In article <352A8424.B87@worldonline.nl>, cyhau@worldonline.nl says...

>I own a Nikon AF 28-70 with my Nikon N70 body. When I take pictures
>using the Program mode, most of the time the camera will choose for the
>widest apertures; f/3.5 - f/4.5.
>However the quality of these pictures are even worse than taken with my
>old full automatic Minolta 300si. The pictures seems not too sharp but
>it's not due to bad autofocusing. But shooting the pictures at aperture
>f/8 or f/11 are against pin-sharp. So I think it's a lens problem with
>the widest aperture setting. is this normal for the AF28-70?
>
>Has anyone the same experiences with his/her lenses?
>And what did you to overcome this problem? Using Aperture priority iso
>P-mode? But the P-mode is very easy for taking quick/snap shots.
>
>Can anyone recommend an alternative short zoom lens that will give
>good/excellent performances with wide apertures (f/3.5-5.6)(to use in
>the Program mode)? Preferably Nikon.

Sorry if I'm going to sound like a curmudgeon (well, I never was
too good at spelling...! ;-) in the following, but....
THE problem is relying on automatic features! Sure, if you buy an
F5 and many-multi-centa-buck zooms, it is finally possible to get
high-quality results with a camera set in "idiot" mode
(sorry...!;-), but if you are looking for high-quality results
on a budget, you STILL cannot beat nice, fast, sharp manual-focus
non-zoom lenses and older Nikon bodies with sharp viewfinders!
(And these can be had at bargain prices!) The truth is that the
auto features are still set up to favor the beginning photographer
using color negative materials for making tiny prints. Auto
exposure often errs on the overexposure side, program modes favor
unnecessarily high shutter speeds paired with wide-open apertures
(where zooms perform poorly) - and AF errors (which are common!)
are not covered by DOF. Since you are now aware that your lens
(along with virtually all other inexpensive mid-range zooms...)
is not especially sharp wider than about f8, I recommend starting
with at least aperture-priority mode, watching that the shutter
speed does not drop below what you can hand-hold at the FL you
are using. Easier for me is to roll all the decisions together
into one process (rather than having to undo bad decisions made
by the camera...), and just use manual mode. Same goes for focus.
You may find yourself thinking more about the image-making
process, but manual modes rarely really slow down the picture
taking process (I find with "presetting" some controls, and
modifying them as I take the pictures, that this direct process
is actually faster than using auto modes where I must wait for
the camera to show me it's decisions, think about whether I like
them, and if not, figure out how I would change them, then go
through the process of resetting the camera controls and settings
[this seems as tedious to me in practice as it sounds...! ;-]).
I think it boils down to a decision about whether you will
use your expensive complex SLR system as a fancy "point-'n'-shoot"
(and accept the often poor image quality that results), or
decide to take control yourself and take the photos right!
Oh, BTW, I also suggest trying the best "wide-angle telephoto"
lens around (foot use is required for "zooming"...;-), the cheap,
fast, sharp, light, small 50mm f1.8 Nikkor - you may notice a
BIG improvement in the technical quality of your photographs
when using this lens...! It is still an attractive idea to just
not think when taking pictures (and the manufacturers have
encouraged us in this, since they want to sell the newest lens
or body with the latest feature...), but if you think about
it a moment, are there any photos you can now make that could
not be made about as easily with good-but-simple equipment made
around, say, 1970...? (There are a few - but generally...;-)
David Ruether
http://www.fcinet.com/ruether