New 24-85 vs 16-85

You DO understand how opinions are on the internet, right? Most people are simply parroting what they read somewhere and have no actual experience with the object in question.

The lenses notorious for sucking dust are those that extend and retract quite a bit when zooming. The 17-55 is NOT one of those. My 17-55 pretty much lives on my D200 body and I have NEVER had to clean the sensor -- NEVER. That's after 70,000+ images. Yes, a good many of those were with the 70-200VR and 85/1.4 but I'll say 85% were with the 17-55.

The only sensor I have had to clean on a regular basis was my old D70 using the original kit lens that extended and retracted on zoom. Whoever says the 17-55 sucks dust is lying -- plain and simple.