Best 24-70 f/2.8mm for handholding on D800?

This is why nikon and canon dont put VR in their 24-70 2.8s:

1. 2.8 is not a real "low light aperture", in real low light these lenses require flash, flash use negates at value of VR since it freezes everything anyways

2. 24-70mm is a "people" focal length, people move, freezing motion requires 1/60 or 1/80 regardless of focal length. in order to get to 1/60 in low light, again you will want to use flash because shooting a whole night at ISO 3200 gets old fast.

Now, I am one of the folks that happens to think both the nikon and tamron are pretty low performers, when compared to much cheaper primes. A nikon 28/1.8, 50/1.4, & 85/1.8 combo is much cheaper and much much much better in terms of IQ.

The nikon 24-70 2.8 is far superior to the tamron in every measure, but that said, its still the worst performer of the nikon 2.8 trinity, by far. Frankly, I would never put a value 3rd party zoom on my d800e. And these days, I wouldnt put any zoom on my d800e at all except a 16-35mm to shoot f8 landscapes.

The d800e is extremely demanding on glass.  And if you cant see the lower zoom IQ yet, you will soon, and will be unable to "unsee" it.