Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8E AF-S VR Lens Image Quality, and the Nikon D810 Arrives in the Lab

Image quality (D3x and D810), vignetting, flare and distortion test results along with specs and measurements have been added to the Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8E AF-S VR Lens page.

There is a bit of a backstory to this post. This is the third copy of this lens we've put through the lab. I was not satisfied with the 50-70mm performance of the first copy, so I brought a second lens in. The results from the second lens were about the same as the first with great wide angle sharpness and not so great long end performance.

What to do next was the dilemma. Was this performance indicative of what you should expect from this lens? Did we get two duds in a row? Was there an issue with the Nikon D3x test camera? Perhaps something was not working well with the camera and lens combination?

Being unsettled, I opted to clean house and try again. I purchased a new Nikon D810 and brought in a third copy of the 24-70 VR. Here are the results of the 3rd lens on the D810 compared to the 2nd lens on the D3x.

Many comparisons can be made. I'll let you decide which of those to make.

Nikon D810 test results from more lenses are planned for the future, though it will take a long time to work all previously-tested lens models through the lab. Remember, all lens aberration correction is turned off for these tests (CA, if present, will be especially noticeable at high resolution). The same sharpness settings being used for the D3x (initially setup to match or perhaps slightly exceed the Canon settings) are being used for the D810. We will be looking more closely at this setting, probably after bringing in a 200 f/2 VR for testing (the original base lens used for sharpness setting selection).

Don't forget: we really need your support to keep the camera and lens tests coming in. Especially when copy quality is questioned, these tests become very expensive to conduct. Please use the site's links to make your purchases! Even buying diapers at Amazon helps.

B&H has the Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8E AF-S VR Lens in stock.