Damn, pranged the 17-55

[_dobbo_]

A 28-70 for £300 is an amazing bargain - I paid £1200 for mine (albeit a UK model and brand new). I'd venture to suggest it went for much higher if it had 3 days still to go though.

I lust terribly after a D700 to go with my 28-70 as I think I'll then finally be able to stop wishing I started out with Canon instead of Nikon. But at £1700 I'm not quite able to pull the trigger...

[Simpo Two]

The 24-85 f3.5-4.5 AF-S may not look pro and chunky but Thom Hogan rates it and he generally knows what's what:

http://www.bythom.com/2485lens.htm

'Compared to the older 24-85mm f/2.8-4, the newer AF-S lens simply is in another (higher) class. On a full-frame body, you can see light falloff and loss of sharpness in the corners, but not nearly as much as I would have expected, considering the price. Optically, on a digital body this lens is excellent, while on a full frame body it still rates very good.'

I'm not overly worried about cost but this lens is smaller than the 24-70 f2.8 (ie it will fit in my bag!) and has a longer range. The trade off is aperture but with a D700 hairy-arse sensor behind it, cranking up ISO isn't a problem.

Thoughts anyone?

Edited by Simpo Two on Friday 8th August 19:36

[CVP]

That's the one both Mrs CVP and I use as our standard everyday zoom.

Focus is fast, good zoom range, generally very sharp. Slight issue with mine with a bit of barrel distortion at 24mm end. Otherwise all is good.

Chris

[Simpo Two]

CVP said:

That's the one both Mrs CVP and I use as our standard everyday zoom.

Focus is fast, good zoom range, generally very sharp. Slight issue with mine with a bit of barrel distortion at 24mm end. Otherwise all is good.s

Good news - but they're completely unavailable, even s/h on eBay! All the 24-85s out there are the f2.8-4 version which isn't AF-S and looks a generation older.

Why Nikon, why?

[CVP]

Try Grays of Westminster. Not cheap but if it's available they normally have stock and their delievry is next day.

Just looked, they have 3 secondhand in stock from GBP 225 for mint boxed with hood to 175 for Exc ++. With them Mint will basically mean it's been out of the box once.

020 7828 4925 (worrying that I remembered that off the top of my head (but I have cheked it's right )

HTH

Chris

[trackdemon]

Simpo Two said:

The 24-85 f3.5-4.5 AF-S may not look pro and chunky but Thom Hogan rates it and he generally knows what's what:

http://www.bythom.com/2485lens.htm

'Compared to the older 24-85mm f/2.8-4, the newer AF-S lens simply is in another (higher) class. On a full-frame body, you can see light falloff and loss of sharpness in the corners, but not nearly as much as I would have expected, considering the price. Optically, on a digital body this lens is excellent, while on a full frame body it still rates very good.'

I'm not overly worried about cost but this lens is smaller than the 24-70 f2.8 (ie it will fit in my bag!) and has a longer range. The trade off is aperture but with a D700 hairy-arse sensor behind it, cranking up ISO isn't a problem.

Thoughts anyone?

Edited by Simpo Two on Friday 8th August 19:36

Seems I've had my wires crossed a little: the f3.5 is the lense I have. Its superb IMHO; really sharp unless wide the only downside is the poor build quality.....the f2.8 24-70 may be 20% better but for %300 the cost - always the way with lenses sadly. I got mine for less than £200 through a camera exchange website which quickly disappeared, ebay is your friend!

[Simpo Two]

I was trying out the D700 with a number of lenses at a wedding today - it was happily focusing even through a Sigma 10-20 DX (f5.6)

As my 17-55 is in hospital I was also trying my old 18-70 on the D200 and I must say the extra reach was noticeable, very handy for quick framing. So my current thought is to get the same 24-84 (f3.5-4.5) as Trackdemon, s/h from Grays. I think I'm going to sacrifice a little aperture for convenience and range.

It's interesting but I find the D700 makes you lazy. No longer the struggle with bounce flash, f2.8 and borderline ISO/noise - just try it with ambient light and pop the flash if you want. However the AutoWB is way too warm and even setting K manually doesn't seem to make much difference. The files just look totally different, it's very odd.

[Simpo Two]

_dobbo_ said:

I lust terribly after a D700 to go with my 28-70

To misquote the Pet Shop Boys, 'You got the lens, I got the body...'

[_dobbo_]

let's make lots of money.

[fergusd]

Simpo Two said:

The 24-85 f3.5-4.5 AF-S may not look pro and chunky but Thom Hogan rates it and he generally knows what's what:

http://www.bythom.com/2485lens.htm

'Compared to the older 24-85mm f/2.8-4, the newer AF-S lens simply is in another (higher) class. On a full-frame body, you can see light falloff and loss of sharpness in the corners, but not nearly as much as I would have expected, considering the price. Optically, on a digital body this lens is excellent, while on a full frame body it still rates very good.'

I'm not overly worried about cost but this lens is smaller than the 24-70 f2.8 (ie it will fit in my bag!) and has a longer range. The trade off is aperture but with a D700 hairy-arse sensor behind it, cranking up ISO isn't a problem.

Thoughts anyone?

Edited by Simpo Two on Friday 8th August 19:36

I have 28-70/2.8 that I bought second hand, it is a monster size wise but I'm also reveling in the nice short DOF's that full frame gives, so the 2.8 helps in that respect . . . that may not be important to you, but the size is definately an issue . . . but if you are used to the 17-55 . . . it' not much larger . . .

Fd

[Simpo Two]

CVP said:

Just looked, they have 3 secondhand in stock from GBP 225 for mint boxed with hood to 175 for Exc ++. With them Mint will basically mean it's been out of the box once.

Bagged, thanks

I'll you something, this FX lark is bloody expensive - not just the area of lens coverage, but the fact that all your other lenses are now 'wrong' and only have 2/3 of the range... added to that the bill from Fixation and it's been a scary month

[CVP]

Simpo Two said:

CVP said:

Just looked, they have 3 secondhand in stock from GBP 225 for mint boxed with hood to 175 for Exc ++. With them Mint will basically mean it's been out of the box once.

Bagged, thanks

No worries, glad to be of help.

Fortunately when I went digital I still kept most of my old Nikkors so the change to fx has not impacted me too much apart from the 12-24 which I now use very little, it's mrs CVPs wide angle now