New 24-70 Arrives

I'm genuinely excited! My new Nikon 24-70mm F/2.8 AFS FX lens just arrived. The first thing I did was put its 77mm UV filter on for protection. At $1700 the $50 filter protects my investment.

This glass is huge! With the lens hood attached it's wide, long and heavy. On my present D7000 it feels really good in my big hands. I've always held SLR cameras with the barrel of the lens cradled on my left hand so the setup is balanced. The zoom ring being so close to the camera body is different but I'm sure it won't take me long to get used to. The lens focused really fast, so much so that it surprised me. I'm going to love the extra speed of this glass at F/2.8.

By luck we're supposed to have a sunny day tomorrow so I'm going to take the gear out to shoot some test shots. I took two shots inside my apartment, one at 24mm and the next at 70mm and checked the Exif data on the shots for focal length on the DX body. To my surprise it indicated 24mm and 70mm. Why was there no 1.5X multiplier?

I look forward to the arrival of the new D800 I ordered for this lens. I know my friends are shocked at the money I just spent on the new gear, nearly $5,000 with all the filters and memory cards. I have a 16Gig 600X CF card and an 8 Gig Class 10 SD card for the new camera. All is ready as I can use the 77mm CPL from my Tokina 11-16mm zoom on the new 24-70mm.

Looks good Bob - it's one of my fave/most wanted lenses!

I'm hoping I can take it out attached to my D7000 tomorrow to the zoo. I'm anxious to see what it can do. My new D800, for which the 24-70 was intended, should be here in less than 3 weeks.

Bob

Its fast fast fast on focus, yes its heavy but I think that is a bonus as it help steady the camera .

Bazza

I notice you shoot with a D300. Do you own a full frame camera or do you use your 24-70 exclusively on that D300?

Only can afford the D300 as I AM A VERY VERY POOR PERSON

Bazza

So am I now. LOL This was my swan song, my last hoorah getting the new gear. I'll be eating crackers and sardines for a year just to get back to zero on my credit card. I know how far I can push & still bounce back so I'm ok. I'm sure that 24-70 cost you more than the D300. Nice pickup however.

Really looking forward to seeing the shots you get - it's a gorgeous lens!

xx

Bob

I purchased the camera on the 28 march 2009 and at the time it cost £1099, so yes the lens did cost more.

Bazza