Good compliment for the D70 and D50

Author's Rating:

Pros: Inexpensive, wide range of focal lengths, good performance for the money.

Cons: Not very rugged, no direct manual control on older Nikons.

Author's Review
Say you've purchased a Nikon D70 or D50 DSLR, and you're looking for a good lens to extend your telephoto range. You'd like to buy a really good Nikkor ED lens, but spending $1400 seems a bit much for your $800 camera. If so, this might be the perfect choice.

It's not as rugged as the higher-end Nikkor zooms- I certainly wouldn't rely on it as my only lens on a pro shoot- and without the lens shade in place it's prone to flare. It lacks the resolution of the more expensive ED-Nikkors. But for a 6-Mpixel camera in average use, it's close to ideal. I've used it on my D70 for my own nature photography, for portrait work, and for candid shots at social gatherings, and I'm very pleased with it. Certainly for on-line photos it's more than adequate for any resolution you'll ever display on a web page.

There are a few drawbacks. For instance, you can't set aperture manually with olders Nikons (including many auto-focus models). It won't hold up to professional use. But for 99.9% of the D50 and D70 buyers out there, it's an ideal choice.