by Victor F. Newman

username vfnewman
Nikonian in Virgina, USA

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All I can say is "All-in-one" zooms have come a LONG way. 

I am quite impressed with this little lens.  I have to call this a "consumer" lens, but that's NOT because of the image quality.  I'm still amazed at the results that can be gotten from this very compact, wide-range lens.

AF 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED IF Zoom Nikkor

"All-in-one" zoom lenses (approximately 28-200mm, in my book) have been around since at least the mid-1980's.  Most of them have also been scoffed at for about that long.  Trying to do too many things at once is a good way to do none of them well, and 28-200's have been plagued by that problem for a long time.

Nikon has had a 28-200mm lens in the lineup since 1998, but has completely revised it  in the issue of the new "G" version of this lens.  The lens is still a two-ring, variable-aperture zoom with the autofocus driven by the camera's AF motor, but the optical formula is completely different from the previous D version.
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As a "G" lens, it has no aperture ring.  This lens is fully compatible only with Nikon camera bodies that allow control of the aperture from the body.  At the time of this writing (November 2003), they are: D2H, D1X, D1H, D100, F5, F100, F/N80, F/N75, F/N65, F/N55. This lens can be attached to any other camera body, but functions will be limited.

The good people at ePhotocraft.com were kind enough to loan us this lens for a few days to try.  From a purely personal standpoint, I'm really glad they did.  I learned a lot about just how good the latest lenses are.
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