Nikkor 24-70 Wide Angle Lens Review

“Spectacular”

First a complaint about Amazon. My lens arrived “packed” in a larger box. The box was large enough that the Nikon box was bouncing around in it. The Nikon box showed the results of the bouncing. I’m sure (I hope anyway) that the lens didn’t suffer as a result of all the bouncing around.

The lens is all I thought it would be. Fast fast focus on my D3. Sharp all over. Colors are spectacular. Sharpness is as high as any lens I own and maybe sharper.
Easy handling even tho, to me, the zoom ring is a little close to the body (same complaint I had about the 17-55).
I love the thicker hood. It feels like you could drop it on it and it would provide some real protection.

Upon receiving the lens I ran out back and started snapping pictures. Right off I could see the deep rich colors and sharp details.
I know it’s not a macro but this gecko liked posing for the camera so I got as close as the lens would let and snapped away while he posed for me. Zooming into the pictures you could see wonderful colors and rich details in the little fella. Oooh and aaahs from the family showing off the pictures.

Very happy with the lens.
Not so happy with Amazon shipping.
Come on guys get it together and put a few peanuts or something in there to keep things from rattling around.

Nikon 24-70 f2.8 Review

“Wow!!!!!”

I’ve had the Nikon 70-200 f/2.8 for a while now, and it gave me such a problem! The pictures that lens took were so beautiful and sharp that I couldn’t bring myself to use any other lens. Caused such difficulty when I wanted to take portraits. I had to step so far back that, frequently, I would miss the shot! Went to my son’s pre-school graduation. The kids were all standing together, perfect opportunity for a picture. But I had to get so far away that all the other moms with their point and shoots were walking in front of me and blocking my shot! This happened time and time again–at school events, little league games, swim meets, and on and on… The Nikon 24-70 has solved my problem! Finally, a lens to compete with, and possible surpass, my beloved 70-200! It produces pictures that are every bit as beautiful as those produced by the 70-200. Indeed, they are indiscernable. So now, I can get right up there with the other moms and take wonderful portraits of my kids. Only problem now is that now I want a 2nd body so I can pull out this lens for portraits, and quickly switch to the 70-200 for action shots.

This is a great lens, and a perfect compliment to the Nikon 70-200. Unless you’re into landscape photography (which I’m not), those two lenses should be all you’ll need.

Nikon 24-70 2.8 Review

“Best zoom lens in this range ever!?”

This is perhaps the best standard zoom ever made!

After a short wait and immediate purchase of this lens, I reluctantly retired my Canon DC 17-55 2.8 IS and set aside my Canon 24-70 2.8(along with the 5D). The latter is an excellent lens but not quite this one. This Nikon houses even more resolution and lower CR for starters and is one of the main reasons which urged me to purchase a D3 and the (D700 en route). It generally tops all my Nikon F2.8 prime lenses within this range. The Nikon 14-24 is even more amazing but that’s another review.

I must say that I’m also a VR (IS) junkie – given that I can probably handhold this lens or my Canon 24-70 down to approx. 1/20th to 1/15th of a sec. and get a sharp result most of the time given the weight of these lenses perhaps offers an extra stop for hand-held all in itself. With VR (or IS) I can handhold down to as low as 1/4 second and get a sharp result (see the first shot from my Hawaii gallery (Dusk to Moonlight and Palmtrees in Seanlin.net – under journey) which was handheld at 1/2th second!! using the Canon 17-55 2.8 IS. VR is a no-brainer for anyone who travels and does scenery and architectural work. However, there are at lease 3-4 reasons that Nikon chose to not involve VR in this lens. As one of the reviewers stated as comment to the “Rippoff” review by Drifter earlier, professionals (i.e. photojournalist and wedding photographers etc.) usually don’t need VR in this focal range. VR does little to nothing for moving subjects and for those who occasionally need to go down to 1/8 sec. or lower in this line of work, they’ll use a tripod). Second, VR adds more weight to this already 2 LB lens. Third, VR will drain more battery power. Fourth, VR will add at least a couple if not several hundred more $$ to the existing $1699 price tag. So with that said, this is perhaps the “perfect zoom lens” up until now. I truly regret for those who received an imperfect copy. For more info. see one of my trusted review sources – http://www.photozone.de.

Nikon 24-70 Wide Angle Review

“rock solid at a ridiculous premium”

Performance wise, it’s a 5 star. For the price, you get some nearly the performance for fraction of the price. As an example, the 35-70mm f/2.8 D.

Let’s face it, if you got the money and or need something like this as a pro, this is it. For amateurs, it’s hard to justify blowing $1700 for this puppy.

It’s big, almost as big as the 80-200mm f/2.8 D telephoto zoom. It’s built solid and focus fast, faster than the 80-200mm. It does wide angle at 24mm, which is terrific, and is the best Nikon got for wide to standard zoom. It doesn’t have VR, so the breathing and weight lifting exercises come in handy. It also is as heavy as it looks; 2 more pounds to the body for a grand total of nearly 4 lbs before any other attachments. Nano-crystal coating? Sounds good to me.

If I were shooting portraits, the 35-70mm is lighter and focus fast enough for me and balances better. This thing belongs on a D3 or a D300 with a battery grip for proportion and balance.

Would I recommend it? Not for everyone given the price to performance. Is it a rock solid high performance lens? You bet.

Nikon AF 24-70mm Review

One Lens for Vacations, Portraits and Fun

I know what you’re thinking: Seventeen hundred bucks or more for a mere midrange zoom?

There is nothing “mere” about this zoom!

Wide open, Nikon’s new workhorse is sharper than most prime lenses. That’s right — I shoot all day long at f/2.8 (I like resulting blurry backgrounds) and never, never lack for sharpness. Being able to shoot f/2.8 at night doesn’t stink, either.

Colors are vibrant, the bokeh (out of focus areas) is creamy, and you’ll see ghosts and flares *only* when shooting straight into the sun. And I’ve never seen an autofocus do its thing so quickly or with such accuracy. I’m catching a lot of shots I used to miss.

No lens is perfect. This one has exactly three drawbacks.

1. It’s pretty darn big for a midrange, so sometimes I miss Nikon’s compact 18-200mm zoom. And that’s without the massive lens hood in place. Snapped on, a big lens gets even bigger.

2. The zoom ring is too close to the camera body. I’ve only been shooting with it for a few days, but I keep grabbing the manual focus ring by mistake. There’s a learning curve here, and I’m not yet over it.

3. It’s in short supply. Good luck finding this beast at the suggested retail price.

On my D300 however, it’s as perfect as a giant, expensive hunk of glass can get. It takes all my standard 77mm filters, and its DX-effective 35-105mm (approximate) zoom range makes it a great “walk around” lens. It goes wide enough for most landscape shots, and zeroes right in on my two-year-old’s face.

But mostly I can’t get over the sharpness, the color, and the responsiveness of the autofocus. I probably paid too much for mine, but it was worth every penny.