Very good vintage Nikon/Nikkor, AF, 28-85mm, F3.5-4.5 lens, made in Japan.

Great condition, no body scratches or lens knicks. There is no internal dust or fungus. Includes lens cap and body cover. NEW, Low price

This early AF lens was my favorite midrange zoom. What makes this ordinary lens so special? Simple: It's almost as sharp as the Nikkor AI-s manual focus fixed-focal length lenses it replaces, especially wide open where I often need to use it. It also autofocuses very accurately on my F100 without any of the sharpness-robbing errors I see with many of the newer designs. Therefore I actually get all the sharpness of which this lens is capable, unlike the others that may test well in some magazine's lab, but not focus quite right in the field on your AF camera.

It's a little larger and heavier (510g or 18 oz) than the newer lenses. I suspect that's how it gets its superior performance; it's always easy to make a good lens if you don't have to make it small. It also doesn't try to do too much with a mere 3:1 zoom range. All else being equal, one always loses performance as one attempts to design a lens with a wider zoom range or smaller size.

Specifications

It takes 62mm filters in its plastic threaded front.

It has fifteen elements in eleven groups.

It has a seven-bladed diaphragm stopping down to f/22 to f/28, depending on focal length setting.

It focuses to 2.8 feet at all focal lengths. It gets to 10" in the manually-focused macro mode only at 28mm. This does allow some fun photos not possible otherwise.

It takes an HB-1 hood I've never used.

Its 2.8" (71mm) around by 3.5" (89mm) long and weighs 19 oz (540g).

Recommendations

This is your lens if you want great sharpness in a zoom at a good price used. This lens is no longer made today. In December of 2004 I ran across one at Ritz Camera Outlet, LV Nevada for $499.95 complete with box and warranty.

They are very rare and hard to find now in this condition.