AF-S NIKKOR 16-35mm f/4G ED VR

I have only had the lens less than a year, but I did take it to Crested Butte and took a lot of pictures hiking. I used on the D300 and the pictures were crisp, detailed and had great color quality. Some were even taken early and late in low light.

I´ve been using this lens for about four months and in that time have put it to good use shooting scenics and landscapes as well as close-ups and even portraiture.

The f/4 max aperture is great for shooting in available light. The VRII helps to virtually eliminate subject blur with slower shutter speeds.

Image contrast and color fidelity is simply awesome. I can´t detect any noticeable color fringing at large magnifications on my computer monitor. I´ve made 20x24´´ gelatin-silver prints from cropped RAW files converted to jpegs with good results.

Build quality is superb. All controls are sturdy and well-placed. Overall balance is good due to all movements being internal keeping the length of the lens constant. That is good because the lens is pretty long and substantial in weight. Paired with my D700 it makes a sizable package. A wide shock-absorbing neoprene strap is a good replacement for the original strap to handle the weight.

I am a retired architect who still enjoys photographing buildings, both interior and exterior when I travel. This lens, in combination with todays cameras with excellent performance at higher ISO settings, allows consistently high quality hand held images which were impossible just last year.

I obtained the 16-35mm f4 VR a few months ago for use with my D700. This lens has been getting very good reviews and I agree with most everything I´ve read about it. I haven´t used the 17-35 at all, and have only briefly used the 14-24, but it seems most of the comparisons are probably right on. This 16-35 is sharp beginning at f4, has a great zoom range, is built well, and handles great. Every lens has drawbacks and the only issue with this one is the well-documented, fairly extreme barrel distortion at the wide end. Overall it rocks and deserves 5 stars otherwise.

Sharp!!!> Stop making lenses. This is it. You have won.

This lens became my primary lens beside 70-200mm f2.8 VR2. I most the time leave my 24-70mm f2.8 on my storage since i bought this lens...

I own the 14-24 f/2.8 and it is an incredible lens. Unfortunately it sits at home quite often. It is heavy, scary with that big curved front element and limited in focal length range.
Prior to a recent trip to Italy I decided to give the 16-35 a try.
I´m impressed. While pixel peepers will still give the image quality nod to the 14-24 I´ve found that in real life this lens is plenty good.
I love that it is lighter and that I can use filters - a big plus.
I also am not swapping it out as often since it covers a wide range. The extra 11mm FL is a real bonus.
Like the other reviewer I didn´t expect VR to be a big deal... but it is. I pulled off sharp 1/10 second shots inside cathedrals.
I wish Nikon would produce more high quality constant f/4 aperture lenses like this.

There are some people that complain that the 16-35 isn´t very sharp. I must be one of the lucky ones that got a very good copy. My 16-35 focuses well and the VR works as advertised. I have also owned the 14-24 2.8 which is an amazing wide angle zoom but for me the extra reach, VR and the ability to use filters were key selling points for the 16-35. There is some distortion on the wide end so if you´re shooting interiors you may want to look more closely at the 14-24. For people, editorial, event and most general photography the 16-35 will not disappoint.

Almost every serious photographer has or had an ultra-wide in their DX kit. For most of us it was something close to a 10-24 zoom. The first and one of the best of these is Nikon´s pro-level 12-24 f/4 DX lens. This new 16-35 f/4 lens is close to the exact same thing but made for your FX camera. It is the perfect compliment for your FX kit filling in an important range.
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My sweet spot for an FX wide is 24mm as determined by a search through my keepers over the past 5 years and also including DX at 16mm. Given that, a perfect solution is a lens with room on each side of that 24mm to preclude the need to change lenses if you need a little wider or longer. Other pro-level zooms tend to end or start at that 24mm which can be somewhat inconvenient in the field. My choice was the venerable 17-35 f/2.8 or this new 16-35 f/4. I chose the new model for several reasons.
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One, with Nikon´s FX cameras and their dim light capabilities, the need for that extra stop at f/2.8 is not as critical as once was. Two, the newer lens has VR for camera motion. Three, I intended to use it as a scenic and landscape lens where stopping down is typical. Four, most of the time in landscape a support system is used for night and late evening shots.
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I felt the advantages of the better value, Nano coating, magnesium body with weather sealing, and newer optical design outweighed the one stop advantage for the 17-35 f/2.8. Moreover, I had often used the 17-35 f/2.8 and though it was a superb optic, I wanted maybe better.
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I ordered this new 16-35 f/4 amid initial amateur naysayers claiming soft corners and less than perfect performance. Some even claimed it had a plastic body. One famous website even claimed this. Again, I reasoned that if it performed like the DX 12-24 f/4 and had the equivalent build and price, the new lens would still be what I needed.
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I was both surprised and amazed by what I received. I can only say that some of these early complainers must not have really owned this product, especially with the obvious magnesium body being so easily distinguished. It exceeded my wildest expectations. On my D700, this lens required zero focus fine tuning and is razor sharp edge to edge from its widest to its longest, even wide open. The color and micro contrast is superb and has been almost glued to my camera on a recent 10 day shoot in the Grand Tetons. It was a wise and lucky purchase.
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I´m somewhat surprised that a few people are concerned that this lens tends to have strong barrel distortion at 16mm. I agree that it does, but find it trivial. One, it´s very easy to fix during the processing of the image. Two, I sometimes enjoy a little barrel distortion in some images. It´s why I also own a couple of fisheye lenses. Three, you can´t notice it unless there are straight lines in the image, and finally it is pretty much gone at 17mm. If you don´t process your own and if you don´t like and don´t know how to correct barrel distortion, consider this lens a 17-35 f/4 pro-level zoom. For me, I´ll keep the 16mm range. I would imagine that people who purchase an FX camera and quality optics ought to be able to develop their own images and would feel similar to me that barrel distortion is trivial.
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I have a fairly large collection of Nikkors as well as a few third party optics going back to 1968, when I switched from another brand. Of that collection, I have four or five of what I call ´´Magic´´ lenses. These are lenses that continue to amaze me year after year. One of these is my pre-AI, now converted 105 f/2.5. Another is my newer Nikon 300 f/2.8 AFS VR as well as an old 55 f/3.5 Micro Nikkor. My wonderful 85 f/1.4 AFD also falls in this category. In my heart of hearts, I believe this new 16-35 f/4 AFS VRII will be another addition to my ´´Magic´´ collection.
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Finally, serious Nikon users have been demanding that Nikon provide us with a series of professional high quality f/4 constant zooms for quite a while. A “thank you” to Nikon for the first of this excellent series. We await the rest.