Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 16-80mm f/2.8-4E ED Vibration Reduction Zoom Lens with Auto Focus for Nikon DSLR Cameras

Top positive review

Awesomely impressive

Reviewed in the United States on September 27, 2018

My 5th Nikon lens, blows the rest away. Fast operation, great VR, beautiful bokeh. Nothing negative to say about this lens.

I bought this to replace my AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR, which I loved and always kept on the body, but sadly I dropped it and the auto-focus broke. I thought that (cheap) lens was better than all my others, including my expensive prime-lenses, and while the 18-55 is a great lens, there is no comparison to what I can make this 16-80 do. I waited a few months of use to really-review this AF-S DX NIKKOR 16-80mm f/2.8-4E ED VR, and can only sum it up by saying: it is worth the investment.

3 people found this helpful

Top critical review

Critical reviews›

Lbuck

Disappointing for a Nikon product

Reviewed in the United States on April 12, 2019

If you like dark corners (vignetting) this is the lens for you. I however do NOT like it and am not impressed with this lens at all. I thought this would be a good lens to add to my bag and it made sense financially with the lens I really want being out of reach price wise. I am a big Nikon fan. This is the first lens I have not liked. It's fast, but the more complicated the lighting, the more the problems with the lens are apparent. If you ar only shooting outdoors in perfect light you'll never have a complaint. But for more difficult lighting I would not recommend this lens

7 people found this helpful

191 total ratings, 122 with reviews

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From the United States

Mike

Awesomely impressive

Reviewed in the United States on September 27, 2018

*: BlackVerified Purchase

3 people found this helpful

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Thejohnz

Superb travel/walk around zoom lens

Reviewed in the United States on July 29, 2015

*: BlackVerified Purchase

I purchased this lens from Amazon to go with my D7200. I have mostly been an FX user the last 4 years and currently also own a D750 and D800. My interest in going back to the DX camera and lenses started with using the D7200 as a way to get extra reach for my telephoto lenses such as the Nikkor 80-400mm VR and the newest Nikkor 300mmF4 VR.

I was enjoying how well the D7200 worked with these lenses but I no longer had any wide angle "walk around lens" to use with this camera.

I did have the Nikkor 24-120mmF4 VR and the 24-85mmF3.5/5.6 VR but those lenses are best suited for the FX format.

I purchased the 16-80mmF2.8/4 VR on a whim. Having previously owned the 16-85 version, I hoped that this lens would have the improvements necessary to make it a "keeper".

After a few days of testing and comparisons, I must admit that I will definitely keep this lens!

My first test was to compare the 16-80 on my D7200 to the 24-120 on my D750. This is an easy test to do as the equivalent zoom ranges and apertures are the same (except for the ability of the 16-80 to go to F2.8).

The result of this test amazed me. The 16-80 was sharper at all apertures from F4 through F16. It did not matter what focal length I was at. In addition, the 16-80 was better at contrast. Dark areas were darker, yet had more detail. A side benefit was the lack of any vignetting when a filter was attached to the 16-80 lens. This is not the case with the 24-120, when at 24mm focal length.

I then compared the 16-80 (set to 34mm on my D7200) with the Nikkor 50mF1.8 mounted on my D750. Again, I was surprised that the 16-80 actually looked better at all apertures but F4, where the 50mm was slightly better in the extreme corners. Again, contrast was noticeably better on the 16-80. This was the first time any lens I owned outperformed this 50mm prime.

I also own the Nikkor 20mmF1.8. Testing this lens directly with the 16-80 on my D7200 did show the superior performance of the 20mm lens, but the differences went away by F8. Both these lenses show the excellent contrast that comes with Nikon's latest coatings.

The Nikkor 16-80mmF2.8/4 VR is slightly lighter than the 16-85 but otherwise about the same size. The focus speed seems similar to the 24-120, and the VR seems to work as advertised.

At 80mm, I compared the 16-80 to my Nikkor 70-200F4 VR. The first test was done with the 16-80 on the D7200 (set for 80mm) and the 70-200 on the D750 (set to 120mm). The result of this test was almost a dead heat with maybe a slight edge to the 70-200.

I did a second test where both lenses were mounted on the D7200 (at 80mm). In this test the 70-200 clearly won. This is not surprising in that the FX format puts real demands on the corner performance of FX lenses whereas the DX format does not. in addition, the D750 has an anti-alias filter. The D7200 does not, allowing for better overall resolution if the lens can pull it off.(and the 70-200 certainly can!)

I would go on a hike with the 16-80 on a D7200 and feel confident that I would get as good or better photos than if I carried the 24-120 with the D750. In low light, or the need to have limited DOF, I might want the FX combo, but for most scenery shots, I want maximum DOF and high ISO's are generally not needed. Do remember that DX cameras have 1.5 times greater DOF than FX.

This lens is pricey. If I could not afford it, I would be temped by the Sigma 17-70mmF2.8/4. It looks to have similar performance overall.

The only caveat, is the distortion. At 16mm, this lens has lots of barrel distortion. Strangely, it goes away by 19mm and quickly becomes pincushion all the way to 80mm. Most zooms seem similar in this regard. Just beware that you will want to correct for this distortion if buildings or ocean etc. are predominant in your images.

I have not really tested this lens wide open at F2.8. It looked really good, but I just don't go there much, as I am mostly doing scenery shots rather than people shots, where one often wants to isolate the subject from the background. I can tell you this. Looking through the viewfinder one notices that the image is bright! That is an advantage of 2.8F worth noting.

All in all, it is great to see such lenses come onto the market. The latest 24mp sensors are very demanding. This lens will hold up to those kind of sensors.

162 people found this helpful

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Grammy

Execellent Lens

Reviewed in the United States on August 16, 2023

*: BlackVerified Purchase

Takes outstanding photos, high quality, what a wonderful lens, makes my picutures outstanding so clear, and easy to use. A must buy.

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Jim Mirick

Great lens, delivers the goods

Reviewed in the United States on August 16, 2017

*: BlackVerified Purchase

Just what I was looking for -- a stop faster than the kit lens, and reaches out significantly more so I almost never have to reach for my near telephoto. Much more versatile in one package. All aspects of the operation have been positive -- quick to focus, great VR. The only downsides are 1) the cost, while not unreasonable for a lens of this performance, is still right up there, and 2) the size, mainly if you are comparing it to the kit 18 - 55 f/3.5, which collapses into a wonderfully small package. If I were going on a backpacking trip, or to Europe for an extended trip, I would probably take the kit lens for it's size and light weight. But this lens now lives on my D5500, which it almost outweighs. I had to take several deep breaths when I bought it, but I have no regrets now.

Some people have complained of it's barrel distortion and other similar flaws, all I can say is that Lightroom's lens correction function removes this entirely so I have no complaints.

3 people found this helpful

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Daniel

Como nuevo.

Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2024

*: BlackVerified Purchase

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Perfecto. Será usado, pero no tiene ni un rasguño. Funciona correctamente en mi Nikon D5200. El problema son los aranceles, que me han supuesto alrrededor de un 25% del precio, pero eso no es culpa del vendedor, claro. Aún así ese objetivo cuesta más del doble nuevo.

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Michael C. Martin Jr.

Excellent do everything lens

Reviewed in the United States on May 16, 2023

*: BlackVerified Purchase

I can’t say enough good things about this lens, it does it all with a nice clean and sharp image and good contrast through out the aperture and zoom range as well as decent bokeh at f/2.8. Being that it’s a DX lens I use it on a D5500 and a Z50+FTZii adapter, both work flawlessly with the Z50 taking a slightly better image for a few reasons and both taking nice shots in dim light. It is a bit bulky and heavy so it’s debatable as a travel lens if you want to stuff it in your backpack. The only real downside is from the purchase and that it was a floor model or something and had a lot of dust and lint in the lens barrel and on some of the internal elements that I could see with the naked eye, it drove me nuts seeing and knowing it was there even if it didn’t affect my photos so I had it serviced by Nikon and it came back within a week working and looking amazing, it even had a firmware update which I feel helped it focus quicker.

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Andrew

Best lens for the price

Reviewed in the United States on December 14, 2023

*: BlackVerified Purchase

I absolutely love the 16-80mm f2.8-4. In my book, its the best all around standard zoom lens out there. I have a D7200, and all the images are beautiful.

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Paul Michael

This lens is a game changer for me.

Reviewed in the United States on August 19, 2015

*: BlackVerified Purchase

BREAKING NEWS !!! (In case I have inadvertently buried the lead.) The electromagnetic diaphragm now allows aperture adjustment in Manual and Aperture modes so you can adjust the aperture in Live view for both still and movie modes even after you begin recording, on the D7100 at least, just like the newer camera bodies can with G type lenses.

This lens costs over a thousand dollars and at that price it is an absolute bargain. It is the 10th zoom lens to have Nikon's anti-glare Nano Crystal Coat and it is the least expensive of them all. It is also the smallest and lightest. It is also the 8th lens to have an electromagnetic diaphragm and is the least expensive, smallest, and lightest of them as well. I don't know how many lenses have both a normal and an active mode for their VR system but I do know it is very useful to have.

I've wanted a zoom with anti-glare for a long time and I am so glad I waited to make this smaller, lighter one my D7100's main walk around lens. I photograph mostly action sports at 6 or 7 frames per second so I am sure I will appreciate the more consistent exposures from the electromagnetic diaphragm along with the new ability to adjust aperture while recording in live movie view. They don't seem to point that last part out but yes in Manual and Aperture modes you can now adjust the aperture in Live view for both still and movie modes even after you begin recording, on the D7100 at least, just like the newer camera bodies can with G type lenses. I was thinking I was going to have to invest in another camera body or some D type lens to do that.

In the long run this lens will end up saving me more money than I spent to buy it. This lens is a game changer for me.

36 people found this helpful

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Spongie

Fantastic Lens for Archeological Sites

Reviewed in the United States on July 14, 2023

*: BlackVerified Purchase

I bought this lens for my trip to Peru to photograph numerous archeological sites that we visited. Since I had weight limitations in my suitcase, I limited myself to two lenses with this being my go-to lens. It gave me excellent wide angle shots and limited zoom capability allowing me to frame the photos. I use this with my Nikon D7500 and have not seen any vignetting throughout the range of the lens.

2 people found this helpful

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abacus

Great for Everyday Use

Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2019

*: BlackVerified Purchase

I prefer prime lenses. I wanted a lens that I could keep on the camera that I always have with me. This zoom is the equivalent of a 24-120mm lens on an FX camera. The IQ is very acceptable for a compact zoom lens. I suggest that one should stay just shy of the limits of this lens on both the short and the long end. The hood is a PITA but be careful with a substitute hood as it is easy to vignette on the 16 end. IMO, this may be the best short zoom for an APSC Nikon camera. It is mounted on a D7500.

7 people found this helpful

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