Donald Granger (St. Louis, MO) gives the Nikon 24-70mm 5 out of 5 stars
“I bought this lens (from Amazon) because I felt I needed this focal length range for my business – my 17-55 often was coming up a bit short. After receiving it and using it for a while now I should have been WANTING this lens. It is sharp, focuses close, has great build quality and feels right at home in your hand. I was a bit concerned about the size but it actually feels better than my 17-55 which will probably go up for sale shortly. I am so glad that I waited for this lens and didn’t get the old 28-70. If you are considering a lens in this focal length range hit the ‘add to cart‘ button now.”
D. Bayro gives the Nikon 24-70mm 5 out of 5 stars
“I just sold off my 28-70mm lens by nikon that I’ve had for a few years. It was this lens’ predecessor. I was concerned it may not be worth the $600 or so it would cost to upgrade. I can honestly say I am happy with my purchase. This lens is very sharp throughout its focal length range and aperture range out to the corners. I shoot with a D700 (FX/full-frame) . The only thing it is missing is the VR. With the technology being so prolific in both Nikon and Canon’s lens families, I am surprised they left it out their most useful pro-model lens. Back to the pros: The nano coating seems to be doing its job and preventing any ghosting and lensflares. I re-shot a few pictures that I had taken with my old lens and the flares weren’t present. I tried hard to make it happen but failed. The color rendition is lifelike. The focus is quicker, just as accurate, and more silent than the 28-70mm. The aperture blades are rounded like the new 50mm f/1.4 G lens. I’m not sure if I notice any difference in the out of focus areas when compared to lenses with angled blades. Maybe when I enlarge a print to poster-size, I’ll see a difference. Unlike the 28-70mm, the lens shade can be attached backwards for carrying and storage in the portable nylon case, which I find more user-friendly than the old large vinyl coated cases with buckles. This prevents the shade from rubbing on the lens and causing abrasions when stored together. This lens is narrower but a little longer than the 28-70mm. The narrower barrel makes it a nicer fit in your hand. the added 4mm of wide-angle is noticeable and nice to have. If you are considering an upgrade to this new model, I highly recommend it!”
Kim Andersen (Long Island, NY) gives the Nikon 24-70mm 5 out of 5 stars
“From a raw image quality standpoint, this is the lens all of the reviews claim it to be – truly amazing modern engineering, a work of art. I can’t imagine anyone finding anything substantially wrong with this product: amazing optics, wonderful build quality and so on – it’s absolutely worth every penny Nikon gets for these lenses, assuming you can even find one.
It’s even a good investment…my experience with pro-quality Nikon lenses tells me I can buy one today, use it for several years, then sell it online for at least 80% of what I originally paid. This is the formula that lets me feel comfortable to buy today instead of perpetually waiting for the “next big thing”.
Of course, the person this lens is designed for knows all that. Still, I thought I’d mention a few things to ponder for those of you maybe a little bit on the fence.
First of all, I’m politely going to suggest that for most purposes, this lens may be a bit of overkill for DX cameras. The smaller DX sensor doesn’t really do justice to the images created by this wonderful lens, especially if you’re accustomed to one of the better DX zooms. Sure, if you trade your $200 kit lens for the 24-70, it’ll be night-and-day, but if you stack it up against one of the better DX zooms (for instance, the 16-85 – about a third the price), you might not notice much of a difference in picture quality overall on a DX body – the better DX zooms are pretty good in their own right.
Yes, it will give you the best image you can possibly get on your DX, but if you’re going with this caliber lens, consider investing in an FX D700 (or D3, or D3x, etc) to give this lens the sensor area it deserves.
Related to this point is that some of us are fanatics when it comes to overall image quality. We use those expensive B&W filters, we shoot RAW, we tweak every possible setting, both in the camera and in PhotoShop, we even use the purest inks and best papers in our printers. These are the people who will most appreciate this lens.
Second, keep in mind that 24-70 is a fairly narrow zoom range, and at least for me, this means I tend to end up carrying more equipment around. Might not be an issue for most of you, but it does no good to have the world’s sharpest optics if you’re missing shots because you’re spending all your time changing lenses or because the zoom range isn’t wide or long enough.
Visit your camera store and see firsthand what it’s like to carry (say) the 14-24, 24-70 and 70-200…this is a lot of equipment. A DX body with an 18-200 will feel like a point-and-shoot by comparison (not that I’m recommending the 18-200).
Third is the VR issue others have brought up. Yes, it’s nice to have that f/2.8 for low-light, but it would be that much better if you also had a workable VR system. Thing is, unless you’re willing to make religious use of a tripod, again, you might not be getting as sharp images as the guy with that 16-85 DX on his camera, since his is smaller/lighter and has an effective VR system to boot.
None of this takes away from what Nikon has built here, which is absolutely the benchmark in performance for zoom lenses in this range, no matter what the price. Very highly recommended, so long as you’re happy to live with the issues pointed out above.”
