Top Notch Zoom at a Price

What is it?
This is the Nikon 24-70 AF-S 2.8 zoom. It's a pro lens costing 1700 dollars. It's large and heavy, but built to a very high standard. It features FAST AFS focusing and fast 2.8 glass. This lens will operate on all DX and FX DSLRs including the D40 and D60 series. AF-S lenses have integral focus motors.

Sharpness
Let's cut to the quick here. Wide open at 2.8 this lens IS SHARP. It has the same type of contrast and quality found on the 14-24 and 70-200 lenses. Some might find this a bit tight on a DX camera, but I find it excellent on my D300 since I don't shoot a lot of wide angle stuff.

At 70mm
This lens is excellent on the long end, even wide open.

At 24mm
Still excellent with a bit of field curvature at the edges. I don't see this as a landscape lens, but some shooters expressed disappointment with this. It's a byproduct of the overall design.

Contrast and Color
Absolutely superb. Micro contrast and color create a type of dimensionality only found on the best glass.

Handling
It's BIG. Balances well on a D3, D300/D700 with grip, but poorly on smaller bodies. Focus is spot on and manual override is silky smooth, though perhaps a bit under-damped for my taste.

Summary
The very best zoom in this range ever made. Easily tops previous champs from both Canon and Nikon. Buy this if you want the highest level of optical performance, but be certain you have skills to extract that performance. This is a stunning lens!