Although I am more of a prime than a zoom lens shooter, when the opportunity did rise, I decided to pick up a 35-70mm 2.8D lens at my camera dealer for 199 euro, which is reasonable if I look at the prices on eBay. Glass looked fine, no dents or serious damage. Bjørn rates it at 4.5 and I liked what I saw at Flickr. So this afternoon I took a brief walk in dull weather with a grey sky and the 35-70 mounted on the D750.
The first thing I had to get used to is to use the zoom instead of my feet for framing. But that didn't take too long. Focusing works well. The zoom pull/push mechanism is a bit loose but it is not annoying nor does it operate on its own. Focusing is fast enough although a bit noisy (Bjørn had warned me already). As this was a pro lens, the build is sturdy. Some say the lens is heavy, but to me size and weight are excellent. I can walk for a long time with this lens.
Herewith some photos. I like the rendering of colors and tones; it looks natural. The lens is not super sharp but sharp enough to make a photo look good. I also like the bokeh, that looks natural to me. This lens seems to be flare-prone but as it was grey, I had no problems. Chroma is well controlled. Distortion too. The close-up function (Nikon speaks about macro but it's closeup) is a nice bonus that gives me a bit more flexibility. The 35 to 70 reach is also adequate to me. It does not have the reach of the 28-70 and 24-70 but it's also smaller and lighter.
One thing that surprised me. AF also works in closeup mode. I've read that it is only manual, but apparantely that is not true.
I am glad I picked it up and can recommend it. I won't use it lot because I still prefer my primes but there will be days that I will just bring this lens with me.
When I have some time, I will do a review with test photos. I just wanted to share some impressions for now.
