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I have never seen reviews of a lens that is so allover the board (D700 kit lens)

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Steve Bingham said:
Actually, YOUR photo (which you supplied for our judgment) is only 1600 horizontal and 4.88 mp when opened up in PS CS5. Simply put, your 28.7 mp image (from 12 mp camera) has been cropped WAY down to 4.88 mp. More importantly, even cropped, the edges are soft and the corners VERY soft. If your point was to prove how sharp the 24-120 is, you failed to do so.
rayman 2 said:
Lighthog said:
I agree that it looks very soft. It is not a goo example for the 24-120. I would have shot it at ISO 1600 and up the shutter speed.

Lighthog
Click to expand...
Are you serious ? you judge a lens from a 1000x700px 150 kb pic ?

Look at my full size full resolution sample in my post from today .....see below.

The idea of this lens is to be able to hand hold a pic that has more depth of focus.

Thats what its made for ... if you want higher speed and a more open aperture use another lens or a prime......
horses for courses...



Click to expand...
--
Steve Bingham
http://www.dustylens.com
http://www.ghost-town-photography.com
Click to expand...
Have you learned how to use the forum ?

There is a tab that says original on top of that file and it opens up the full file.
The edges are not any more soft then any other lens of that kind....
you can only see one edge and thats the left top and no its not bad !
Peter
 
My apologies. I failed to see the (original) in the upper right hand side). After downloading the original I did see softness on the edges and corners - but certainly very acceptable for a lens in this price range. However, most lenses will look pretty good at f11 - and especially zoom lenses at some part of their range. I see you shot it with the D700 but I have no idea of the focal length you used. I would suspect somewhere in the middle - like maybe 50-70mm.

And as I said, I would never use it. There are other choices (and a tripod if needed). For a light one-size-does-it all lens it obviously works for you - and others. That's fine.
rayman 2 said:
Steve Bingham said:
Actually, YOUR photo (which you supplied for our judgment) is only 1600 horizontal and 4.88 mp when opened up in PS CS5. Simply put, your 28.7 mp image (from 12 mp camera) has been cropped WAY down to 4.88 mp. More importantly, even cropped, the edges are soft and the corners VERY soft. If your point was to prove how sharp the 24-120 is, you failed to do so.
rayman 2 said:
Lighthog said:
I agree that it looks very soft. It is not a goo example for the 24-120. I would have shot it at ISO 1600 and up the shutter speed.

Lighthog
Click to expand...
Are you serious ? you judge a lens from a 1000x700px 150 kb pic ?

Look at my full size full resolution sample in my post from today .....see below.

The idea of this lens is to be able to hand hold a pic that has more depth of focus.

Thats what its made for ... if you want higher speed and a more open aperture use another lens or a prime......
horses for courses...



Click to expand...
--
Steve Bingham
http://www.dustylens.com
http://www.ghost-town-photography.com
Click to expand...
Have you learned how to use the forum ?

There is a tab that says original on top of that file and it opens up the full file.
The edges are not any more soft then any other lens of that kind....
you can only see one edge and thats the left top and no its not bad !
Peter
Click to expand...
--
Steve Bingham
http://www.dustylens.com
http://www.ghost-town-photography.com
 
A few thoughts....

First, there is very strong indication that Nikon will be introducing a new 24-120 VRII within months -- so it's most likely not worth wasting a lot of breath on the older version anymore

But

Second....yes, they DID tweak the lens...starting with serial number US6xxxxx and onward, they adjusted these things up so they have better sharpness.

Yet

Third...Nikon has, over the past five years, shown just as big sample variation in some of the lenses (18-200, 24-120, 16-35) as any of the 3rd party companies. Reviews are rarely written based on trying a different lens if they don't like the one they own, or were provided. You find actual users, who might have had to swap out one lens for another, will frequently report how much they love their replacement lens.
 
RonAnnArbor said:
A few thoughts....

First, there is very strong indication that Nikon will be introducing a new 24-120 VRII within months -- so it's most likely not worth wasting a lot of breath on the older version anymore

But

Second....yes, they DID tweak the lens...starting with serial number US6xxxxx and onward, they adjusted these things up so they have better sharpness.

Yet

Third...Nikon has, over the past five years, shown just as big sample variation in some of the lenses (18-200, 24-120, 16-35) as any of the 3rd party companies. Reviews are rarely written based on trying a different lens if they don't like the one they own, or were provided. You find actual users, who might have had to swap out one lens for another, will frequently report how much they love their replacement lens.
Click to expand...
I´ve had bad copies of lenses too that I´ve swaped but didnt have to do that very often.
I said in one of my posts earlier that they did tweak the lens.
It had alignment problems that were solved...
The new version will probably not be as delicate as the old one....
so you will expect less variation...
Peter
 
pandalee said:
I think it is a good idea keeping your email and site secret here cause there are many crazy nosy people like the guy you were responding to here.
Click to expand...
Think if you check the history of members Steve is one of the good guys. I too am wary of people who ask for help or voice strong opinions without revealing who or where they are.

Carl
 
carl english said:
carl english said:
I think it is a good idea keeping your email and site secret here cause there are many crazy nosy people like the guy you were responding to here.
Click to expand...
Think if you check the history of members Steve is one of the good guys. I too am wary of people who ask for help or voice strong opinions without revealing who or where they are.

Carl
Click to expand...
Yes he is a good guy.. he just not always spot on with his findings sometimes he is though. I think of the color shift on the 16-35 for example... I personally dont think it exists and have pointed out in his thread how something like that can
be a normal image problem with super wide lenses.
I also do a lot of 3d (CG) and we encounter these phenomena pretty often.....
Peter
 
pandalee said:
...there are many crazy nosy people like the guy you were responding to here.

...I hate people do personal attack and some nasty name calling here too.

but I just report them now.
Click to expand...
Have you reported yourself?
--
Kind regards
Kaj
http://www.pbase.com/kaj_e
WSSA member

It's about time we started to take photography seriously and treat it as a hobby.- Elliott Erwitt
 
RonAnnArbor said:
A few thoughts....

First, there is very strong indication that Nikon will be introducing a new 24-120 VRII within months -- so it's most likely not worth wasting a lot of breath on the older version anymore
Click to expand...
Looking forward to this upcoming 24-120 VRII (if any). I got the 24-120 AF-D from used market. It's not bad at all but just too old.
RonAnnArbor said:
But

Second....yes, they DID tweak the lens...starting with serial number US6xxxxx and onward, they adjusted these things up so they have better sharpness.
Click to expand...
How real is that?
RonAnnArbor said:
Yet

Third...Nikon has, over the past five years, shown just as big sample variation in some of the lenses (18-200, 24-120, 16-35) as any of the 3rd party companies. Reviews are rarely written based on trying a different lens if they don't like the one they own, or were provided. You find actual users, who might have had to swap out one lens for another, will frequently report how much they love their replacement lens.
Click to expand...
 
If you like the lens and it works for you why does it matter what others think of it? Shoot it and be happy my friend.

I got one when they first came out and it let me down immediately and considering it's cost that was unacceptable. It hung around for several years because I am a collector and it just never improved, after I got my D700 it was over; it just looked so bad and needed so much PP it just wasn't worth it. I ended up giving it to a local charitable organization who appreciated it and I'm sure are loving every shot that it produces.

I guess it all depends on your use and perspective. It was aimed squarely at the serious shooters who are a bit particular about their work and it just didn't get it done. It wouldn't shock me if they did do a bit of tweaking on it though over the years and you, as a consequence, got a winner. Happy shooting.
 
I have used this lens on a number of DX-frame cameras (mostly the D200) and it did a good job at f8 (even most of the time at f5.6). Good enough for parties/event photography, at least.

However, the D3 really exposed this lens. I would often see VERY NOTICEABLE edge softness, even at f8. I didn't see it on every shot, but I saw it enough to never want to use it on an FX-frame camera.

While iit's a good lens for convenience for personal shooting, I would never shoot any client work or anything needing a serious amount of enlarging (I'm talking about images 16x20 and beyond which I do quite often).

--
http://www.carlmphotography.com
http://www.runwayweekly.com

'I'd knock on wood for good luck, but it just gives me a headache!!!'
 
I was not talking about Steve or any one particular in my mind at the time.

but if I was a bit offensive or rude , I sincerely apologize.

I am sorry for being a bit too arrogant and rude.
carl english said:
carl english said:
I think it is a good idea keeping your email and site secret here cause there are many crazy nosy people like the guy you were responding to here.
Click to expand...
Think if you check the history of members Steve is one of the good guys. I too am wary of people who ask for help or voice strong opinions without revealing who or where they are.

Carl
Click to expand...
 
So.......the 24-120 VRII f4 is finally here !!

Keeping fingers crossed that this version will be even better as I really like this focal length and for my needs it will be a great walk-around lens.

I do have 24-70 f2.8, but I am looking forward to use a lens that will give me much

better FL while 'losing' only 1 stop (which should be easily recovered with the VR.)

I know - the bokeh will not be the same as 24-70 at f2.8, but if I'll need bokeh - I will
grab my 24-70, 70-200 or the 90mm 2.8 prime.

I am simply in search of a GOOD universal FL lens that I can grab when I go on vacation or when I just feel like running out of the house for some casual shooting but not feeling like hauling the 24-70 f2.8 brick ;)

Hope this new lens will be on my D700 before Christmas !
 
WatchFan1 said:
Thank you everyone for your replies. Much appreciated !

Peter,

thank you for all those links - good read and pretty much proves to me that MOST of those people that are bashing the lens across all those threads are either 'glass snobs', or have never actually used the lens by themselves or simply have the the sheep heard mentality and are just parroting what they have heard.

Since my original post I had a chance to use the lens even more. I have no doubt - it is a keeper - at least until Nikon comes with a constant f4 mid range VR zoom.
Click to expand...
I agree this lens is a keeper.
Nice to walk around without changing lens.
 
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