Nikkor 24-70 vs 24-70 VR

[John Harkus]

Hi all, thinking of buying one of the Nikon 24-70 f/2.8 variants secondhand.
I know that the test results say that the new VR version is a big improvement over the older version, would appreciate some feedback from those that have used both.
Thanks

John H

[longzoom]

Hi all, thinking of buying one of the Nikon 24-70 f/2.8 variants secondhand.
I know that the test results say that the new VR version is a big improvement over the older version, would appreciate some feedback from those that have used both.
Thanks

John H

      If you have any plans to go mirrorless, get the S version, which is better than VR one.  Even if my copy of Tam G2 is equal or a hair sharper than VR, S version is better than anything among 24-70, made by Nikon before. LZ

[pluton]

The earlier Nikon 24-70/2.8G is well-known to have issues with the zoom control becoming stiff or jammed if heavily used.

[Hugh_3170]

Yes, that happened with my copy.  I understand that a permanent fix was implemented by Nikon.  If buying a second hand copy, it would pay to see if the fix has been implemented. 

(That model also had an extremely minor light leak issue that could give rise to artifacts in the case of very long time expsoures.  A fix was also issued for this as well; else dark tape over the top side window cured the problem.)

The earlier Nikon 24-70/2.8G is well-known to have issues with the zoom control becoming stiff or jammed if heavily used.

[John Geerts]

Nikon made a million copies of the 24-70/2.8 G 

Perhaps the early copies had some 'problems'. But everything (especially claims and negative news) on the Internet is exaggerated, it does not really become clear what a 'user' did with a lens. 

With regard to the non-vr version, there are some You Tube instruction films regarding fixing the zoom. 

The new version is new, so, if problems should arise,  the future will learn 

Apart from all this, the older version appears to be a bit sharper and better at close range, the later version is better with corners but differences are very minimal.

[Erik Lund]

IMHO there are several differences between the two, as pointed out in this thread, it's been 4 years but this is how I still feel after using it a a go to lens for all 'normal' shooting:

https://nikongear.net/revival/index.php?topic=1865.msg34627#msg34627
 It's still big and heavy but it gets the job done
As with all 'extending' zoom lens designs, they are prone togetting stiff if knocked or dropped on the front part of the lens, no matter what version or age, so keep the lens hood on for protection!