My Photography Gear 4 - NIKON AF Nikkor 28-80mm G lens

Another tool which I acquired recently, at a relatively very cheap price, is the Nikon 28-80mm G lens.  This lens is not available anymore as it was discontinued in 2006. It was a very popular lens of which Nikon set a large number of copies on the market that nowadays it can be easily acquired either new or second hand at a good price.

It was primarily introduced in 2001 as a kit lens with Nikon's cheapest film cameras.  The Nikkor 28-80mm G is one of Nikon's most popular lenses from Nikon’s vast range of optics. The lens is a plastic zoom with incredibly good performance. It works very well even on higher-end camera bodies such as the Nikon D3s.  It is unbelievable that Nikon at the time produced a very cheap lens with such a stunning performance.

Nikon has made many lenses with similar focal length ranges. The Nikon 28-80mm G singles out as it has an unusual maximum aperture of f/3.3 instead of the more common f/3.5.  This lens is a G lens meaning that it lacks an aperture ring.

The Nikon 28-80mm G works great on just about every AF and digital Nikon camera having a built-in lens motor to drive the AF of the lens.  As a matter of fact, these lenses will not autofocus on Nikon’s beginners’ camera bodies such as the D3000 and D3100. This is an AF screw type of lens.

To conclude, I must admit that this lens is a stunning piece of kit.  It is inexpensive, light weighted and one can easily adapt to its ergonomics.  It can be found either in a silver or black finish.  One has to pay particular attention to the way such lens is handled due to the fact that it is made out of plastic.  On the other hand, this lens stands out to be a winner in every occasion.  I highly recommend this lens!