I faced the same dilemma as you.
I have a 20, a 80-200 and a broken down 28-85 AIS.
I wanted a midrange lens, faster than my old 28-85/3.5-4.5.
I ruled out the 28-70 AF-S for the reasons of cost, weight and
(less important) filter size. I also ruled out fixed focal length
as I needed a lens that could be used for 'family shots' in addition
to nature work.
I chose the old trusty 35-70/2.8 for the following reasons:
- far cheaper than 28-70 AF-S (a third of the price)
- close focusing at 35mm (closer than the 28-70)
- takes 62mm filters - can use the 6T close up filter;
otherwise this was not too important as I have the 77mm pol &
grad filters.
- push-pull works the same as 80-200 (one touch) in that
you pull things closer (i.e. increase focal length)
The only draw-backs with the 35-70/2.8:
- rotating filter threads (at least they don't rotate when
you zoom also, like my old 28-85 AIS did)
- somewhat limiting with the widest being 35, but I usually
prefer to go much wider when I go wide anyway
Just my $0.02.
-Bjorn
nikon-digest wrote:
>
> nikon-digest Wednesday, March 3 1999 Volume 04 : Number 279
>
> Date: Tue, 02 Mar 1999 21:20:07 +0100
> From: Javier Saturno <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Subject: Zooms for thought [v04.n279/11]
> Message: 11
>
> Dear members,
>
> this is probably an old question, but i find myself facing a dilemma, and
> request your expertise.
> I have a F90x and two Af lenses, 20mm/2.8D and 80-200 /2.8D. These days I am
> saving up for the new 28-70/2.8AF-S Nikkor zoom, but its expected price
> discourages me. Why would you buy that lens (to fill the gap, and as an
> all-around lens for most photographic situations), when a combination of, say,
> 24mm or 28mm + 35mm or 50mm+ 85mm(1.8) (or even four of them) would cost less
> (or as much) money than the zoom? Is it all about changing lenses? All lenses in
> this range are optically good, fast, and feature D-info, so manual override
> would be the only loss (to my knowledge, unless the zoom is optically better,
> which I doubt), and I have always found myself using either end of a zoom lens,
> and not that often in between the "marked" focal lengths. Please, enlighten me.
> I cannot rent lenses where I live, so any mispurchase means money down the tab.
> Of course, an obvious answer would be "depends on what you like to shoot", but I
> find difficult to foresee how much I will "need" a focal length, until I
> actually use it.
> Thanks for your help and time.
> Please, e-mail me privately if you prefer, Javier.
>
> ------------------------------
