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Nikons 24 - 70 f/2.8 , can only be improved by changing it to an f/2 vr , period. Just holding it in hand - beautifully designed & yes of course tac sharp w/extremely fast a-focus. We shoot both Canon & Nikon's flagship cameras in our studio operation : I must say the workmanship on the Nikon is superior to Canon's counterpart , In My Opinion.
Gave up the 18-200mm's convenience for the 24-70mm's quality. I noticed an immediate difference in image quality with this lens. It's fast to focus, sharp at all apertures, and just a plain joy to use. Only issue with it is its weight, although it's balanced on Nikon's larger bodies.
I actually replaced the original Nikon 28-70mm f/2.8 lens with this one because I like to shoot wide open, and the new version is a tad better at maximum aperture, and has less tendency to flare. It's about the same weight as "The Beast" however, so there is no savings there. Because of its better performance wide open, I am using this more than I did the old lens. My cost difference was $500 after I sold the original lens, so I consider it to be a wonderful investment.
I use with my D3 and love, love, love this lens. Beautiful optics and excellent sharpness, even at 2.8. Bokeh is great though not as good as the 85 1.4 or 70-200 2.8 VR2. Only real downsides in my opinion are (1) lack of VR and (2) distortion that is, in my view, a little bit excessive at extreme ends. However given that this is easily rectified in Photoshop if one needs/wants to be picky about it, not a big deal at all.I would highly recommend this as a mainstay for any serious Nikon shooter and it is one of two of my primary use lenses (the other being the 70-200 Vr2).
Night performance: Astounding. I hate fuzzy lenses and fuzzy edges. Less obvious is its operational speed; it focuses incredibly fast and silently. It is big, heavy, and awesome. Its geometry is much better than any of my other zoom lenses and maybe even better than my 28mm prime; though of course, a 28mm prime lens is tiny compared to this beast. No more inadvertent vignetting because your petal-hood has rotated by itself.
There's a pushbutton to unlock it.
See the photo of trees and stars in the user gallery.Its mass actually helps stabilize the camera, so I don't use my monopod nearly as often as I used to.
This lens works.
If you are considering this lens you have probably been inspired by its sharpness or its photographic speed (f2.8).
If I take a photo of a group of people, I want the people on the edges to be as sharp as the ones in the middle, and they want it too.
It has become my number one lens mounted most of the time.
Don't break your lens hood trying to get it off.
My lens is as perfectly rectilinear at widest angle as I can detect.
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