Hi--

> I am a budding amateur photographer. I use a Nikon N70 with the 24-50
>and 70-210 AF-D lenses. I am frustrated by the lack of range in the
>middle. I am considering trading in my 24-50 for either a 24-120 or
>28-105. The specs and MTF plots aren't helping much in deciding between
>the two. Your review is the only one I have found at all on the
>28-105. I use to do a lot of travel and landscape photograpy, but
>these days my two year old has changed my primary use to more candid
>protrait shots and group play. I would greatly appreciate your
>recomendation and any advice.

I find zooms too slow, and too slow to use for action photos
(fast tele zooms are the exception, for distant work...), and
prefer a good MF 35mm f2 (the AIS Nikkor is good wide open...),
with any Nikkor 85mm as an occasional alternative (I also like
the 20mm f2.8 for action work with people - and prefer MF to AF,
since it is faster for me). The 24-120 is excellent at f11, but
that is "not convenient", and I sold mine. I wasn't impressed with
the performance of the 28-105 at the long end. I am happiest using
a non-zoom (faster/faster-operating/sharper/lighter/smaller than
zooms - I can understand the appeal of zooms, but in practice,
except for good tele zooms, they don't live up to expectations).

> Eventually I would also like to trade my 70-210 also. My husband and
>I occasionally like to go on wildlife photo adventures in our national
>parks. I am thinking about picking up a used 75-300 or 100-300. Again
>any comparative advise would be greatly appreciated.
rjvaleri@earthlink.net

See "SLE(MN)" on my web page, under "I babble"...
The 80-200 f2.8's are the best, even with a 1.4X TC added, but
large/heavy. The early AF 70-210 f4 and optically-identical
MF 70-210 f4 E and similar 80-200 f4 MF are next best (they
are OK with the TC14A attached, from about f5.6). I wasn't pleased
with the 70-300, and preferred the 75-300 or 100-300 MF (though
it is big/slow, but optically fine). The 300mm f4 AF is hard to
beat, and it is still good on the TC14/14B/14C at 420mm. The
180 f2.8 AF is first-rate, OK on the TC14A, but not very good on
a 2X converter. The 70/75/100-300 zooms are not good on converters.
The old-style 500mm f8 mirror is excellent, and good on the TC14/14B,
but it is difficult to use... Probably the 75-300 is the best
compromise. The 20mm f2.8, 35mm f2 (MF), 85mm f1.8, and 75-300mm
make a good lens set. Add the 500mm f8, if you dare...;-)
(BTW, the N70 and N90 have poor viewfinders for manual focus - try
an 8008, F3, FA/FE/FM (with matte screens), or the F100, if you
think MF is hard [be sure you can see sharply around 3', though...
{I have my camera-eye glasses corrected for 3.5' - and I don't
recommend line-less bifocals for MF}].)