Following in the footsteps of Sigma's 18-35mm f/1.8 lens it would be easy to dismiss Nikon's new AF-S 18-35mm f/3.5-4.5 as an inferior competitor but nothing could be further from the truth.

Full-frame coverage; Impeccable MTF performance; 18mm maximum coverage; Virtually silent AF; Full-time MF option; Lightweight

Modest maximum aperture; Limited 2x zoom range; Fiddly lens hood

I had to throw a 10 in here to balance out the relatively low ratings. Some earlier ratings gave this lens effusive praise with little criticism and left 8s! Compared other lenses ranked here, this one should be above 9.5.

Excellent center sharpness throughout FL range, very good corners, lightweight, takes filters, good flare resistance, competes well against more expensive options

distortion at 18-20mm, no VR

Handling and features An ultra-wide angle zoom lens for FX format DSLRs covering an ultra-wide field of view without the size, weight or cost of constant aperture f/2.8 or f/4 equivalents. This lens costs around ￡600 and includes silent focusing with full time manual focus override.

The AF-S Nikkor 18-35mm f/3.5-4.5G ED is an 'affordable' wide angle zoom lens that's compatible with Nikon's full-frame FX format DSLRs. Announced in January 2013, it's aimed at photographers who've bought lower-priced full-frame DSLRs like the D600, but equally works on cropped-frame DX format...

Good image quality in the DX image-circle; Weather sealing at the lens-mount; Quiet AF operation; Small package; Reasonably priced

Needs stopping down to f8 to produce good FX-corners; Barrel-distortions at 18mm hard to correct; Slow AF

I tried this lens as a replacement for my Nikon AF 24mm f/2.8 D and I was pleasantly surprised. It's sharper and it has better contrast than the 24mm. It's also very lightweight and compact for a full frame wide angle zoom. I like how this lens handles/feels on a Nikon camera body.

Compact; lightweight; nice handling; sharpness; contrast; silent autofocus

Could be a little sharper at 35mm

In the following material we have an opportunity to present the full test of that latest acquisition of Nikon – enjoy your reading! We had an opportunity to test that lens courtesy of the Foto Plus shop from Cracow – thank you very much!

very good resolution in the frame centre; good image resolution on the edge of the APS-C sensor; negligible longitudinal chromatic aberration; good performance against bright light; slight astigmatism; silent and efficient autofocus; moderate vignetting for such a class of equipment; sensible price,...

weak image quality on the edge of full frame at the maximum relative aperture; build quality of the casing and the manual focus ring should have been better; high distortion on wide angle

Nikon 18-35mm f/3.5-4.5G AF-S Lens right for you? Learn all you need to know about the Nikon 18-35mm f/3.5-4.5G AF-S Lens in The-Digital-Picture.com's review!

Announced in January 2013, Nikon's new full-frame 18–35mm f/3.5–4.5G ED AF-S ($747, street) will undoubtedly soon replace the still-in-stores 18–35mm f/3.5–4.5D IF ED ($610, street).

Want an ultra light, ultrahigh performance ultrawide zoom for full-frame and 35mm Nikon? Bingo, your ship just came in. Forget the clumsy older 18-35 AF-D, which sells for not much less money.

Now you can cover the highly useful zoom range of 18mm to 35mm (27–52.5mm on DX-format cameras) with a great performing full-frame NIKKOR lens that doesn't carry a professional's price tag.