Who got a D600?

[woodworth]

I've been happy enough with the 24-85Vr on my D800 and think it will be equally good on the D600. Interestingly enough Ken Rockwell also favours the 24-85VR.

The reviews I have read seem to suggest that there is no advantage to the 24-120VR other than the constant f4 and the slightly longer focal length.

I think that if I was to "upgrade" from the 24-85, it would be to the 24-70/2.8 but not the 24-120, however, this is a personal view and not a criticism of other's lens choices.

 

[GrahamWelland]

I'm not trying to rain on your parade with the 24-85VR, just that for me it wasn't up to the abilities of the 24mp sensor and I wasn't impressed with the acuity or focus accuracy with my copy. I owned and shot both the 24-70/2.8 and 24-120/4VR for years and know them both very well. The 24-85VR looked to be a very convenient travel package and I'm sure that it fits that niche very well. It just wasn't for me. Fortunately, I bought the D600 and lens separately and so it was an easy process to simply swap it and so I did.

I went with the 24-120VR for convenience rather than ultimate image quality since I have Zeiss ZF.2 primes for that. That said, the 24-120VR is a very versatile package and the VR comes in very handy for handheld work. You might want to think carefully about the 24-70 vs 24-120 decision as it's not as simple as it might seem. The 24-70 is a great lens and it's real strength is in lack of distortion. However, it isn't without it's own foibles.

 

[woodworth]

I think the way we disagree on the merits (or not) of the 24-85 VR or the 24-120 VR is simply a reflection of the requirements we have of the lens as well as the possible production quality variations that all manufacturers seem to have. I am certainly aware of people complaining that a particular lens is soft wide open whilst other do not seem to suffer from that issue, as an example.

Also it is noted that the various testers who publish their findings on line, such as Photozone, Thom Hogan or Ken Rockwell (amongst others) can have quite differing opinions of a lens. I tend to see what the consensus of opinion is and balance that with my user experience to get to some sort of working opinion.

My experience of the 24-120 has left me cold, it started off well enough and then became softer with use at the wide end for some reason. Maybe I had a lemon? My current experience of the 24-85 is favourable and whilst I don't pretend that it is to everyone's taste or capable of delivering the quality that any particular user may demand it seems acceptable for general purpose professional work with the advantage of being light and compact to boot. It works well enough on my D800 and that is enough for me to be content. Maybe yours wasn't up to the standard it should have been or perhaps I simply have lower standards (who knows?).

For a number of years I used the Minolta/Sony System (but have used Nikon since FM2 days as well) and found the little Minolta 24-105 to be a great general purpose lens even though many criticized it. It too wasn't perfect (perhaps far from it) but it met my needs well enough. My more expensive Zeiss 24-70/2.8 was much better in oh so many ways, but was a brute to carry around for a wedding or other long days work, hence the humble little 24-105. Horses for courses (as they say).

Certainly there seems to be a group of people on this site who like the 24-120 and I'm pleased that they have a favourable experience of that lens, others like me may prefer the 24-85. Both optics have their strengths and weaknesses.

It's a good thing that Nikon have provided us with a choice, perhaps I'll try another 24-120 some day or maybe there will be another alternative by then.

 

[GrahamWelland]

Here are some comparison shots at 120mm between D800 / D600 using 24-120VR at the same location. I typically shoot reference images at this place whenever I get new gear.

D800 is a full spectrum UV/IR camera so I have to use a hot-mirror filter which has some effect on white balance etc. It's why I bought the D600 actually.I could normalize the white balances I suppose but this was just a quick comparison for fun & giggles.

You're not really going to see the true differences here on a web jpg so I've cropped the same area for each image, although they are all down sampled to 1k pixels which kind of masks the resolution difference of the D800 - yes, it's there but not a HUGE difference. It's hardly definitive but it might be useful to someone.

Also included is an image taken with my D3x & Zeiss ZF 100/2. Btw, D600 images were handheld as I don't have a RRS plate for it yet. VR @ 1/320s. D800 and D3x were on a Cube/SGT5560 behemoth.

Conclusion? Err, I don't think that there is one other than I'm pretty pleased with the D600/24-120VR combo and that the Zeiss ZF 100/2 kicks butt and I need another one!

Btw, all processed in Capture NX2.

D600 24-120VR 120mm @ f/8

D600 Crop:

D800 Crop:

D3x Crop with Zeiss 100/2:

 

[Antonio Chagin]

Graham I need two lenses right now, a 28mm and 80mm. So I have two questions for you.
The 24-120 VR at 28 and 80 how do they behave and corners??
You use Zeiss lenses and also have a wide range zoom lens. DO you use it on your personal work or just for Pr stuff?
ACH

 

[GrahamWelland]

To be honest, if you spend the majority of your time at those two focal lengths then I might be inclined to go with a 28/85 prime pair. The zoom is great but not distortion free and so it really depends on your needs. A pair of the 1.8 primes or the better 1.4 primes would be better overall.

I can send you a set of test NEF files for 24-120 that I shot at 24/45/77/120 via dropbox if it would be helpful.

What I might suggest is going to lensrentals.com and consider renting a couple of lenses to try out. I've been doing that recently for my new Zeiss glass since they have them in stock. By comparison my Zeiss primes really do perform noticably better than the 24-120 zoom but are purely MF glass. If you want AF then you might want to look at the Nikon primes or why not try the 24-85VR or 24-120VR for yourself with your subject matter. Cheap to rent vs making a mistake.

 

[Antonio Chagin]

Yes your right, better to try it first before buying. I have a friend who's got the 24-85 VR. I'll ask him. Thanks for the files. I'll check them out.
ACH

 

[nikonf]

>like 28/50/85,

I have the 50mm f/1.8 and 85mm f/1.8. Right now the 28mm f/1.8 is on my list. I may not end up buying because we have the D800 and the Canon 5D2 as our second DSLR body.

:loco:I am thinking of picking up a Canon 5DMK2, since I shoot Nikon and Canon.
How does the 5DMK2 stack up against the D800E?
I will use it for MACRO, landscapes and with a TSE lens.
Many thanks,
Mike

 

[GrahamWelland]

:loco:I am thinking of picking up a Canon 5DMK2, since I shoot Nikon and Canon.
How does the 5DMK2 stack up against the D800E?
I will use it for MACRO, landscapes and with a TSE lens.
Many thanks,
Mike

Ask any 5dmkII user about shadow noise ... Just sayin'

 

[nikonf]

Ask any 5dmkII user about shadow noise ... Just sayin'

In other words, I would be better off dumping my Canon 180mm Macro and picking up the Nikkor 200mm Macro and using it with the D800E?
I also have the 70-200 f2.8 IS L and and 300mm f4 L which I only use for sports and action.

 

[GrahamWelland]

I take no sides in the canon vs Nikon "war". I'd ask folks with more canon experience about that one. My 5dmkII friends lament the performance of the canon in the shadows vs the D800 but that's only one aspect of ownership of either system. Ultimately, they're all excellent. :thumbs:

 

[Antonio Chagin]

Shadow Noise. That is one of the most important reasons I went from 5DMKII to Nikon D800. I don't know about the 5DMKIII but as seen from DP Review, the D600 would be better.

 

[Jan Brittenson]

In other words, I would be better off dumping my Canon 180mm Macro and picking up the Nikkor 200mm Macro and using it with the D800E?
I also have the 70-200 f2.8 IS L and and 300mm f4 L which I only use for sports and action.

Just to specifically answer your question - the 200/4 Macro is fabulous. The 70-200/2.8 VRII is stellar. And the 300/4 is excellent although lacks VR. So while I can't tell if you'd be better off, all of those lenses will definitely make the D800E sing and dance. (Presumably any other full 35mm frame Nikon camera as well, including the D600.)

 

[GrahamWelland]

This guy is actually pretty small! D600 & MB-D14 plus Zeiss nifty fifty ZF.2 50/1.4 ( I confess that I DO have reasonably large hands but not HUGE hands)

 

[nikonf]

Just to specifically answer your question - the 200/4 Macro is fabulous. The 70-200/2.8 VRII is stellar. And the 300/4 is excellent although lacks VR. So while I can't tell if you'd be better off, all of those lenses will definitely make the D800E sing and dance. (Presumably any other full 35mm frame Nikon camera as well, including the D600.)

Thanks for the info. I guess I should not pick up the 5DMK2, even though the price just dropped significantly. The SENSOR is 4 years old and there have been significant improvements in sensor technology lately.
The only problem is that I have the original Canon 5D and it is a real pain in the arse - being a DUST MAGNET and only 12MP, although I love the beautiful macros I can capture with the 180mm Macro L.:deadhorse:

 

[kenken]

compare with ams***

 

[manouch shirzad]

Here are some comparison shots at 120mm between D800 / D600



D600 24-120VR 120mm @ f/8

D600 Crop:

D800 Crop:

D3x Crop with Zeiss 100/2:

Graham,
From these Jpegs I can not make any judgement on the sharpness of those pictures but on my calibrated monitor the file from D800 looks more natural and colors are more pleasant, may be just a touch cold
Best,
________
Manouch

 

[GrahamWelland]

Manouch

Ultimately I could make them all look identical in reality. The only real difference is the white balance. The d800 image is from my full spectrum camera and requires a hot mirror UV/IR filter which shifts WB slightly.

I agree about the problem of comparing jpgs - I can post some raw NEF if people want to look for themselves. To be honest it was more of a lens test with the 24-120VR.

 

[woodworth]

Well, I'm about to get my D600 (it has finally come down to a reasonable price in the UK!) and I'm keen to try it out. It arrives on Tuesday, so Tuesday morning will be a bit of fun! Sorry couldn't resist posting, feel like a kid at Christmas even after 28 years in the profession!

 

[GrahamWelland]

Well, I'm about to get my D600 (it has finally come down to a reasonable price in the UK!) and I'm keen to try it out. It arrives on Tuesday, so Tuesday morning will be a bit of fun! Sorry couldn't resist posting, feel like a kid at Christmas even after 28 years in the profession!

I'm sure that you'll be very pleased. Other than the stupid multi-selector zoom button functionality being removed I'm very very happy with mine. :thumbup: