Real World Lens Review 35-135mm Nikkor Zoom 

Thank you for letting me know!!! You will love this lens. It is incredible.

I like it for a general purpose lens, it is well made and sharp. Glad you like it. 👍📸

This lens makes a great “one and done” travel lens. Maybe stuff a 50mm in the bag in case you break this one (not likely) but that would be a great situation for this lens. 👍📸

@@davidsaylors Yes haha! That's basically my travel kit, a superzoom and my 50mm for low-light. Works like a treat.

You will love this lens then! It is amazing for what we pay for them. I think this is truly one of Nikon’s best kept secrets. 👍📸

😳 Why am I not that fortunate?!?!🤔 Some people have all the luck!!! 😉 Nice find, I really enjoy that lens on a dslr that will autofocus it. It is fine otherwise, but it is a real gem on those cameras. Well done! 👍📸

@@davidsaylors Hehe. The body I found it with sadly doesn't have autofocus, and neither does the F301 I usually shoot with, but my grandfather was a Nikon repairman so I wouldn't be surprised to find more treasures around the house!

Maybe there is some more!!! Wow, it is like an easter egg hunt!!!

Yet one more lens I dont have... haha. I have a couple of the 70-210mm manual lenses and they are real nice... Thanks for watching! That 80-200 f2.8 is supposed to be sweet, but heavy... I see your point there. I have the gen 1 70-200 VR and that thing weighs a ton...

@@davidsaylors I have a really nice copy of the 70-210 f/4. Practically unused, like your 35-135. Still has the little gold oval "Passed" sticker on it. I used it to shoot the Super Blood Wolf Moon recently, and it did a fairly respectable job relative to some of the other photos I've seen posted of it. 210mm is the longest reach I have at the moment, so if you know of something decent but relatively inexpensive in the 300-500mm range (zoom or prime), let me know. I may not use something like that very often, but it could be good to have when you want it!

I have a lens here I plan to test soon that might fit your bill. I don’t know just yet though, so I am reluctant to call it now, but I am hopeful. (500mm mirror reflex f8 prime) so we shall see!

@@davidsaylors I'm actually looking for that type of lens right now. Can't wait to hear your thoughts in it!

Thank you! I really appreciate it when people share great information like this. The push-pull zoom era was unusual wasn’t it? I like them for nostalgia but zoom creep becomes a problem with use. I have really grown to like internal zoom lenses compared now. Thanks again!!

I’m here to help! 😂 probably not though... It works ok for general street photography but it is a 70$ lens... 😬

It should work well for you. Since you have the D610, it will drive the mechanical focus just fine. 👍

@@davidsaylors Do you think I will be compromising the quality of the photograph by putting this older lens on the Nikon D610? Have been considering sending the lens back and just saving up for a brand new Nikon lens. It's going to cost 4 times more though.

It wont compare to the newer technology just to be honest. It will be really good, but the newer coatings and glass have better correction than the older designs. I just like the look of the older glass myself and enjoy the artifacts they bring to the photo...most of the time. 😜

Yep, that was what I came away with to be honest. It actually performed better than I expected...

Consider it’s horrific flaring at smaller apertures if facing toward the sun if that’s a concern to you. Undesirable vignetting wide open which won’t auto correct in LR as it’s a preD lens. Bad pincushion and barrel distortion at all focal lengths except 50mm, also which won’t auto correct in LR. If these things are of little concern then ok. Not too bad for sharpness and micro contrast though. I re tested it today. For its price and zoom range it’s fine, but the distortion is a no go for me. And although I often add a vignette to photos the vignette wide open on this lens is not beneficial and a bit unpleasant.

I didnt get the flaring problem for some reason, but then again, it did have the lens hood installed. The pin cushion and barrel distortion effect is there, that is why I included the shot of the skyline, it shows up pretty good in that one, but for just run-n-gun street photots I thought it looked pretty good to me. Also, I dont use lens correction for these kinds of photos, so the lack of auto correction doesn’t bother me here either. The only thing I really didn’t like was the weight...and the fact that the front half of the lens rotates when you focus.

David Saylors The flare test I did today was a bit extreme, up to the sky with the sun just out of frame. Did exactly the same test with my 24-70 and got zero flare but the 35-135 was horrifying. In practice this is of little concern to me as I keep the light source well out of the frame to get good contrast. Distortion is often not overly noticeable depending on the subject but without auto correction when you import to LR it’s a bit of a downer. The vignetting is not a nice looking vignetting and results in a bit of a bleak image but from about f6 it’s ok so no deal breaker unless shooting wide open. Short of those things it’s pretty ok. Sharpness is decent. Just a shame LR won’t auto correct preD lenses. I’ve never had an issue with the focus turning, the zoom grip is so big it’s no issue, unless using a circ PL. For less than $100 it’s ok but I won’t be using mine, I’ll stick to the 24-70.

David Saylors I will send you the flare test. Two photos, clean one is the 24-70 the other is the 35-135. Tripod shot at f16.

That’s how you get a winner right there! 👍📸

Shoot me an email at georgiaphotog@gmail.com. We will chat a little. ;)

Hi Troy, Peoria has the last camera shop in central Illinois. Try to hang on to it.

Yeah, Chattanooga doesnt have one at all anymore... 😢

That is unfortunate. Maybe since it is out of calibration, you can experiment with it and do some test shots to see what parts work right. Then take it apart and see if you can fix what is wrong and get it working again. Just spitballing here... 👍

yeah, maybe I can fix it, it works for most part, zoomed in left upper side is oof and if I shake it, it sounds a bit clunky, maybe something got unscrewed, it has 0 fungus tho, gonna be my first time taking appart a screw-focus lens .-.

There are a lot of parts in there... ALOT. Video the process so if you run into problems during assembly, you have a reference. That is what I did.

Yes! This lens is excellent for a variety of things. Thank you!!!👍📸

You will be pleasantly surprised when you do. That is going to be a great combo when you get it!

Yeah, the 35-105 is full manual and the 35-135 is autofocus, so that makes the autofocus lens bigger overall, but the other little lens is not as high quality

Yes it will. The D7000 family has the internal focus motor in the body for these lenses. It will seem like a longer focal length though due to the crop sensor. It will seem like a 50-200mm more or less, so you might have to adjust your composition somewhat. Thanks!!!

@@davidsaylors Thanks! I ordered one from ebay to video my micro gounami fry :)

@@davidsaylors found one in ebay for $50 free shipping...will try this to my d7000..

Thank you!!! 👊

@@davidsaylors its about the same temp here and im off today so im going after bald eagles and northern harriers, at least the wind isnt gusting 40mph this morning so maybe I can get in a good shot or 10 :) Have a good day bro!

Good luck!!!

It is a gimmick to be honest. What it does it allows for closer focusing is all really. But it is a cool little feature.

I’m sure there is an adapter that will couple them. It will seem like it is more telephoto due to the sensor size thought. More like a 50 - 180mm or something like that since you are only using the center portion of the lens. It would still look cool though. Thanks!!!

I have not. I would think they perform pretty similar though since they probably have the same technology in them and come from the same era, but that is pure speculation…

@@davidsaylors I’m looking at the AI-S versions… the backstory on the 35-105 (and by extension the 35-135 excuse the pun) is quite interesting.

😂 Good one!!!

Check to see if it is front or back focusing consistently, if it is, it could be fixed with focus calibration in the camera if it is. Also try spot focus too, see if that helps.

@@davidsaylors I don't know if it's back or front focusing. But I have been spot metering and it does not give me a sharp image as I barely zoom into the picture.

@@aristodossantos6997 Then I am not sure. What is you shutter speed? Maybe it is too slow and you are getting camera shake or subject motion blur?

Actually works very good on fx .also fast and beautiful colors. I like D lenses for color. This 35-135 mm lens was my first lens came with second hand camera. I did not know well about this lens ,after this I used many lenses now I can tell perfect. if youcan not focus , something is wrong . Who sell old lenses they can open and play with lens. i bought 35-105 lens even I couldn't use 1 time money gone.U can return lens if u have problem buy other 35-135 . But I can tell if lens clean and af works this lens perfect. I live in Thailand . This lens 50 usd now in Thailand. facebook.com/cesur.ozkurt.7/

Really?!? Figures. Thank you for letting me know! 👊👍😡

Do you have a link?

@@davidsaylors Here you go mate ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-8dX3DPh3Q7A.html

Thank you! I have a report in for review to get it taken down now.

IU went on a personal manhunt for several other you tubers on that channel as it seemed like that was what the whole channel was about. It worked, they shut down the channel! Thank you again for letting me know!

I think it is, but it wont autofocus on it. The D5600 does not have the in-camera focus motor needed to focus this lens. So you could manually focus it though and it would be fine. 👍📸

That is our cat. She thinks she is a mighty hunter! 😂

It is a phenomenon where if you chill water below freezing under crown conditions, it will go below freezing without turning into ice and if you shock it, it forms ice. You can find better explanations on Google though. Just search for super cooled water experiment. 👍

David Saylors thanks I’ll check that out!

Do you mean the Nikon D810? 👍📸

@@davidsaylors that's a great camera I wish I could get one but for now I'm happy with my d7000 until I'll be able to afford one

My first Nikon was a D7000! They are incredible cameras AND they will drive the screw drive focus lenses too!!!

@@davidsaylors I picked up one it was (almost new condition) a couple of months I also picked up a nikkor 35-135 for it I can't wait for it to come in; I took it out to my states renaissance fair I took alot of photos I'm really impressed with the image quality I really love the camera I got iy to replace my Nikon d5100 wich was my first camera