Nikon Nikkor AF-S 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5G VR review
The Nikkor AF-S 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5G VR is an affordable general-purpose zoom that's compatible with full-frame Nikon FX bodies. Announced in June 2012, it's arguably the successor to the Nikon AF 24-85mm f/2.8-4D from 2000. It's optically a little slower but now sports Vibration Reduction to counteract camera shake and as an AF-S model it'll autofocus on any Nikon body.
An affordable general-purpose zoom for expensive full-frame bodies may seem like an odd combination, but the AF-S 24-85mm provides a useful range without breaking the bank and could complement an existing selection of primes. You could equally mount it on a DX body now and enjoy 36-128mm equivalent coverage with an upgrade to full-frame penciled-in for the future. It also intriguingly suggests a more affordable full-frame body may be in the pipeline, with this presumably being the natural kit lens.
With the addition of the AF-S 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5G VR, Nikon now offers three stabilized FX general-purpose zooms starting at a decent wide angle and zooming in to various degrees of tele-coverage: the 24-85mm, 24-120mm and 28-300mm. The big question though is whether this new "kit-zoom" performs adequately on the 36MP FX-sensor of a D800 or is it a combination that can't be recommended? So in this review I'll have a look at Nikon's newest FX zoom, and find out whether the lens can deliver the goods on Nikon's highest resolution DSLR.
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Facts from the catalog
Let's have a look at the performance at 24mm first:
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Nikkor AF-S 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5G VR with Nikon D800
100% crop from center |
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Nikkor AF-S 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5G VR with Nikon D800
100% crop from DX-corner |
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Nikkor AF-S 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5G VR with Nikon D800
100% crop from FX-corner |
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24mm, f3.5, 100 ISO
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24mm, f3.5, 100 ISO
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24mm, f3.5, 100 ISO
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24mm, f4.0, 100 ISO
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24mm, f4.0, 100 ISO
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24mm, f4.0, 100 ISO
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24mm, f5.6, 100 ISO
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24mm, f5.6, 100 ISO
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24mm, f5.6, 100 ISO
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24mm, f8.0, 100 ISO
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24mm, f8.0, 100 ISO
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24mm, f8.0, 100 ISO
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24mm, f11, 100 ISO
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24mm, f11, 100 ISO
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24mm, f11, 100 ISO
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These 100% crops directly from a 36MP D800 sensor show that this lens performs very well in the center. Resolution is so high indeed that you can easily see the effect of diffraction setting in at f11. The performance in the DX-corner is also very good even at f3.5 but suffers from clearly visible distortions. But there's a clear drop in performance towards the FX-corner with even more pronounced barrel-distortions. Contrast suffers from a veiling glare and resolution is limited too especially in the meridional orientation. Stopping down to f5.6 recovers some of the lost contrast, but sharpness does not really ever come close to DX-corner levels. Still a respectable result overall.
http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Nikon_Nikkor_AF-S_24-85mm_f3-5-4-5G_ED_VR/
