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Nikkor AF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 G IF-ED DX - Review / Test Report |
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Lens Reviews -
Nikon / Nikkor (APS-C)
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Page 1 of 3
Review by Klaus Schroiff, published March 2007
Introduction
The Nikkor AF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 G IF-ED DX is one of the latest lenses in the Nikon
line-up . The lens is typically sold as part of a Nikon D80 kit but it is also available
separately at some places at around 380€/US$ which is surprisingly affordable for
such a lens and especially for a genuine Nikkor. This
will certainly produce some headaches over at Sigma and Tamron.
It is a designated DX lens with a reduced image circle so it is only
compatible to APS-C DSLRs. The effective focal length is equivalent to 27-202.5mm
on full frame SLRs. Regarding its extreme 7.5x zoom ratio it is obviously meant
as an allround lens.
The build quality of the AF-S 18-135mm DX is about in-line with other modern
medium-grade Nikkor zoom lenses. The outer construction is made of relatively
decent plastic down to the lens mount. Both the zoom as well as the
focus ring operate smooth and even without being damped. Unlike its bigger
brother, the AF-S 18-200mm DX VR, the lens doesn't suffer from zoom creeping -
at least not straight out-of-the-box. Unfortunately there´s no focus distance
indicator - probably a cost-cutting measure.
The AF-S 18-135mm is a G-type lens so it doesn't feature a dedicated
aperture ring anymore.
As you can see above the lens uses a duo-cam design to extend towards the
long end of the zoom range. Adding the supplied petal-type hood almost doubles
the total length of the lens. Thanks to an IF (Internal focusing) design
the front does not rotate so using a polarizer is no problem.
The lens features a silent-wave (ultrasonic) AF motor resulting in
fast and near silent AF operations.
| Specifications |
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| Equiv. focal length | 27-202.5 mm (full format equivalent) |
| Equiv. aperture | f/5.3-f/8.4 (full format equivalent, in terms of depth-of-field) |
| Optical construction | 15 elements in 13 groups inc. 1 ED and 2 aspherical elements |
| Number of aperture blades | 7 (rounded) |
| min. focus distance | 0.45 m (max. magnification ratio 1:4.1) |
| Dimensions | 74 x 87 mm |
| Weight | 385 g |
| Filter size | 67 mm (non-rotating) |
| Hood | Nikon HB-32 (supplied), petal-shaped |
| Other features | Lens provides distance (D) information to the camera. |
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