How bad is 24-120 VR?

Hello all,

I have a D700 as well as D90. So far I am using D700 commercial and studio work, while D90 is my walk around/travel camera. Though D90 is a great body, D700 still performs better and it is noticeable to me. So I was thinking of switching to D700 completely.

Problem is that all the lenses I have for D700 are top pro lenses: 70-200, 24-70. They are heavy and expensive. While D90 has consumer grade lenses - 16-85 and so on. If I was to travel with D700 I need a lighter/cheaper lens set. 24-120 seems like a perfect range, but lens is supposed to be pretty bad as far as the reviews.

I would like to hear from 24-120 users what they think about this lens for real world shooting. And more generally if you travel with FX camera what lenses do you take? And if you are a professional bodybuilder or travel for national geographic, do not need to list all the lenses you take.

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Eugene
http://picture.stanford.edu/Photo