Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED Pro Reviews

The fly in the ointment is the fact that the same considerable length also risks casting a shadow when pictures are taken using a camera's pop-up flashgun. It is true that this is not a professional's modus operandi (and this is most certainly a professional's lens) but in case of emergency it will be frustrating to see an unsightly semi-circle at the bottom of the picture. Perhaps in the future Nikon will design a lens that is every bit as good as this one but also significantly shorter. In the meantime other manufacturers may feel slightly on the back foot when they see what Nikon has already managed to achieve.

Performance on a subframe sensor is exquisite, given that the lens isn't really put to the test. On the full-frame D3, it's sharp pretty much at all focal lengths and apertures, with a slight exception at 35mm. Chromatic aberration isn't an issue on the D200, but does show up on an uncorrected (ie., film) image. On the D3, CA issues are ironed out handily in software. The lens does vignette on full-frame, hard to avoid given its focal range, but even so it's not the worst performance we've seen for a lens that covers this kind of range. Finally, distortion is a bit of an issue - more so on full-frame than sub-frame - but again, it's not extreme, just a little complicated. For the premium price, you get a premium lens, with a build quality every bit of what you'd expect, and unparalleled optical performance as well.

Although not very exotic, the standard zoom covers a range most photographers couldn't do without. The Nikon 24-70mm performs as you would expect from a lens of this calibre and price. Build quality is excellent, the focusing is fast and most importantly the images are sharp and contrasty in a range of conditions and will find its way into many photographer's kit bags as a result, despite the £1200 plus price tag.