issa2006.

I have the Sigma 17-70 2.8 and love it for indoor event photos.Very sharp.

AndyH Loc: Massachusetts and New Hampshire

The Nikon 18-70 is my preferred walkabout lens. Good at both ends and a reasonable working f-stop.

Due to my job, I do a lot of work at the wide end, and have always been surprised by the relative lack of distortion and softness. If I had only one lens to use, I'd probably take this one over a longer range but softer model.

YMMV, of course, but for me this is a great one.

Andy

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

I bought the variable aperture 18-70mm as my first lens when I got started in digital photography in 2006. Used it on a Fuji S3 Pro. But neither of those lasted too long. (The camera was too slow and clunky, and the lens never seemed to be even acceptably sharp). The 18-70 was very nice from a size and weight perspective, but the extending part was never tight and secure against the back portion...there was always a "wiggle" between the two segments. If I could find a copy of this lens with better "fit & finish," I'd consider buying another one for those times when I need to travel small and light, but not for any critical uses.

My solution was to replace the 18-70 with the 17-55mm f2.8 which has already been mentioned above. This is a Gold Ring lens built to very high construction and performance standards. It is still my primary DX lens today. But be aware that it is very close in both size and weight to the non-VR 24-70mm lens, due to its almost all metal construction and relatively complex optical design. I've not used it on anything beyond a D300, but see no reason that it would not work fine with newer cameras. It does not have VR, but I've never missde it at those focal lengths.

Good luck as you continue your search and make your decision.

latebloomer Loc: Topeka, KS

You might want to consider looking at a Tamron 24-70. The reviews are outstanding, even when compared to Nikon and other lenses. It is F 2.8 and has some weight because of the glass. It is an everyday lens for my D500. It is not light.

photogeneralist Loc: Lopez Island Washington State

I cannot speak about the other lenses but I can tell you that my Sigma 17-70 is now on the cusp between superb and excellent.
After using it for a while with dwindling enthusiasm, I finally noticed that it's focus was erratic. When it came back from sigma repair, it was a changed lens with focus reliably spot on and with improved IQ.
They even somehow deceased it's chromatic aberration. I don't know what Sigma service did, but whatever it was really really worked. Having bought the lens used, the total of my cost plus the fee for Sigma's service was still almost $100 less than it would have cost to buy it new.

Please note that in camerapapi's post above he references that 70 mm focal length would do a good job on portraits. That is a proven rule of thumb for a full frame camera but about 47 mm on a 1.5 crop sensor produces about the same effective field of view as a 70 mm on a full frame camera body. Thus, with a 1.5 crop sensor body, a 50 mm becomes an almost ideal portrait lens.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

It's pretty much impossible to make recommendations without knowing what camera you want to use the lenses on, what you want to shoot and how you want to shoot it.

You also need to be more careful about your descriptions. For example, the Nikkor 16-85mm VR is not an f/3.5 lens. It's an f/3.5 to f/5.6 variable aperture zoom. The Nikon 18-70mm and Sigma 17-70mm are both also variable aperture lenses, too.

There's a BIG difference between that type of lens and an f/2.8 non-variable aperture lens like the Sigma 18-50mm you mention.

You have to be VERY careful about buying used lenses on eBay. Better know EXACTLY what you are looking at and limit to sellers with lots of positive feedback who offer right of return. You'll rarely get a warranty. It's MUCH safer to spend a little more and buy used from an established and proven reliable store like KEH, Adorama, B&H, Hunt's, and a few others. Usually those stores offer 90 days or better warranty, as well as 14 day right of return. You also can trust their description since they are pros at evaluating gear and have the means of properly testing it. Too often on eBay the sellers will say "unable to test, don't have a camera to try it on" or similar and give you a "30 seconds or 30 feet, whichever comes first" warranty.

The reason it's important for us to know what camera you want to use the lenses on is because there may be compatibility issues. I don't know of any problems with the specific zooms you mention, except that they are all DX/crop designs which would be inappropriate for a full frame/FX camera. But there may be things to think about... such as D3000 and D5000-series Nikon cameras requiring AF-S or, with later models, AF-P lenses to be able to autofocus. Nikkor AF lenses (some of which are still in production) are manual focus only on those cameras. Some third party lenses are too (such as the Tokina 100mm macro).

geodowns Loc: Yale, Michigan

It was actually the first one I was chasing down on EBay but the cost was too high unless you found one that the zoom would not move. I actually printed direction to fix that. But still looking at it.

geodowns Loc: Yale, Michigan

Like I mention before, I was looking at them with the cost for that goes with it. Even consider getting one with a sticking zoom, got instruction to fix that.

chrisg-optical Loc: New York, NY

The Angry Photographer has recommended these DX lenses on one of his many YT videos:

DX Lenses
80-200mm 2.8D ED - Just don't use it for portraits because of Iron face
18-200mm DX - One lens that covers a large spectrum
12-24 DX - Good Wide Zoom
135mm 3.5 OR 2.8 - Great glass and good for portraits
60mm 2.8 - Bee's Knees, Macro/portrait/general you're an idiot if you don't have this.
35mm 1.8 DX - Chinese BUT still fantastic and CHEAP. Everyone must own one of these.
The following are optional:
70-300 ED VR - Cheap, Silent AF, has VR, Sharp!!
10.5 Fisheye DX - fun fun fun and works fine on FX in APC-S mode
24-85 FX VR ED - underrated, Cheap, Tack Sharp

geodowns Loc: Yale, Michigan

Thank Jim... You sound like my good friend Tom, he is an GM engineer, retired now.. always putting math to my question! But I really appreciate your input. I looked at FX lenses thinking to aventually getting a D700. But I never though about the DX sensor and using FX lenses on them the way you do, thats very interesting. I have a D300 but I sold a D100 and sold my 18-105mm lens with it. So now I need a good lense. Using an FX lense I need to be down at 35mm (DX) or less at the wide end since DX start at 16 to 18mm. OK, I need a DX/FX conversion chart to figure this out.... Thank for the home work, I find this very interesting.

geodowns Loc: Yale, Michigan

That something I keep thinking about. I will do that.

geodowns Loc: Yale, Michigan

I used to have a 18-70mm with my D100, took great photos all over France. But I got stupid and sold it for a 18-105mm vr just because of the vr thing I wanted to try. Now wish I still had the 18-70mm. I later got a D300 and keep going. But than I sold the D100 but had to make a bundle with the 18-105mm and a flash and stuff just to sale it. So now I could go back to the 18-70mm, but the 16-85mm vr sound better, cost more and everyone says its sharp. I though about using FX lenses also.... thank for your input.

geodowns Loc: Yale, Michigan

Also, I do street, cruises, scenery and such.

jcspics

Happy to help anyone doing serious pre-purchase research because rushing any purchase = eventual buyer's remorse. Getting the right tool the first time beats having to spend monies, time, and poor results which always means you end up spending more.

That's the basis of my favorite homegrown motto: A smart person learns from their mistakes... A wise person learns from the mistakes of others.

You sound confident in your lens repair skills. I've looked into getting the tools of that trade to de-fungus an 80-200mm f/2.8 that sat unused in a dark camera bag way too long. BTW that (heavy) Nikon lens is an EXCELLENT telephoto that's typically affordable, professional grade, rugged, and super fast Nikon glass.

Here's a link to a great site that explains FX/DX Crop Factor with more information than most people want but they are thorough and have equations that will give you the numbers you are looking for.

https://www.scantips.com/lights/cropfactor.html

Hope that helps and more information is usually better than the alternative...

-Jim

My OLD D1H with that 80-200mm lens

geodowns Loc: Yale, Michigan

Sorry.. I was trying to save space in my description of lenses. I figure everyone knows any lense of 3.5 always end up somewhere else like 5.6 or else. My camera is a D300, old and obsolete as everyone says. But its all I have for now. Sold a D100 with 18-105mm and other stuff to get a better lens, so I need a lens now. 35mm and short zoom is a good start.