> With great disappointment I report a serious flaw in the new 28-105mm
> f/3.5-4.5 AF D IF lens.
>
> "At a telephoto setting, slight vignetting may occur when shooting subjects
> with the macro switch set to MACRO (at a reproduction ratio of approx 1:2),
> particularly when using a filter."
>
> Right away I grabbed the F5 with the new lens and pointed it at a white
> wall. At the 105mm setting, there was clear vignetting visible in the
> viewfinder THROUGHOUT the focus settings, from infinity down to the
> closest-focus point.
David,
I'm not surprised to hear this. I think most "standard" zooms have
significant vignetting. I noticed this in the viewfinder with the 28-70/3.5-4.5.
This bothered me, though to be honest I rarely saw any vignetting in my
pictures.
Before you condenm this zoom, it would be worth to see how badly the
vignetting affects your prints or slides. Slight vignetting is often not
noticeable on prints. If it is present, it may not be a bad thing, darker edges
can help focus attention on the center, where the subjuct usually is.
Just looking for vignetting in the viewfinder may not be a good test, since
the viewfinder itself may be darker in the corners. Also, the image you see
in the viewfinder is with the lens wide open. Vignetting often disappears
when you stop down (how often do you shoot with this lens wide open,
espcially in macro mode??). Try stopping down the lens and press the DOF
preview button to see if vignetting reduces. Or even better, take some
pictures and see the results! :-)
> I am going to return this lens and exchange it for something else in the
> wide-angle to normal range, probably the 35mm f/2. Any comments on the
> following lenses for people & event photography would be greatly
> appreciated: 28mm 2.8, 35mm 2, 50mm 1.4, keeping in mind that I already
> have a 20mm and 60mm 2.8. Close focusing distance (0.25 m) is of primary
> importance, as I like to include objects in the foreground.
I would recommend the 35/2 for several reasons:
Since you already have 20mm and 60mm lenses, the 35/2 bridges the focal
length gap the best.
For a wide angle lens, it focuses very close, down to 0.25m, giving
magnification close to 1:4.
The 35mm focal length only has very mild wideangle distortion, making it a
great lens for people and event photography (that's why so many compact
cameras have 35mm lenses)
The extra stop in speed compared to your other lenses will make it useful
for low light photography.
hope this helps,
Roland.
