any experience with Nikon 16-85 mm lens

rwmj

I am relatively new to digital photography and am noticing that my pictures are not a sharp as I would like. I am using a Nikon D40x with the standard 18-55mm kit lens. Even though I often use a tripod and stop the lens down the sharpness of the pictures leaves something to be desired. Its not surprising that the optics in these kit lenses might be less than ideal but I am not sure how to remedy the situation. I notice that Nikon has a relatively new 16-85 mm lens (in the $560 range) that some reviewers say is pretty sharp if you are not going to spend 2 or 3 times that much. Even $560 is a stretch for me but I do want to improve on the optical quality. I saw a review by Ken Rockwell who wrote that the sharpness of this lens was no better than the standard 18-55. I don't want to fork out the extra cash if there is not a compelling reason to expect big improvements. Anyone have experience with the Nikon 16-85 mm lens or have other suggestions.

Thanks,

Roy

tjk60

what are you planning on using the lens for?

johng

tjk60 wrote:

what are you planning on using the lens for?

Good question given this is a sports forum. Not trying to knock you, but just wanted to be sure you intended to post the question in a sports forum.

rwmj

tjk60 wrote:

what are you planning on using the lens for?

right now mostly landscapes and that is why I am more aware of the sharpness
but in the past with 35 mm slr
have done lots of people - both portraits and street photography,
the lens would likely be an all purpose lens

and NO I did not realize this was a sports forum
I thought it was a general forum
I am new to smugmug - only posted once before

rwmj

johng wrote:

Good question given this is a sports forum. Not trying to knock you, but just wanted to be sure you intended to post the question in a sports forum.

thanks for pointing this out
I'll try to locate a more appropriate spot