Choice of lens for Nikon D610 - 24-85VR or 24-120VR (Page 2): I own both lenses. They are tools and they both do different things. The 24-70 for me is an indoor lens, cause I love the...

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

hollis wrote:

This topic might have discussed before but I probably missed it.Going overseas to Europe in a couple of months and need an all around lens
to carry with me. My first choice is the Nikon 24-70 f2.8 but because of economic reason have decided to give some consideration to Nikon 24-85
or Nikon 24-120. Any thought/suggestions would be useful to help me make a decision. Thanks in advance.

I own both lenses. They are tools and they both do different things. The 24-70 for me is an indoor lens, cause I love the speed. Outside I love the reach of the 24-120 f4. If I had my choice, I would have gone with the 24-120, because it has a longer reach, Good for portraits and wide angle, and only one stop difference in speed. And with today's camera's I often set my ISO to 1600 to 3000 with NOT a lot of loss. So f stops become less of an issue that they once were.

Leon S Loc: Minnesota

The 24-85 has less distortion because of the smaller range. Both are great lenses for walk arounds. Obviously weight becomes a factor after carrying it for a while. The older you get the more important less weight becomes. I don't think you can go wrong with either lens as a walk around.

dugeeeeeee

The 24-120 came as the kit lens with my d810. Fabulous little lens for “walk around” lens. I also carry a 50 1.8 for times the light is low.

cjc2 Loc: Hellertown PA

Trustforce wrote:

btw, not a huge difference with the 24-85 f3.5-4.5 as far as speed is concerned, but the extra 35 mm of telephoto capability is why the 24-120 is twice the price of the smaller lens. B&H has a refurbished 24-120mm for $599, vs $339 for a refurbished 24-85 f3.5-4.5. I don't have any data on the 24-85 f2.8-4.0 lens, but it is probably an older product lacking VR.

You are correct about the older lens. It is a "D" version, without any VR. It REQUIRES an in-camera focus motor.

Leon S Loc: Minnesota

cjc2 wrote:

You are correct about the older lens. It is a "D" version, without any VR. It REQUIRES an in-camera focus motor.

Pretty sure the D70 has an internal focusing motor.

cjc2 Loc: Hellertown PA

Leon S wrote:

Pretty sure the D70 has an internal focusing motor.

I also believe it does. Just pointing this fact out for the future. I've been lucky in that every Nikon I've ever owned has had this motor, but even I wonder for how long. Best of luck.

rjandreoff Loc: Hawaii

I spent three months touring Australia and New Zealand last year, shooting with a nikon D610. My lens inventory included;

24-120 4.0
70-200 2.8 vr II
24 1.4 G.

The 24-120 took about 70-75% of the 11,000 shots. "0" regrets. Overall very good-outstanding results in nearly every situation EXCEPT in really low light conditions. Even pushing the ISO, that combo struggled some. HOWEVER, even though the other two lenses are top/best in the class performers, I felt that not much was lost when it was not possible to swap (wind, raid, dust). AND the weather sealing held up great in heavy rain. Would consider leaving the other two home next time.

dukepresley

I shoot w/Nikon D700; 1st FF lens was a 24-120; later I bought a 24-70 monster. Though it is heavier than the 24-120, the extra reach of the 24-120 is nice. With all that being said, I still have the 24-70 as my “go to” lens.

DaveyDitzer Loc: Western PA

hollis wrote:

This topic might have discussed before but I probably missed it.Going overseas to Europe in a couple of months and need an all around lens
to carry with me. My first choice is the Nikon 24-70 f2.8 but because of economic reason have decided to give some consideration to Nikon 24-85
or Nikon 24-120. Any thought/suggestions would be useful to help me make a decision. Thanks in advance.

I favor the 24-120 on a FF body. I use a 18-85 on my DX and I like the FOV that it gives me in most circumstances.

hollis

Trustforce wrote:

Hollis-- br We're going on a Baltic cruise this su... (show quote)

I am considering the 24-120; it's to be used on Nikon D 610. If I need to use it in low light situation I could lower the shutter speed as suggested by a few members.Thanks

hollis

Roy G Biv wrote:

Definitely the 24-120. I have the D750 and the 24... (show quote)

Thanks Roy G - I plan to use the lens indoor and outdoor and possibly in some low light situations; as you have suggested I can compensate for the light with lowering the shutter speed.

hollis

ELNikkor wrote:

24-120. if you think you might be in a low light situation, a 50 f1.8 or 35 prime would be small and not so expensive. (I always carry one around but seldom use it)

Thanks ElNikkor - your suggestion is useful; it'd just I don't want to carry around two lens

hollis

Leon S wrote:

The 24-85 has less distortion because of the smaller range. Both are great lenses for walk arounds. Obviously weight becomes a factor after carrying it for a while. The older you get the more important less weight becomes. I don't think you can go wrong with either lens as a walk around.

Thanks Leon S

hollis

billnikon wrote:

I own both lenses. They are tools and they both do different things. The 24-70 for me is an indoor lens, cause I love the speed. Outside I love the reach of the 24-120 f4. If I had my choice, I would have gone with the 24-120, because it has a longer reach, Good for portraits and wide angle, and only one stop difference in speed. And with today's camera's I often set my ISO to 1600 to 3000 with NOT a lot of loss. So f stops become less of an issue that they once were.

Bill - it's the weight and economic reasons why I am considering the 24-120 VR which is a bit lighter.

zcarxrg Loc: Corpus Christi

hollis wrote:

This topic might have discussed before but I probably missed it.Going overseas to Europe in a couple of months and need an all around lens
to carry with me. My first choice is the Nikon 24-70 f2.8 but because of economic reason have decided to give some consideration to Nikon 24-85
or Nikon 24-120. Any thought/suggestions would be useful to help me make a decision. Thanks in advance.

I am primarily a bird photographer that recently photographed an on stage event. I used a crop sensor camera because the 24-70 lens I have was not long enough on my full frame camera. Had I had a 24-105 lens ( I shoot Canon ) I could have used my newer full frame camera for the event.