I had this lens, and liked it. It was small, very small, but produced good results. Of course maybe I got a best-of-the-flock specimen while Shel had a bad one. It was sharp, and while not super contrasty, it was still good in contrast. I have many slides shot with it, it was excellent travel lens in the mountains. The primes I had alongside were better, but still, it IMO is better than consumer zooms. Only think I disliked was the push-pull design, which (although damped well) exhibited zoomcreep when held vertically (which is a pita on a tripod shooting something straight up or down). But plain rubber band can solve it, and the AF Nikkor 2.8/80-200 (1 ring) had much much much worse zoom creep. It also has rotating front, which is pita with polariser. But I do not use polarisers much, so I didn't mind. The built-in hood is just for fun though.
I can recommend this lens. It was perfect on MX, along with a wide prime or 24-35. The Tamron SP 70-210 3.5 is slightly better, and the 2.8 pro zooms are better, but not by that much. And it has better coating than the Tamron. It's also very well built. Test it if you can before buying, as indeed some old lenses can be mistreated. Fra
