Could this be my final lens purchase?

davethebirder

Since bathing in the glory of the Nikon D850 with it's 45 Mps sensor, mounting my out dated AFD wide angle lenses has been more disappointing than on the D750 ..... the AF35mm F2D seems slightly de-centered IMHO it was one of the worst AFD series. the AF28mm F2.8D was a replacement for the non D 5 element version but just cannot resolve in the corners, however I will stick with the AF24mm F2.8D which is a 9 element construction and isn't bad stopped down.
Overall I prefer a 28mm FL so the time has come to unload the AF35D, the AF28D the two AF85mm F1.8Ds to help pay for the newly ordered the AF-S 28mm F1.8G which has been around for some years ..... resolution charts here on OLs look OK and it's overall performance is pretty good (even though it was tested on a 24 Mps.).... of course my copy is used but condition is marked as excellent ... it comes with a 14 day return window and a 1 year guarantee in case of de-centering or breakdowns.
I don't see me buying any further glass or going ML .....

https://www.flickr.com/photos/124690178@N08/

Rover

There's never a final lens purchase... unless you count the inevitable final threshold, which I hope isn't the case. 😃 We always keep telling that we're done purchasing lenses, and at times, we really are... until we aren't. 🙂

Case in point: I'm seriously consider giving up all of my Canon gear (minus the 70-200 and probably the 16-35 which are two of my favourite lenses, and hold nostalgic value in addition to practical one) and going full Nikon / Sony lenses. That after telling my own self perhaps half a year ago that I'm all set with gears. 😃

OTT... the Nikon 28/1.8 seems like a fine lens, and I can only commend the intention to get rid of old AF-D fare, even if you're not getting mirrorless. The AF-S lenses just seem so much nicer in every respect, at least from reading the reviews here. Guess I was already fed up with screw-driven AF back in my (short) Minolta period ₂₀ years ago. 🙂

davethebirder

Rover

Ah the final countdown ..... well it does figure in the equation slightly ...... from a reflective POV 🙂 ....
no the AF/D series wide angle lenses were basically simple, often 6 elements and not sharp in the corners, I'll keep the 24mm F2.8D (decent corners 9 elements) and the 105mm macro ..... -

the issue is nobody wants them ..... most photo dealers won't entertain them and when you type in the lens title, show not recognized .....

I guess I'll sell them cheaply to get rid of them .....

davethebirder

I received the AF-S 28mm F1.8G saturday ........ it stated excellent condition but it was in fact "as new" in box .... it seems well enough centered although the Photolife review stated that they found a wavy field of curvature which wide open can make certain areas in the frame slightly softer as well as focus shift on stopping down .....
(Klaus I know you did not find any of this with your tested sample) ..... all I can say is when I was calibrating the AF and then checking for infinity focus I found some softness in a midfield left lower side wide open .... I then concentrated on accurate infinity focus recalibrated .... this time it was sharp across the frame at infinity ... so I assume that calibrating for a mean average of the field curvature is the way to go.
Briefly, it's a sharp enough lens wide open with great contrast, stopping down even one stop gives excellent sharpness and minimal flare nice for 280 euros .....
Four AF-D lens were advertised on The Bon Coin the AF35mm F2D sold in a matter of hours .... as I had it up for 65 euros .... most people are asking up to 200 euros and they just don't get a response.-