My old Nikon 24-70 f2.8 needs replacing.... or does it? Trying out the Z24mm-70mm f2.8 24mm-70mm f2.8 VR 24mm-70mm f2.8G To see which one suits my needs best seancameronpho...
All modern lenses are sharp. It's how you use them. I own Zeiss prime lenses and Nikon prime lenses. The 24-70G 2.8 I own but have only done some test shots with it so far. I think it's a great lens and it is sharp enough to my eyes on my D700. When shooting portraits it's more flattering to shoot with a less sharp lens. Over sharpened portraits look awful, personally. People are just being duped into the marketing hype of new gear these days.
Fascinating comparison. Well done! I think this comparison somewhat emphasizes why I usually dim the highlights a bit in Lightroom when shooting with my Z lenses. I like the sharpness of the Z, but it does seem to gather more light. which is possibly problematic with highlights. I have zero interest in moving backwards in technology thanks to my abilities in post-processing, so I'll be sticking with Z's and using the skin-softening feature of my Z8 and Z9 when I remember to switch it on. 🙂
Thanks for taking the time to prepare and film what was a very interesting comparison. To my eyes seeing your images the Z reveals much more detail and that is great for enlarged landscape or cityscape shots. The modelling images are more subjective and seemed to depend on the pose and loft of the models hair. Though overall there seemed a harshness to the Z images, a preciseness that you either like or you don't. The G brought out the colour of lipstick and skin, and was more complementary. So in my HO: Z for landscape and cityscape shots and for someone has money to throw at a new system. VR for anyone doing wedding videos and anyone who wants real low light performance G for portrait and to save money and Tamron for anyone who wants a bit of all three - its VC seems to allow a D850 to hold the image steady when the VR will lose it.
🤣🤣🤣Thank you Sean for the laughs in the beginning.. I understand the glass of wine and hair trimmer issue... But you're a handsome bloke whereas I don't show my face if I can help it... But fully agree with your conclusions. My G lens will be going for a tune-up but Ill be purchasing the Z. Three prime ministers ago... Syrian hamster... thanks for introducing us to Melanie. is she a relation?
I love this review ! Thanks for the hard work to do it. Yes the last generation of Z mount lenses are incredibly sharp. Do they also have micro contrast and pleasing looking ? Apparently yes also. I personally own the VR version because I use the VR in city scapes photography on my D3X which doesn’t have any sort of IBIS obviously! And the results are excellent on 24Mpx sensor Maybe on higher resolution sensor it is a little soft as you seems to show on the Z9 I will check it soon on the Z6 II to see if AF is more accurate.
Sean is a pro so his old 24-70 G lens has been hammered with 7 years use, and needs replacement. I can see that the Z lens will work with Z9 tracking to catch action portraits, but if you didn't need tracking then that's not a worry. I can see that if you want/need VR then you need to buy a lens with VR. However I'm a cheapskate and don't need those things. I was able to buy a nearly mint, boxed plain old G version for £495 (with guarantee) from LCE last summer - and it seems pretty nice to me. There's a thought, Sean: why not buy a £500 used replacement for your knackered G lens (and sell it on again when you decided splash out 2 grand for the Z lens?)
Yeah I was thinking the new Z version would be leaps sharper than the old G. Not really. Prob could’ve done without buying it other than nice to not have deal with adapters.
I don’t understand why anyone needs AF and VR on a studio portrait lens but whatever floats the boat. You’ve dove into the Z pool already so the question is do you plan to keep running F mount? I’m running F, Sony FE, and Leica M mount cameras. ALL OF THEM can use the original 24-70mm G lens (non VR) and the AF isn’t something I use for portraits. Any colour differences you see can be eliminated by doing a custom white balance with a grey card. Blown highlights are caused by incorrect exposure. Maybe rethink the premise of this comparison. I can’t adapt the Z lens to any other system without adding glass correction and the IQ degradation that leads to. No secret for me the original G is the keeper.
Shooting vertical with a camera with a built in grip without using the grip does my head in... nice comparison though, the G lens still holds it's own imo
Hi Sean, If there were a ZTF adapter it would be interesting to rerun the test on your D5 to decide if the Z sensor or the D sensor produces the best images. Nice comparison BTW.
That would be interesting Michael, my gut feeling is that both the D5 and Z24-70 are quite contrasty so I think the images would be a little high in tonal contrast.
I didnt like the z cameras , im and old Die hard , i bought another nikon d850 and new grip in 2024 , wild shizny eh ! And a 24-70 nikon vr lens , the last of nikons great DSLR's ( i have to many pro nikon lenses out to 600 to) weigh in for z glass And electric viewfinders
G lens produces better colors and skin tones 👍🤠
Thank you Sean. I agree with your conclusions and love each version. Good to see you again.
Thank you mate, it's great to get confirmation that I'm not the only one thinking that
I like your camera museum.
All modern lenses are sharp. It's how you use them. I own Zeiss prime lenses and Nikon prime lenses. The 24-70G 2.8 I own but have only done some test shots with it so far. I think it's a great lens and it is sharp enough to my eyes on my D700. When shooting portraits it's more flattering to shoot with a less sharp lens. Over sharpened portraits look awful, personally. People are just being duped into the marketing hype of new gear these days.
A D700 is not very sharp, so you don’t need the latest lenses to get a good image.
If you want to loose models and clients get the sharpest lens. You are right about something here few people undestand.
Fascinating comparison. Well done! I think this comparison somewhat emphasizes why I usually dim the highlights a bit in Lightroom when shooting with my Z lenses. I like the sharpness of the Z, but it does seem to gather more light. which is possibly problematic with highlights. I have zero interest in moving backwards in technology thanks to my abilities in post-processing, so I'll be sticking with Z's and using the skin-softening feature of my Z8 and Z9 when I remember to switch it on. 🙂
Thanks for taking the time to prepare and film what was a very interesting comparison. To my eyes seeing your images the Z reveals much more detail and that is great for enlarged landscape or cityscape shots. The modelling images are more subjective and seemed to depend on the pose and loft of the models hair. Though overall there seemed a harshness to the Z images, a preciseness that you either like or you don't. The G brought out the colour of lipstick and skin, and was more complementary.
So in my HO:
Z for landscape and cityscape shots and for someone has money to throw at a new system.
VR for anyone doing wedding videos and anyone who wants real low light performance
G for portrait and to save money
and
Tamron for anyone who wants a bit of all three - its VC seems to allow a D850 to hold the image steady when the VR will lose it.
Great comparison video! Thank you indeed, Sir!❤.. D.
This is great video. Really helped me to set my mind. I recently purchased F6 and as an owner of Z8, the VR lens will be great for portraiture!
The G lens certainly holds up. What’s great about that lens is it’s compatible with the F6 for those film shooters
Thumbs up for the Maiden shirt at 8:53.
Up the IRONS!🤘
24-70 2.8G still in use with my Z 6II.
Great review & since I shoot a D850 the VR is the one I will buy!
Thx for this fantastic review
Thank you for the great breakdown. Keep up the good work sir.
🤣🤣🤣Thank you Sean for the laughs in the beginning.. I understand the glass of wine and hair trimmer issue... But you're a handsome bloke whereas I don't show my face if I can help it... But fully agree with your conclusions. My G lens will be going for a tune-up but Ill be purchasing the Z. Three prime ministers ago... Syrian hamster... thanks for introducing us to Melanie. is she a relation?
You are simply too kind my friend, yes Melanie is one of my wonderful Nieces
I love this review ! Thanks for the hard work to do it.
Yes the last generation of Z mount lenses are incredibly sharp.
Do they also have micro contrast and pleasing looking ? Apparently yes also.
I personally own the VR version because I use the VR in city scapes photography on my D3X which doesn’t have any sort of IBIS obviously!
And the results are excellent on 24Mpx sensor
Maybe on higher resolution sensor it is a little soft as you seems to show on the Z9
I will check it soon on the Z6 II to see if AF is more accurate.
Don't get me wrong, I loved the warmth it gave to the image. The Z9 can be a critical animal.
Sean is a pro so his old 24-70 G lens has been hammered with 7 years use, and needs replacement. I can see that the Z lens will work with Z9 tracking to catch action portraits, but if you didn't need tracking then that's not a worry. I can see that if you want/need VR then you need to buy a lens with VR. However I'm a cheapskate and don't need those things. I was able to buy a nearly mint, boxed plain old G version for £495 (with guarantee) from LCE last summer - and it seems pretty nice to me. There's a thought, Sean: why not buy a £500 used replacement for your knackered G lens (and sell it on again when you decided splash out 2 grand for the Z lens?)
Yeah I was thinking the new Z version would be leaps sharper than the old G. Not really. Prob could’ve done without buying it other than nice to not have deal with adapters.
Nice test btw!
Thanks for the comparison
Very Good analysis
I don’t understand why anyone needs AF and VR on a studio portrait lens but whatever floats the boat. You’ve dove into the Z pool already so the question is do you plan to keep running F mount? I’m running F, Sony FE, and Leica M mount cameras. ALL OF THEM can use the original 24-70mm G lens (non VR) and the AF isn’t something I use for portraits. Any colour differences you see can be eliminated by doing a custom white balance with a grey card. Blown highlights are caused by incorrect exposure. Maybe rethink the premise of this comparison. I can’t adapt the Z lens to any other system without adding glass correction and the IQ degradation that leads to. No secret for me the original G is the keeper.
Shooting vertical with a camera with a built in grip without using the grip does my head in... nice comparison though, the G lens still holds it's own imo
Hi Sean,
If there were a ZTF adapter it would be interesting to rerun the test on your D5 to decide if the Z sensor or the D sensor produces the best images. Nice comparison BTW.
That would be interesting Michael, my gut feeling is that both the D5 and Z24-70 are quite contrasty so I think the images would be a little high in tonal contrast.
Excellent advice and video. Was nikon d90 the first camera with video 📹 🤔
Yes, it was released in September 2008 and the Canon EOS 5d mkii was released in November 😀 making it the first DSLR with video…. Just
Love this Review about all three lens!!! really useful !! it's the best show off all details in RUclips !! thx again !!~
Spend £20 on new grips
for the old g lens 5 mins to replace yourself 👍 14:30
i keep my old G lens Over 2000 is not worth the little difference
I guess that girl in the shed trusts him to not close the door and lock her in after the photo shoot.
I didnt like the z cameras , im and old
Die hard , i bought another nikon d850 and new grip in 2024 , wild shizny eh ! And a 24-70 nikon vr lens , the last of nikons great DSLR's ( i have to many pro nikon lenses out to 600 to) weigh in for z glass
And electric viewfinders
Too long.