The only other 24 to 70 f/2.8 I have experience with is the last version of the Canon "L". The Nikon 24-70 has pretty similar build quality (stellar) and focus speed to the Canon 24-70 f/2.8L, however the Nikon is significantly sharper wide open across the entire focal range and much better at 70mm (I'm talking about the last version of the brick here, not the "II").
Pros:
- Excellent sharpness, color and contrast across all apertures and the entire focal length range
- Excellent build quality
- Fast, accurate and precise AF
- Vignetting is reasonable
- Excellent bokeh
- I like the high quality lens hood that it comes with (button latch style)
- Comes with a useful high quality lens bag instead of the cheaper lens pouch that comes with the consumer Nikon lenses or the Canon L's I purchased in the past
Cons:
- Heavy (just like the competition)
- A bit more distortion that what I'd like to see at 24mm
Other:
- I haven't personally seen issues with CA that couldn't easily be dealt with in post, and I've had few images that have even required that treatment. However, it's my understanding that CA is supposed to be one of the only weak points for this lens.
- By Roger Cicala's report ( http://www.lensrentals.com …24-70mm-system-comparison
), even though the new Canon 24-70 f/2.8L II is the higher resolution zoom, the Nikon D810 coupled with the Nikon 24-70 f/2.8 is the highest resolution camera/lens combo at the moment.
The Nikon 24-70 is an excellent lens that I probably use for 70-80% of my shots. By default it's the one left attached to the body in my camera bag.
