Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G Ed Lens

This is a lens I had on my photographer wishlist for YEARS; and honestly I should have bought one sooner. This is the lens that I have mounted to my d700 at all times-I never really have a need to use any other kind of lens. The focus speed is great, and does well in low light, and the actual build is sturdy without being too heavy in addition to the camera body. I’d say this is certainly a camera any working photographer should have in their kit!

Falling in love ...

Bought this lens few days ago to be paired with D850. This was an intentional major investment as a serious hobbiest, to secure unquestioned compatibility with Nikon bodies both current and future - also with hope that this lens will be my go to 24-70 lens for next 10+ years.Started off by doing the usual testing at home in the evening and on closer inspection of the resulting images did in fact have some initial concerns about softness. Flat pieces of lined paper at close range, examining micro-focus, etc. Then over next couple of days I tested the combo extensively outdoors, landscape, portrait, etc. Bright daylight to dusk.Now to the all important image quality. First the less good, but not bad, fair amount of distortion and quite strong vignetting wide open, ... MoreBought this lens few days ago to be paired with D850. This was an intentional major investment as a serious hobbiest, to secure unquestioned compatibility with Nikon bodies both current and future - also with hope that this lens will be my go to 24-70 lens for next 10+ years.Started off by doing the usual testing at home in the evening and on closer inspection of the resulting images did in fact have some initial concerns about softness. Flat pieces of lined paper at close range, examining micro-focus, etc. Then over next couple of days I tested the combo extensively outdoors, landscape, portrait, etc. Bright daylight to dusk.Now to the all important image quality. First the less good, but not bad, fair amount of distortion and quite strong vignetting wide open, but easily corrected in post. Tendency for techno-colored ghosts with sun in frame, but thus far small enough so that they are easily erased using spot healing.Now the good/great. The VR is a lifesaver for me as I do tend to have shaky hands from time to time, especially after 2 mile hike with 2000 ft gain in elevation :-), and the VR performs flawlessly. Autofocus is snappiest of any Nikkor and non-Nikor lens I have tested. Solidity of build quality unquestionable. I decided that no micro-focus adjustments were necessary, yay! To put it mildly, over past couple of days testing I may have "fallen in love" with the lens together with D850. There is a beautiful, natural, clear, silky quality to the rendering of landscape scenery. The lens exhibits a fairly uniform sharpness, but with some degree of drop-off in extreme corners. I perceive a very good bite in terms of sharpness center to mid-frame, but to lift corners I have been boosting sharpness in Lightroom from default 40 to 60+ for some images shot at wide end of zoom range. The need to do this has only been perceived if closely inspecting images at 100%, so questionable if I will continue to feel need to do this going forward. Then as for portrait, environmental portrait, etc., who said this lens "is not well suited for portrait"?! Simply not true! Can't be! From the portrait shots I have tried this lens delivers a gorgeous rendering with a depth of color, wide open and at any zoom range. Quality of the transition to out of focus regions is very appealing. Great detail and sharpness of in-focus region is without question.All this being said, I am coming from a D500, and this is my first foray into full-frame and with "top-tier equipment". For what it is worth, I'm blown away. :-)

Great 24-70 zoom lens for professional and general use.

The lens fits my grip and the narrow lens barrel is comfortable to hold and the wide rubberized rings are easy to adjust. The 2-level vibration adjustment is amazing.The lens is pixel peep sharp from f2.8 to f8 at zoom range 24mm to 70mm, except at 50mm that falls off at f2.8. There is a small degradation in sharpness from f11 to f22. This lens is made to be used wide open in natural light!There is noticeable chromatic aberration in out-of-focus high contrast areas, with near areas shifting to red, and far areas shifting to blue.There is an internal focus shift on f-stop down that happens after auto-focus is triggered. The SLR view through the mirror and prism is normally done with the lens wide open at f2.8. When the shutter button is pressed the lens is ... MoreThe lens fits my grip and the narrow lens barrel is comfortable to hold and the wide rubberized rings are easy to adjust. The 2-level vibration adjustment is amazing.The lens is pixel peep sharp from f2.8 to f8 at zoom range 24mm to 70mm, except at 50mm that falls off at f2.8. There is a small degradation in sharpness from f11 to f22. This lens is made to be used wide open in natural light!There is noticeable chromatic aberration in out-of-focus high contrast areas, with near areas shifting to red, and far areas shifting to blue.There is an internal focus shift on f-stop down that happens after auto-focus is triggered. The SLR view through the mirror and prism is normally done with the lens wide open at f2.8. When the shutter button is pressed the lens is auto-focused, then the lens is stopped down to the working aperture and the picture is taken. When the lens is stopped-down, the focus changes slightly.In practice the focus shift on f-stop down will not effect portrait work because the shift on THIS lens is linear and moves away from the focus point. In other words - if the subject's iris is in focus, the lens will keep that iris clear from f2.8 to f16 because of the increased depth of field. Clever optical engineering.There is some focus shift while zooming the lens that will effect the lens in manual focus mode and will require refocusing upon a change to focal length. All zoom lenses in this category change their point of focus on focal length change, but it is best to keep this in mind while in manual mode.

Great sharpness, AF and low-light performance. Distortion.

Prior to this, I owned the Nikkor 14-24 mm f/2.8 and the 70-200 mm f/2.8 ED VR lenses, and am feeling quite miffed that I did not get this one earlier. This glass is in some other category altogether! Extremely fast auto-focus, tremendous low-light performance and fabulous sharpness. I have noticed minor softness, strangely enough, closer to center (but off-center) at 65-70 mm - but I did not do a scientific evaluation at all focal lengths. VR performance is amazing. The attached image was shot handheld with shutter-speed of 1/5th of a second at f/10 in fairly low living room ambient light at night. On the image quality side, there is technical data, and then there is what I see: and while I can't quite put my finger on why, the images look better than those ... MorePrior to this, I owned the Nikkor 14-24 mm f/2.8 and the 70-200 mm f/2.8 ED VR lenses, and am feeling quite miffed that I did not get this one earlier. This glass is in some other category altogether! Extremely fast auto-focus, tremendous low-light performance and fabulous sharpness. I have noticed minor softness, strangely enough, closer to center (but off-center) at 65-70 mm - but I did not do a scientific evaluation at all focal lengths. VR performance is amazing. The attached image was shot handheld with shutter-speed of 1/5th of a second at f/10 in fairly low living room ambient light at night. On the image quality side, there is technical data, and then there is what I see: and while I can't quite put my finger on why, the images look better than those produced by my other glass. The only complaint is that there is loads of distortion, which, I believe, is a known-issue with this lens. Thankfully, most post-processing software will fix that from the lens profile. Highly recommended.

I bought twice. The first time everything was fine, the second time it was not a good experience, the lens is very used, it has many marks of use. and

I bought twice. The first time everything was fine, the second time it was not a good experience, the lens is very used, it has many marks of use. and the accessories are not what they describe. Too bad, I wanted to continue shopping but they didn't leave a good experience.

Incredible Vibration Reduction and sharpness

Bought this lens because I use a mid-range zoom more than any other lens and I wanted the Vibration Reduction because I've got no choice but to hand hold the camera for most of my shots. It's flawlessly sharp and the VR is incredible. If I half depress the shutter button and deliberately shake the camera the image stays locked in the same place in the viewfinder or on the screen. I can move the camera side to side more than it seems possible for the lens to stabilise and the image stays locked in place. To get maximum sharpness set the camera on one of the sharpest Picture Control settings. Landscape or Vivid, for example. If the camera is set on Portrait it will deliberately soften the image. I'm very pleased with it. Wish I'd bought it a few years ago to be quite ... MoreBought this lens because I use a mid-range zoom more than any other lens and I wanted the Vibration Reduction because I've got no choice but to hand hold the camera for most of my shots. It's flawlessly sharp and the VR is incredible. If I half depress the shutter button and deliberately shake the camera the image stays locked in the same place in the viewfinder or on the screen. I can move the camera side to side more than it seems possible for the lens to stabilise and the image stays locked in place. To get maximum sharpness set the camera on one of the sharpest Picture Control settings. Landscape or Vivid, for example. If the camera is set on Portrait it will deliberately soften the image. I'm very pleased with it. Wish I'd bought it a few years ago to be quite honest.

Love it just as much as the OG

I've owned and used the standard 24-70mm 2.8 lens for many years. It was my go to lens for most of my professional work. Over time it developed "zoom grind", so I decided to buy a new one. When presented with the choice of the standard lens or the VR version, i decided to "upgrade" to the VR model. So far it has naturally been everything i loved about to original and more!It's slightly larger and heavier, but not nearly as much as many online/YouTube reviews led me to believe. If you can carry around the original, then you can handle this one too. If you're worried about the weight of your lens, neither 24-70 is right for you. Go buy a prime lens instead.The Vibration Reduction has already proved itself worth the money in my wedding work. I've developed shaky ... MoreI've owned and used the standard 24-70mm 2.8 lens for many years. It was my go to lens for most of my professional work. Over time it developed "zoom grind", so I decided to buy a new one. When presented with the choice of the standard lens or the VR version, i decided to "upgrade" to the VR model. So far it has naturally been everything i loved about to original and more!It's slightly larger and heavier, but not nearly as much as many online/YouTube reviews led me to believe. If you can carry around the original, then you can handle this one too. If you're worried about the weight of your lens, neither 24-70 is right for you. Go buy a prime lens instead.The Vibration Reduction has already proved itself worth the money in my wedding work. I've developed shaky hands over the years, but now i can confidently shoot around 1/50th of a second (when i have to) whereas i dare not go below 1/100th with the original (I could go down to 1/60th but it took a great deal of concentration and effort.)I'm not sure if there is any difference in the glass used, but I have zero complaints about sharpness. Like i said, i have no complaints about the OG 24-70, but the images I've created (from portraits to landscapes) have been absolutely beautiful, and dare i say just a tad bit "more better".I've also heard people claim the auto focus is "too loud". But i find that to be a complete myth (at least for photography purposes). The active vibration reduction is noticeably quieter than the 70-200mm 2.8.Whether or not it is worth the extra money depends on your budget. But if you can afford it, I would absolutely get this lens over the non VR version.

Out of focus and soft focusing.

I have rented for Lens Rentals and was confident in the equipment I received. I photographed two events and decided to purchase the lens prior to uploading and seeing the images that were taken. I was surprised to see any are out of focus. I utilized the lens for three additional sessions since then, wondering if it was user error, and I am finding that most images are soft in focus. It seems that when zoomed in to 70mm with a closer subject , the images are clear, but wide shots and distant subjects are back focused.

Stellar Experience

I had an absolutely stellar experience with LensRentals for a wedding event that I shot last weekend. From start to finish, their service was simply flawless. The rented lens arrived extremely well-packaged and in pristine condition, ensuring the highest quality shots throughout the entire event. The lens itself was a game-changer, allowing me to capture stunning, crisp images with unparalleled clarity and depth. I am extremely impressed with LensRentals, and will definitely be returning for my future photography needs!

VERY nice lens!

Renting a couple of these to decide what to spend my money on as a permanent addition to my collection. I wanted a "faster" lens while keeping at least a mid-zoom for my D7100.I'm not a professional, just an enthusiastic hobbyist but this Nikon lens is a REALLY nice lens, I love the pictures it produces! It also reliably focuses exactly where my camera is targeting every (a problem I had with the similar Tamron lens in autofocus-mode).The worst things I can say is its a bit long, wouldn't fit in my camera backpack (too long) and its a touch heavy if you were going to do a long photoshoot. I find myself frequently setting it up closer to f/4 rather than f/2.8 to get a slightly wider depth of field but both of those wider apertures work wonders for indoor non-flash ... MoreRenting a couple of these to decide what to spend my money on as a permanent addition to my collection. I wanted a "faster" lens while keeping at least a mid-zoom for my D7100.I'm not a professional, just an enthusiastic hobbyist but this Nikon lens is a REALLY nice lens, I love the pictures it produces! It also reliably focuses exactly where my camera is targeting every (a problem I had with the similar Tamron lens in autofocus-mode).The worst things I can say is its a bit long, wouldn't fit in my camera backpack (too long) and its a touch heavy if you were going to do a long photoshoot. I find myself frequently setting it up closer to f/4 rather than f/2.8 to get a slightly wider depth of field but both of those wider apertures work wonders for indoor non-flash photos being able to use a fast enough shutter speed to reliably freeze motion for a sharp capture every time. If this one was a bit shorter to fit in my existing camera bag, I'd be sold.All in all, I'm extremely satisfied with the results, and its an incredible lens I am glad I had the opportunity to use. I've been having an absolute blast testing it out on our pets in low-to-medium indoor lighting getting shots I never could reliably do before.