Nikon Reviews

I purchased this lens shortly after getting my first SLR camera. While it came with a 28-80mm lens, I found that I wanted something that was faster and that had a little more throw on the long end of things.

I've had this lens now for about nine months, and it rarely leaves my camera body. The optics are great, the build is far better than what comes in an SLR kit these days. The only suggestion I can give to a buyer is to get a top of the line UV filter, because otherwise, you will notice degradation of the image quality.

This Nikon lens is built well. It has a nice heavy feel that will make you feel better about spending the money on it. I know I love mine. I only wish that Nikon offered a version of this lens with a constant (fast) aperture.

It is sharp, it is light, it is wide-angle.

24mm is a ideal compromise (between 20mm and 28mm). Wider than this becomes quite distorted, longer than this limits your view. It is ideal for landscapes if you want to include an interesting foreground. It is also a solid lens, and I am happy with the built-quality. The lens is certainly fast enough for me. On top of that, the optical quality is excellent - perfect for enlargements or slide projection. Good contrast, good colour.

Apart from that, the lens is small and lightweight, which again makes it fantastic for outdoor photographers. I love mine.

As a medical doctor somewhat unwillingly dragged in IT by the accidents of life, I suffer from frequent bouts of nostalgia, remembering fondly the time where I was studying life sciences. That's during one of those episode that I bought this gadget, thinking it would probably end up gathering dust on a shelve. Boy, I was wrong! The microscope is so light and well designed that it can be taken anywhere. It is up and running in a few seconds, it's waterproof and it is sturdy. Its optical quality is beyond reproach.

But what really stunned me is the sheer amount of interesting things the 20x magnification is putting within my reach: seemingly uninteresting insects such as aphids offer are seen tantalizing amount of detail; closely watching a dining spider is something you will not forget soon. In the vegetal world, patterns seem to pop out of nowhere. This is also an incredible educational toy for children since it turns the most basic garden into a giant natural history museum.

One caveat, but not an unexpected one: since it is designed to be extremely light, no light source is provided. A white led connected to a cheap 5V supply can be helpful in low light conditions.