Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8E ED VR Review

Introduction
The Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8E ED VR is Nikon's first full-frame professional standard zoom lens to feature Vibration Reduction, offering up to 4 stops of compensation. The Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8E ED VR is constructed of 20 elements arranged in 16 groups - including a number of aspherical and ED glass elements as well as a new aspherical extra-low-dispersion (ED) glass element - and features an iris diaphragm with 9 rounded aperture blades. Nikon's exclusive nano crystal coating is employed to reduce flare and ghosting, the lens has a minimum focus distance of 38cm and a maximum reproduction ratio of 1:3.6, and it's equipped with a Silent Wave Motor for fast and quiet auto focus. The Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8E ED VR lens is available now, priced at £1,849.99 / €2,499.00 / $2,399.95.
Ease of Use
Weighing in at 1,070g and measuring 155mm in length, the AF-S Nikkor 24-120mm f/4G ED VR is a substantial lens. In practice, we found that it balanced well on the Nikon D810 body, and proved less of a burden than initially thought when used all day long. Build quality is excellent, certainly befitting of its professional billing, feeling solid and substantial in the hand.
The Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8E ED VR lens mounted on a Nikon D810 body
The Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8E ED VR lens mounted on a Nikon D810 body, set to 70mm focal length
The Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8E ED VR lens mounted on a Nikon D810 body, set to 24mm focal length
The Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8E ED VR lens mounted on a Nikon D810 body
Zooming is not internal – as you can see, the front extends somewhat upon zooming to 24mm. The ribbed zoom ring is sufficiently wide and neither too stiff nor too loose. Zoom creep is not an issue. The lens accepts filters via a standard 82mm thread around the – non-rotating – front lens element, which is great news for those who like to use polarisers or ND grads, for example.
The Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8E ED VR lens alongside a Nikon D810 body
Side of the Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8E ED VR lens, set to 70mm
Side of the Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8E ED VR lens, set to 24mm
In terms of features, the Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8E ED VR has a lot to offer. It has an internal focus (IF) mechanism and a Silent Wave Motor, allowing you to use manual focus even when you are in auto-focus mode (denoted with the usual M/A sign on the lens barrel).
Front of the Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8E ED VR lens
Rear of the Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8E ED VR lens
It also features two forms of Vibration Reduction (VR), Normal and Active. Normal VR compensates for quick and small vibrations resulting from shaky hands, but ignores slow and wide movements to allow you to use e.g. the focus-recompose technique or panning. Active VR tries to compensate for every movement, fast and slow, large and small, and is therefore better if you are shooting from a moving vehicle, for example. The stabilising effect can be seen through the viewfinder in both VR modes.
Front of the Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8E ED VR lens
Rear of the Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8E ED VR lens
There is a distance scale sheltered behind a window, but there are no depth-of-field marks and no infrared focus index either.
The Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8E ED VR lens in-hand
The Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8E ED VR lens with the supplied lens hood fitted
The lens is claimed to be completely weatherproof via a number of gaskets and seals and the adoption of a fluorine coating on the outer surfaces of the extreme front and rear lens elements. The lens ships with a good quality, lockable, petal-shaped, plastic lens hood (HB-74) and a soft case.
Focal Range
At the 24mm end of the zoom range, the angle of view is 84°.
Field of view at 24mm
At the 70mm end, the angle of view narrows to 34° 20'.
Field of view at 70mm
Focusing
The Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8E ED VR focuses almost instantly when mounted on the D810 that we tested it with. Thanks to a Silent Wave Motor, auto focus operation is very quiet, and instant manual-focus override is available at all times. The ridged focus ring is quite slim but is entirely adequate for the job. It requires an approximately 90° turn to get from the close-focus point to infinity. Note that there are hard stop at both ends of the zoom range.
Chromatic Aberrations
Chromatic aberrations, typically seen as purple or blue fringes along contrasty edges, can be noticed in photos taken at maximum aperture, but they aren't too excessive and tend to go away upon stopping down.
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Light Fall-off and Distortion
With the lens set to its maximum aperture, you can see some heavy light fall off in the corners at all focal lengths, and especially at the extremes of the zoom range. Stopping down reduces the phenomenon, especially at the long end.
A zoom lens that goes out to 24mm is bound to suffer from noticeable barrel distortion at the wide end, and the Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8E ED VR is no exception. The good news is that this barrelling rapidly decreases upon zooming in a little, becoming essentially imperceptible once you get past the 28mm mark, and there is very little pincushion distortion at the telephoto end of the zoom range.
Vignetting at 24mm
Vignetting at 70mm
Macro
The Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8E ED VR lens has a close-focus point of 38cm (at the 35-50mm focal lengths, 41cm at the others) and a maximum magnification of 0.28x.
Close-up performance
Bokeh
Bokeh is a word used for the out-of-focus areas of a photograph, and is usually described in qualitative terms, such as smooth / creamy / harsh etc. In the AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8E ED VR lens, Nikon employed an iris diaphragm with 9 rounded blades for a very pleasing rendering of the out-of-focus areas.
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Sharpness
In order to show you how sharp this lens is, we are providing 100% crops on the following pages.