Quick Lens Review: Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

I recently went on a photo shoot with a friend of mine to the abandoned town of Drawbridge, CA. I needed to rent a lens because I recently sold the majority of my lenses with my old Nikon D40 camera body. This only left me with my Nikon 35mm f/1.8. A fantastic lens for sure, but not quite the right tool for the job. Since a lens like the 24-70mm f/2.8 is upwards of $1600, renting was the way to go for sure. This particular lens is talked about like a god, so I had to see what all the hype was about! I rented it for 3 days for about $50. Not a bad deal at all. The very first thing I noticed about this lens was the weight; it is hefty! It weighs about 2 pounds, compared to my Nikon D90 body that weighs about 1.3 pounds! Having a solid f/2.8 from 24-70mm is fantastic; I found this lens to be very versatile for my shooting. This lens actually stayed on my body the whole day. The autofocus on this particular rented unit felt like it might have been slightly out of whack, but when in manual focus it was pretty damn sharp. I realize this lens is probably better suited for an FX body, but even on my DX D90 it was a wonderful experience. I can see why everyone talks about this lens so much! If you have the almost $2000 to shell out, this lens should be in your bag!

On a side note, if you have a Nikon D90, you know it came with the LCD protective cover. LEAVE IT ON! During this last shoot, my plastic cover got scratched to all hell, not even sure how it happened, but if the cover wasn't there, my LCD would be wrecked! So if you have it on, keep it on. If you don't, put it on now! If your particular camera model doesn't have a protective cover, research to find one that will suit you. You won't regret it. A new $10 cover is always better than a permanently scratched LCD.