Gear Talk > Lens Talk
nikkor 25-50 4.0 any good?
Tri-x:
While collecting information about lenses my eye fell on some articles about the 25-50mm zoom lens.
In the first place I was looking for a prime 24mm 2.8 lens.
Just wonder how well this zoom lens is compared to a prime like the 24 mm 2.8
I searched in the forum but did not find lot info.
Might have overlooked it though.
Anyone experience on this lens?
Harald:
Hi,
stopped down a Little bit Sharp at all focal lengths with Low distortion. Nice color Rendering. Love it. ;)
Harald
Bjørn Rørslett:
It is one of those hidden gems amongst the vintage Nikkors. The drawing has that special "rounded" and mellow character so many modern lenses lack. Colours are rendered realistic rather than vivid, high contrasts is handled gracefully and the propensity to flare is pretty low as far as zoom lenses go (assuming the front element is immaculately free of dust and grime, of course).
Its immediate impression of sharpness might not be up amongst the very best of Nikkors but it is presented across the entire frame and also still present when the lens is stopped well down. I used it a lot for landscapes.
The near limit, as usual for zoom designs of this vintage, is not very spectacular. The lens takes 72 mm filters thus its front flares out and the overall length is quite long - it is not a compactly built lens. The separate rings for zooming and focusing were unusual at its time but now are commonplace; they do ensure good handling though.
Thomas G:
One might add that the focus throw is quite short and smooth-running. It gets handy though once one gets used to turn it with small moves and some precision.
David H. Hartman:
My 24/2.8 AI has been long neglected. It's small and light but it flares freely when point at the sun and vignette was a problem with slides.
The only bad habit I can think of for the 25-50/4.0 is the focus throw is short.
I find it compliments my D800 fine. It's best at f/5.6-f/8.0 and fine at f/4.0~f/11. I rarely shoot at f/16 so I can't say.
This seems to be the only shot I've got on Flickr from the lens...
Click me!
Dave
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