AF-S DX NIKKOR 16-80mm f/2.8-4E ED VR

This is definitely my favorite lens in my collection so far. I am an avid animal and landscape photographer and this lens can be used for both (as long as you are decently close to the animal itself). The pictures I get are very very clear, more than I expected them to be. I use this lens on my D7100 and I can´t say one bad thing about it. It´s also a very good lens for star photography as it is f/2.8, honestly you can´t go wrong with this lens!!

i owned the Nikkor 16-85F3.5/5.6 years ago. It was a great lens but when I made the move to FX I sold this lens along with the D7000. Now, after owning a D800 and D750, I got intrigued by the latest offering, (in the DX market) the D7200. It proved to be a great camera for telephoto shots, (I own the 80-400 F4.5/5.6, the 70-200F4, the 300mmF4 VR) but I had no wide angle lenses to use with it.

So, I purchased the 16-80mmF2.8/4 in the hopes it would be a good match.

Well, after two days of shooting and testing I can say this. The lens is a winner for me.

As I own the 24-120F4, I had an easy way to see just how 16-80mmF2.8/4, mounted on a D7200, would compare with the FX D750 and the 24-120F4.

I was hoping for similar performance. What I got was instead, was stellar performance that frankly proved to be better both in sharpness and in contrast to the 24-120F4 mounted on a D750.

In addition, the 16-80mmF2.8/4 does not vignette when a filter is attached. This has been an annoying problem with the 24-120F4 as well as other Nikkor wide angle zooms.

Focus speed is good, distortion about what one gets with this type of lens, and build quality is quite good.

As long as one keeps the ISO below 200 this lens on a D7200 body will outperform the 24-120F4 on a D750 body. It´s that good. Even at F16, where normally diffraction would limit IQ in the DX mode, the image looked better than in FX. (Do consider that the D7200 does not have an anti aliasing filter that is present on the D750)

Nikon has done a good job.

I have waited for a long time for a flagship 16-80 range DX lens. It´s here! The build quality, fit and finish is super. The ability to have this range in a no questions lens for a camera such as the D7100 and D7200 is now available. It is excellent in macro, can really reduce camera shake with the on board VR, and the lens coating appears perfect. If you have really longed for this zoom range in DX with no compromises this is it. It is not a small lens. The provided lens hood when in place makes the whole rig look even bigger. The focus speed is rapid and exact.