D100 & 35-70 2.8 soft focus problems

[Lorenzo_Bevilaqua]

I just switched to a Nikon D100 from my Kodak DCS camera, and so far I think I love it. I am having focus problems with my 35-70mm lens, however. Granted, I am shooting at least half the time in low-light conditions (television studio) at f/2.8 at 100th of a second, which may have something to do with it, but my 80-200 2.8 seems sharper under those conditions. Anyone else have any thoughts on this lens? Is it just not that sharp a lens? It seemed to work fine with my film cameras.

[Tom_Parkes]

It's not that sharp a lens! It's an old design which was never a match in terms of sharpness for the 80-200 of any vintage.

Tom

[Tom_Meyer]

I disagree with this assessment of the 35-70 f2.8. I have been using it for years and after much experience with it, as well as the 17-35 f2.8, 80-200 f2.8 afs and afd, and the 12-24, the 35-70 f2.8 is the sharpest of them all. Maybe I just got a good one. My camera is the Fuji S2. I use the 35-70 for everything from product shots to portraits on location and in studio. All the portraits on my website (through the print ordering link) from the Northside Foundation Ball were made with that lens... t

[WarrenDisbrow]

The issue at hand here is that the lens is an older design. First off, they are very sharp, if anyone gets a 35-70 F2.8 that isn't sharp on a film body, there is something wrong with the lens. Digital pick-ups require that the light rays hitting them are basically parallel and that they hit the sensor at a 90 degree angle. Many of the older lens designs for film don't accomplish this. I have noticed most of my older lenses don't perform as well on my D100 as they do on film. The newer designs like the 80-200 AFS, 70-200 VRG, 18-35 etc do perform better on the digital bodies as they take these requirements into account.