I got this lens as a general purpose lens for the D800e. It’s not exactly small and light, but sharp, has VR, and with the zoom range, you can manage almost everything.
I started out wanting the 24-70mm f/2.8, which seems to be a bit sharper if you go by online reviews. But I couldn’t really find room in the budget, and the VR was attractive. So, it’s a bit slower at f/4, but I think I can live with that. Besides, if I want really creamy backgrounds, I have primes to use.
But using this lens just a little, I can say it is a very nice lens. It will sit on my D800e most of the time, and the two make for an attractive couple, both in terms of looks and weight/balance.
It’s a rather chunky lens, and it extends quite a bit at 120mm. And it has a 77mm filter thread, the largest one of all my lenses. Lucky me, my filters are 77mm.
Right now, it sells new for almost 12,000 SEK (from Nikon in Sweden), which is a crazy price! I traded it for some other lenses and got it for about a third of that (including lens hood). That seems much more reasonable.
Of course this is not a cheap lens, nor should it be, I think, with the golden ring, ED glass, and nano coating. However, I’ve come to realize, through personal experience with different lenses, that the old adage that put the money in the lenses, not the camera, is so true. And I have slimmed down my range of lenses, sold and traded lenses and cameras, and are now in a position to say that I now have as good cameras and lenses as I can afford, and going another step is going to cost a fortune (or at least way more than I can afford).
Sample shot below, D800e, this lens at f/4, sooc.
