_k.jpg)
Nikon D4s @ 250mm f/5.6
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8788/18103173465_5cac3a7052_k.jpg)
Nikon D610 @ 300mm f/5.6
yachting:
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3955/14998738723_3ba726fbfc_k.jpg)
Nikon D4s @ 180mm f/6.3
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3837/14545497520_6f014479d6_k.jpg)
Nikon D4s @ 28mm f/6.3
As you probably notice: sharpness is not a problem; the lens has a lot of distortion and vigneting: but this is quite well taken care off by Ps.
Now your comments, critiques, pictures :)
-
Beautifully made, very interesting images, MFloyd! (https://c6.staticflickr.com/8/7306/10653508093_17d7984a44_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/heq1N2)20131103-009 (https://flic.kr/p/heq1N2) by (https://c5.staticflickr.com/6/5506/10678590756_ba67621599_b.jpg) (https://www.flickr.[url=https://flic.kr/p/hgCyZJ)20131103-009-2 (https://flic.kr/p/hgCyZJ) by longzoom (https://www.flickr.com/photos/longzoom/), on Flickrcom/photos/longzoom/]longzoom[/url], on Flickr. D800, at 300mm, 100% crop was printed last time to the size of 120X180cm, for scene decorations, (crop, I mean!). One of the best sharpest lenses it is, if one gets a good copy! Your copy is among the best I've ever seen! (Mine one too, BTW!) ;) :D LZ
-
(https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7429/11459084843_14fa3f059f_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/isANGk)20121014-20121014-015-8 (https://flic.kr/p/isANGk) by longzoom (https://www.flickr.com/photos/longzoom/), on Flickr. This one is a crop of 100%, at 180mm, f8.0. D800. LZ
-
I did a whole trip to Venice (Italy) with D700 + 28-300 + 50/1.4G for some night shots. My son and I enjoyed it. He inherited the whole (except the 50/1.4, later replaced by a 50/1.8G) and also did two family wedding shootings with that gear.
The only very apparent flaw of that zoom is the strong pincushion distortion above 35mm, but it is such easy to fix automatically... so I dare say that Nikon designers made the right compromise.
-
This thread is most interesting and the great photos are reassuring. Some people criticize a lack of sharpness at longer FL, which where most use such a zoom.
Noting the CA problem, Bjorn rates the 28-300 a 4 minus across 3 Nikons tested - recommends stopping down....
Here are 3 overviews.
http://www.photozone.de/nikon_ff/578-nikkorafs28300vrff?start=2
https://photographylife.com/reviews/nikon-28-300mm-vr
http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/28-300mm.htm
According to New York photographer Jay Maisel, he uses a 28-300 f/3.5-5.6G VR ED as his solo lens [cf his 2 superb books - It’s Not About the f-Stop pg 138-140... and Light, Color, Gesture]. And he was pleasantly surprised, being skeptical on first encounter
-
Longzoom, Airy: thank you for very valuable contributions. Happy to notice that your comments and pictures confirm my findings.
It would also be interesting to learn from (more) technically oriented members why this lens ranks low when bench tested. But my reply crossed Chambesi's one. The only review one which goes along is Ken Rockwell's one .... Not particularly my favorite reviewer. Some other photographer who has the 28-300 mm in their bag is Dave Black http://nps.nikonimaging.com/members/dave_black/index.htm
-
Very good said, Airy! There is always imminent compromise between geometrical distortions and sheer resolution of any optical system. Fully improved for GD lens will never be absolutely sharp to extreme corners. There are couple lenses fully improved, at all, but price... Otus I mean. All of 3 of them, as of on today... And, yes, Chambeshi, Bjorn was absolutely correct. My copy was acceptable on D700, D3, D4 bodies at 5.6. But, on D800-810, at 5.6, the lens is eaten alive by very demanding sensors. So, as you can see, f8.0 to f9,5, my copy is working very well. THX! LZ
-
Longzoom, Airy: thank you for very valuable contributions. Happy to notice that your comments and pictures confirm my findings.
It would also be interesting to learn from (more) technically oriented members why this lens ranks low when bench tested. But my reply crossed Chambesi's one.
There is no contradictions, MFloyd! There were 4 different batches of this lens, made by Nikon. Batch-to-batch they improved this optical composition. LZ
-
These latest responses are all the more enlightening :-) So the logical question follows - How does this 28-300 f3.5-5.6 ED VR compare in optical performance against the 70-300 f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED VR AF-S ?
thanks
-
Due to the fact that both of these lenses are famous with great sample variations, my copy of 28-300 is way better than my former copy of 70-300 was. Your way may vary, of course! LZ
-
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5497/10751866705_e8fd16b651_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/ho78oa)20120320-03202012 025-2 (https://flic.kr/p/ho78oa) by longzoom (https://www.flickr.com/photos/longzoom/), on Flickr. To illustrate at 300mm, almost minimal distance, f11.0. No 70-300 is there to perform so well. LZ
-
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/6/5527/10751223176_b5b7fc117e_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/ho3Q5Q)20120320-03202012 021-3 (https://flic.kr/p/ho3Q5Q) by (https://c6.staticflickr.com/8/7411/10751182485_12a458b357_b.jpg) (https://www.flickr.com/[url=https://flic.kr/p/ho3BZg)20120320-03202012 021-4 (https://flic.kr/p/ho3BZg) by longzoom (https://www.flickr.com/photos/longzoom/), on Flickrphotos/longzoom/]longzoom[/url], on Flickr. But, if one wants to make it dreamy, PS and filters are for him/her. At 300mm, crop. LZ
-
The 28-300 has long been one of my favourite lenses for IR photography. It is highly versatile because of its broad range of focal lengths in conjunction with a VR system that actually is working well for a change. Its AF is spot on also in IR.
Here are some examples, all taken with an IR-modified D200.
-
The 28-300 has long been one of my favourite lenses for IR photography. It is highly versatile because of its broad range of focal lengths in conjunction with a VR system that actually is working well for a change. Its AF is spot on also in IR.
Here are some examples, all taken with an IR-modified D200.
Good lens in knowledgeable hands does make miracles... LZ
-
Thank you.
For my IR work, finding zoom lenses which work tolerably well and avoid the dreaded hot spot issue is quite troublesome. Sometimes older designs are better, however one has to tread carefully as model versions can be quite different in behaviour. The 35-105/3.5-4.5 Nikkor is a classic example; the MF version badly hot spots and the AF-D is excellent. The 35-135 mm f/3.5-4.5 AIS and the successor versions AF/AFD both seem to behave nicely even though their optical designs differ markedly. For my Nikon D5300, however, any advantage of using AF lenses is moot because only AFS models will autofocus with this camera. Given the commonly seen massive focus shift in IR, the non-AFS and MF lenses might require Live View operation. This is exactly a situation for with the AFS 28-300 Nikkor excels as its AF action is unimpeded by the lower-end camera and apparently any focus shift is taken care of automatically.
Just another capture with the 28-300, for which the VR and zooming features came in hand (light levels in winter are pretty low where I live),
-
(https://c5.staticflickr.com/2/1487/24516149092_6848b8da75_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/DmpEZJ)20160125-007 (https://flic.kr/p/DmpEZJ) by (https://c7.staticflickr.com/2/1652/24516153982_5c776b814d_b.jpg) (https://www.flickr.[url=https://flic.kr/p/DmpGs3)20160125-007-2 (https://flic.kr/p/DmpGs3) by longzoom (https://www.flickr.com/photos/longzoom/), on Flickrcom/photos/longzoom/]longzoom[/url], on Flickr. Actually, even in Brooklyn, NY, at the spring time, weather may surprise... Image, crop. LZ
-
(https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7318/10809408886_d7bec6fa01_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/htc3EJ)20131111-024 (https://flic.kr/p/htc3EJ) by (https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2859/10809433456_a714a9b98c_b.jpg) (https://www.flickr.com/phot[url=https://flic.kr/p/htcaYm)20131111-024-2 (https://flic.kr/p/htcaYm) by longzoom (https://www.flickr.com/photos/longzoom/), on Flickros/longzoom/]longzoom[/url], on Flickr(https://c6.staticflickr.com/4/3703/10809696893_5287b7214f_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/htdwhn)20131111-024-3 (https://flic.kr/p/htdwhn) by longzoom (https://www.flickr.com/photos/longzoom/), on Flickr. Even at industrial tasks, this lens is shiny! Image, 2 crops. LZ
-
(https://c8.staticflickr.com/9/8358/8269056335_28cb4bc018_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/dAH5mP)20121123-20121123-001 (https://flic.kr/p/dAH5mP) by lon[url=https://flic.kr/p/dANxBs](https://c5.staticflickr.com/9/8361/8270123572_40c244069c_b.jpg) (https://www.flickr.com/photos/longzoom/)20121123-20121123-001-2 (https://flic.kr/p/dANxBs) by l[url=https://flic.kr/p/dAQ18X](https://c6.staticflickr.com/9/8346/8270407917_ba9578273a_b.jpg) (https://www.flickr.com/photos/longzoom/)20121123-20121123-20121123-001 (https://flic.kr/p/dAQ18X) by (https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8069/8271472872_7a989cbf67_b.jpg) (https://www.flickr.com/photos/longzoom[url=https://flic.kr/p/dAVsHf)20121123-20121123-20121123-001-3 (https://flic.kr/p/dAVsHf) by longzoom (https://www.flickr.com/photos/longzoom/), on Flickr/]longzoom[/url], on Flickrongzoom[/url], on Flickrgzoom[/url], on Flickr. At 28mm, crops. As you can see, even at extreme corner, detailing remains on very good level. Geometrical distortions were corrected, 2-3 min to have it done at all. BTW, direct sun at the upper left corner of the image. No significant flares or ghosts to speak about, even with filter(good one!). LZ
-
(https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7390/27480781474_45ac2d0601_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/HSobV9)20130130-105-3 (https://flic.kr/p/HSobV9) by (https://c8.staticflickr.com/8/7336/28095241615_212e5d49de_b.jpg) (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[url=https://flic.kr/p/JNFsvv)20130130-105-4 (https://flic.kr/p/JNFsvv) by longzoom (https://www.flickr.com/photos/longzoom/), on Flickrlongzoom/]longzoom[/url], on Flickr. At 300mm, crop. LZ
-
(https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8217/8441735610_374347ad12_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/dRY6TG)20110918-0911 high line 030 (https://flic.kr/p/dRY6TG) by (https://c8.staticflickr.com/9/8511/8440694695_d4bbd1c5ba_b.jpg) (https://www.flickr.com/phot[url=https://flic.kr/p/dRSLsT)20110918-0911 high line 030-3 (https://flic.kr/p/dRSLsT) by longzoom (https://www.flickr.com/photos/longzoom/), on Flickros/longzoom/]longzoom[/url], on Flickr. D3 camera, crop. Thanks! LZ
-
The above pictures 👍 illustrate again that this lens can be very sharp; distortion and other aberrations can easily be worked around with postproduction software.
Last weekend, I covered a yachting competition entirely with this lens; the weather conditions being quite rough, no chance to change lenses. And you need as well, wide angle and tele to cover the event:
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8890/28322438071_e5f1da5f96_k.jpg)
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8880/27785431763_ef363e88fa_b.jpg)
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8781/28302511592_cfae9cde52_k.jpg)
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7492/28328231631_d8e3650643_k.jpg)
And more, over here https://www.flickr.com/gp/110731726@N07/rV8226
-
Most impressive. Beautiful photos. Versitality concurs with the likes of Jay Maisel (in NY City) who some years back switched to this lens for street photography.
thanks for update
woody
-
(https://c7.staticflickr.com/9/8333/8107496742_f580ff1690_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/dmr3jA)20121019-064 (2) - Copy - Copy (https://flic.kr/p/dmr3jA) by (https://c8.staticflickr.com/9/8189/8107490783_b1ec5c646d_k.jpg) (https://www.flickr.com/photos[url=https://flic.kr/p/dmr1xR)20121019-064-2 - Copy (https://flic.kr/p/dmr1xR) by longzoom (https://www.flickr.com/photos/longzoom/), on Flickr/longzoom/]longzoom[/url], on Flickr. Yeah, yachting images by MFloyd just stunning... I remember my own yachting - overlooked splash on my 16-35... Back in Europe at the same day, in terrible rush. Left the lens. In 2 weeks, back home, put the lens in garbage... Not typically for me, just happened... So back to 28-300. Old image, crop. Still do not know which one to chose... THX! LZ
-
(https://c7.staticflickr.com/9/8056/8105971214_6a19813c6f_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/dmidQo)20121019-041 - Copy (https://flic.kr/p/dmidQo) by (https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8192/8105973088_038c631052_b.jpg) (https://www.flickr.c[url=https://flic.kr/p/dmieoG)20121019-041-2 - Copy (https://flic.kr/p/dmieoG) by longzoom (https://www.flickr.com/photos/longzoom/), on Flickrom/photos/longzoom/]longzoom[/url], on Flickr. Or this one... Crop. LZ
-
Thank you Chambeshi, thank you Longzoom 😊 For Longzoom, I like the two. What happened exactly with your 16-35mm ? You drowned it ?
@Bjørn: very nice. IR / UV.
-
No, but the splash (good portion behind the hood!) on the front element. I overlooked that, left the lens with front element up, so salt water ruined the MC, came inside. It was very first and last event I used any lens without the protecting filter. Never again, ever! Promised! LZ. PS. I am very jealous watching your airshow images! Were this event took its place? THX! LZ
-
Thank You. The main place was Air14, in Switzerland - Airfield of Payerne - for he 100th anniversary of the Swiss Air Force. For the yachting pictures, I use a disposable plastic bag; the new eyepiece of the D5 is quite convenient, as you can fix the aperture made in the bag behind the eyepiece.
Hereby the link to Air 14 https://www.flickr.com/gp/110731726@N07/Z41LuV which is in the context, as 90% of the pictures were made with the 28-300mm
-
Yes, just the epoch show! Some of the your images became my favorites! Especially German jets from the time of WW2 (Messerschmitt's?)! About the safe bag - thanks for the image, I do the same, but, you see, things happened... Thank You! LZ
-
Yes, just the epoch show! Some of the your images became my favorites! Especially German jets from the time of WW2 (Messerschmitt's?)! About the safe bag - thanks for the image, I do the same, but, you see, things happened... Thank You! LZ
Indeed, hereunder a ME-262 Messerschmitt, first operational fighter jet:
(https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2941/15109578137_1349c5089d_k.jpg)
Nikon D4s and Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 1/500 f/6.3 ISO 200
-
Great image! THX! LZ
-
Some great images here Michael.
I especially liked your P38 captures.
There were five new-build ME262 replicas built in the US not that many years ago. Do you know if your ME262 pictured below is one of these or is it an original?
Thank goodness that the ME262 could not be built in numbers and that jet fuel was in short supply in 1944/45.
*******************************************
Both my first and second 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR were/are sharp lenses. The first died as a result of a very bad fall and the cost of fixing it came to around 90% of getting a new one, so the dceision to write it off and buy again was an easy one. My D700 survived I suspect as a result of the lens taking the impact and making the supreme sacrifice.
Thank You. The main place was Air14, in Switzerland - Airfield of Payerne - for he 100th anniversary of the Swiss Air Force. For the yachting pictures, I use a disposable plastic bag; the new eyepiece of the D5 is quite convenient, as you can fix the aperture made in the bag behind the eyepiece.
Hereby the link to Air 14 https://www.flickr.com/gp/110731726@N07/Z41LuV which is in the context, as 90% of the pictures were made with the 28-300mm
-
Just a brief off-topic remark: the ME-262 is a replica belonging to the Messerschmitt Stiftung (Foundation). You a can find more about here http://www.flugmuseum-messerschmitt.de/messerschmit/flugzeug/me262/index.html. Regards, Christian
And thanks to Hugh and longzoom for your enthusiastic remarks. There are some more plane pictures here http://nikongear.net/revival/index.php/topic,3202.msg56103.html#msg56103 of which most (again) are taken with the "Swiss Knife"
-
I stumbled across this thread while beating my head against the wall on "what lens to take?" There is a Charro Days fiesta here in South, Texas this coming Saturday, 2/25/17; we are having some kind of record winter heat wave (in the 90's F), blazing sun, and dust. I'll be hiking about three miles - didn't want to carry a bag of lens, and really didn't want to be changing them. Camera is D700. I do a combo of fine art/ethnographic documentation. So, based on what I've read here, just ordered this lens from Lens Rentals. I'll be posting images next week.
The other alternative would have been primes (of which I have ubiquitous bag full) or an old 28-105 and an even older 80-200.
-
You will give us your feedback. Although I have more specialised lenses; the Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 is nearly always part of the mission. Herewith the lens deployed in a car race, where the distance was too short to deploy the 300mm f/2.8:
-
A sample of the 28-300mm at its longest focus (300 mm); the picture under reply 28 (ME 261) is also at 300mm:
-
Nice out of focus rendering with the 28-300
On the Z6 (300mm f/5.6)
-
Wow, Gentlemen!
-
On the Nikon D800E
300mm f/5.6
-
300mm f/32
Nikon Z7
-
Portraits.
Nikon D3s 300mm f/5.6
-
Z6 300mm f/5.6