AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

I´ve had this lense for six months. Wonderful build quality at the expense of weight. Too heavy for a neck strap so I went to a shoulder strap that handles the weight just fine. I do find that I´m at 70mm most of the time and wishing for more reach. So if I had to do it all over again, I would opt for the smaller and more discrete 85m 1.4 for the ultimate in bokeh with less weight. And for those times when I´m willing to carry a big lense, I would go to the 70-200 VR for greater reach while being equally sharp. But that´s just me. The 24-70 was very useful for street photography on a recent trip to Havana though of course there is some barrel distortion at the widest setting. Also a battery grip helps balance the weight of the lense on my D600.

I have been wanting lens for some time. I just couldn´t justify the cost. I was about to buy a Tamron, but looked to see if Nikon had a refurbished one, Low and behold Nikon did and for the same price as a new Tamron. all i can say is I´m glad I bit the bullet and got it. took some photos of a fruit basket on my kitchen table under 60 watt house lights. I was blown away by the sharp colors under such bad lighting. I can´t wait to use it this weekend and go on vacation with it

I´ve used this lens for weddings and landscapes where it performs pretty good. It´s not as sharp as it should be though. I´m extremely disappointed in how badly it it performs for sports. The lens focuses quickly but ´´hunts´´ to the background and nothing is in sharp focus. I´m extremely disappointed in Nikon for not upgrading this lens! I need a high quality lens in this focal range but this is a big disappointment! Whenever possible, I use the 70-200mm f/2.8 on my Nikon D700 which is very sharp and does not ´´hunt´´ to the background.

Its a great lens and you can get a great shoots with fast autofocus BUT when you pay round 2,000 $ and the lens not focusing after 1 Month of purchase for no reason that´s mean there is something wrong in the quality or may be you can called it a bad luck!!.
I sent it back to the dealer to repair it and they did it right.

Let me first say the 24-70mm is a great lens, but here is a story that may explain some of the lower rated reviews on this site. I purchased this lens to replace an 18-135mm DX kit lens, as I am in the process of upgrading my equipment.

I decided to run some tests to see what impact the ISO speed (D7100) had on noise. A tripod was used and shutter speeds were as low as 2 seconds (ISO 100). After running the tests with the 24-70mm lens I ran the same tests with the 18-135mm kit lens to see the difference. To my surprise the sharpness of the photographs was better with the kit lens.

The following day the tests were re-run in much brighter light and higher shutter speeds. The results this time were the reveres. The 24-70mm lens was sharper and with better color saturation. This is a heavy lens, compared to the kit lens, and the lack of sharpness at low speeds had to be due to tripod movement. With higher shutter speeds tripod movement was eliminated.

This is a great lens, but the extra weight means you will need to use reasonable shutter speeds (1/250) for good results. Don´t be surprised if you find yourself buying a heavy duty tripod for lower speed work.

Compared to my kit lens the 24-70mm lens has sharper focus, better color saturation and makes an ideal everyday lens. The investment was worth it for me. Just make sure you have a decent neck strap to carry the extra weight. Maybe Nikon should include one with the lens ;-)

How does this lens not have 200 TIPA awards, 200 EISA awards, etc.? It´s simply THE BEST in its category. I use it 90% of the time on my D800. The build quality, and most importantly the image quality is superb.

I wouldn´t even think about shooting an event without this lens. It is one of three lenses I must have for my wedding shoots. It is just unbelievably great. Before I could afford this lens I rented it to do several shoots because it wasn´t the same shooting without it. I´m in love with it!!!! This thing is so versatile!!!!

Please see my reviews of the 12-24mm and the 70-200mm for context. I go back and forth between my choice of ´always on´ lens -- it is usually this one but it might be the 12-24mm or the 50mm 1.4D.

Regardless this is an easy lens to keep available since the range provides coverage which works for quick party snaps, animal portraits, industrial demonstration and even travel.

The lens is constructed as you would expect a fine Nikon lens to be constructed and the controls fall where they should. In addition it focuses fast and, as would be expected, it is tack-sharp.

One more thing: because of the resolving capabilities of the D800 this lens is a nice light option to go wildlife shooting.

Great mid range zoom. Goes hand in hand with the 70-200.