New Glass

Sold on eBay

Nikon 24-120 VR  vs  Nikon 24-85

The rumors from last two years about two new Nikon lenses became fact in 2010 with the release of the 28-300mm and the 24-120mm, both with VR (vibration reduction).  After the Med trip I was ready to sell the 24-85mm, which is a great lens, however, it requires a moderate amount of light and only goes to 85mm.  I found myself taking the lens off and putting on a 70-200mm for people shots.  It did not have enought telephoto for portrait shots walking around.  I then had to decide which new Nikon to purchase.  I thought about this long and hard.  Both lens are superior travel lenses.  I looked at the photos from the Med trip and found that I took more wide angle photos at 24mm than all other ranges.  In fact I carried a heavy Nikon 16-35mm f/4 for extremely wide angle photos, mainly in buildings like churches where there is limited lighting.  So I chose the 24-120mm, bought it, sold the 24-85mm for about what I paid for it years ago.  The 24-120mm is a 77mm AFS VR lens and it is very, very sharp.

My next project was to eliminate taking the heavy 16-35mm wide angle zoom with me.  I decided to go with a prime 20mm f/2.8 wide angle.  I had one years ago and regeted the day I sold it on ebay.  l found a replacement and bought it.  The 16-35mm will now stay at home and the small, light-weight 20mm will go with me in the bag and transferred to my vest pocket when walking around.



20mm f/2.8



I put a lot of thought time in to trying to reduce how much gear to carry while traveling.  It made no sense to me to carry a big heavy lens like the 16-35mm if I used it sparingly.  The smaller, faster 20mm fits in my vest pocket and will get used often on our next trip.  





16-35mm f/4