Camera Labs

Well after many months of lusting over this lens, I finally bought it and it arrived today. Here are my thoughts;

It comes in the usual gold Nikon box, but this time has a gold line around the top of the box to remind us of what we've got. It comes with hood, caps, and a carrying case. The hood is really quite large. As the lens focuses internally, when the hood is attatched, the length of the lens doesn't seem to extend, although it does a bit, inside the hood.

Weight/size;
Compared to 18-70 DX, the 24-70 weighs a little over double, at around 900 grams. It'salso heavier than the 70-300VR by 100 grams or so. As I am currently using it on the D80, it feels a little front heavy, but as the lens is quite slim, it does make it a bit more comforable is practice. As far as size goes, this will really be a pain to fit into my Lowepro Slingshot 100AW when mounted on my D80. With the hood reversed, I can pretty much fit it into the bag vertically, with just the 35mm prime next to it. Not much room for the 70-300VR. Time for a new bag?


Coverage;
Between the 18-70 and 24-70, that little bit does make a difference. But not enough to make me regret going for this over the 17-55DX.

Lens characteristics; Bokeh is very nice, but being a wide to mild tele lens, it obviously isn't in the same league as a 70-200 f2.8 VR or an 85mm prime for example. Wide open, in a shot with a sunny day and bare trees against a sky, there is some purple fringing/ca, butI don' go around taking photos of trees against a bright sky, wide open, so it's not really an issue.

Sharpness is definetly a big improvement over both my other zoom lenses. Not in the same league as my 35 F2D at F4 of course, but not far off, which is impressive.

Focusing speed is also a vast improvement over both my other zoom lenses, which is nice. It really does give me more of a reason to keep my D80 as a backup, when I eventually go FF.

Here a shot of the lens next to the 18-70 and 70-300VR



One of the lens itself;



Some sample shots;















and 100% crop of the above image;



All in all, I'm happy, for now

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I've upped my Iso, now up yours.
Nikon D700, Nikon D80, Micro Nikkor 105 f2.8 AI-S,Nikon 85mm 1.8D, Nikon 50mm 1.8D, Nikon 35mm F2D, Nikon 16-35 f4 VR, Nikon 24-70mm F2.8 AF-S, Nikon 70-200VRII, Nikon 70-300mm VR, 300mm f2.8 AI IF ED, SB-800, SB-900. Noiseware pro,NIK Dfine, Nik Colour Effex, Nik Sharpener Pro

Thanks for Sharing Greg! & I know you really HAPPY with this new Toy! But isn't that way too heavy once it mount on your D80? & Can you show the pic of your new 24 70 mount on your D80 ?

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Soon.....

No, i've been working as a wedding photographers assistant for a little over 3 months, and I'm used to the heavier stuff. My 70-300VR with the D80 is only 100 grams lighter so it isn't that bad really. I could do, just need to find another camera haha

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I've upped my Iso, now up yours.
Nikon D700, Nikon D80, Micro Nikkor 105 f2.8 AI-S,Nikon 85mm 1.8D, Nikon 50mm 1.8D, Nikon 35mm F2D, Nikon 16-35 f4 VR, Nikon 24-70mm F2.8 AF-S, Nikon 70-200VRII, Nikon 70-300mm VR, 300mm f2.8 AI IF ED, SB-800, SB-900. Noiseware pro,NIK Dfine, Nik Colour Effex, Nik Sharpener Pro

Looks like a sweat deal to me

My guess is that you cannot be disapointed! Thanks for sharing

p.s how is the range on the cropped body?

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My Flickr

It's pretty good, but I am so used to shooting with my 70-300VR, that this lens is definetly not something I'll be using for street and candid stuff lol as it's not long enough. Next on the list, 70-200 F2,8 lol, maybe not

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I've upped my Iso, now up yours.
Nikon D700, Nikon D80, Micro Nikkor 105 f2.8 AI-S,Nikon 85mm 1.8D, Nikon 50mm 1.8D, Nikon 35mm F2D, Nikon 16-35 f4 VR, Nikon 24-70mm F2.8 AF-S, Nikon 70-200VRII, Nikon 70-300mm VR, 300mm f2.8 AI IF ED, SB-800, SB-900. Noiseware pro,NIK Dfine, Nik Colour Effex, Nik Sharpener Pro

nice piece of kit there, i wish i could afford nice glass like that and the 70-200 f2.8. have fun with it and i look forward to more pics soon!!

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Nikon D80
AF-S 18-135mm f3.5-5.6 Nikon {} AF 50mm f1.8 Nikon {} AF-S 70-300mm f4.5-5.6 VR ED Nikon {} Nikon AF-S 105mm VRII f2.8 Micro ED N
MB-D80 battery grip {} 4GB Sandisk extreme SDHC {} Manfrotto 109xb & 804rc2head {} Lowepro Primus AW {} SB800
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/27747651@N04/

Sweet lens mate!

ohh i'd get a 70-200 f/2.8 before a new camera, its saved my backside as an assistant wedding photographer - 200mm @ f/2.8 in a church is priceless1

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Canon EOS 5DmkII + BG-E6 + Canon EOS 40D + BG-E2N + Canon EOS 33
Canon 17-40 F/4L USM + Canon 24-70 F/2.8L USM + Canon 28mm F/1.8 USM + Canon 70-200 F/2.8L USM IS + Canon 85mm F/1.8 USM
Canon Speedlite 580EX II + Canon Speedlite 540EZ + 2 x Nikon SB-80DX
Cactus V2s Wireless Trigger - 5 x Cactus V2s Wireless Reciever

MY FLICKR!

Very nice Greg, congrats on the new lens!

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Hardware: Nikon D80, Sigma 10-20mm, Nikon 18-55 mm VR, 55-200 mm VR, 105mm f/2.8D Micro, 35mm f/1.8G, SB-600, Manfrotto/Bogen 190CXPRO3 + 468MGRC2
Software: Aperture, Photomatix, GIMP

My Flickr Page

The guy I shoot with wants me getting gear ready and the sort of thing. Not taking photo's that he can't do anything with. I'm not that phased. The D80's Iso performance is something I've got a bit tired of to be honest. I'd rather use the D700 at Iso 3200 with my 70-300VR for a while, and be able to use it with the 24-70 and get crisp clear shots at 1600 , than be stuck with my D80 only wishing I could use Iso 1600 and get clean results in low light. I know the lens makes more sense though. I'll see what I get paid and decide then.

Thanks Sync.

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I've upped my Iso, now up yours.
Nikon D700, Nikon D80, Micro Nikkor 105 f2.8 AI-S,Nikon 85mm 1.8D, Nikon 50mm 1.8D, Nikon 35mm F2D, Nikon 16-35 f4 VR, Nikon 24-70mm F2.8 AF-S, Nikon 70-200VRII, Nikon 70-300mm VR, 300mm f2.8 AI IF ED, SB-800, SB-900. Noiseware pro,NIK Dfine, Nik Colour Effex, Nik Sharpener Pro