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Nikkor AF-S 24-120mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED VR - Review / Lab Test Report |
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Lens Reviews -
Nikon / Nikkor (APS-C)
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Page 1 of 2
Review by Klaus Schroiff, published May 2006
Lens kindly provided by Horst Schneider!
Introduction
The Nikkor AF-S 24-120mm f/3.5-5.6 IF-ED VR is the latest incarnation of
Nikon's highly successful 24-XXXmm zoom series that started with the 24-50mm
back in the mid 90s.
The AF-S 24-120mm VR is a full format lens and as such usable on all Nikon SLRs
that are compatible to G class lenses without aperture ring.
However, within the scope we'll have a look how the lens performs
on the Nikon D200 (APS-C DSLR) where its field-of-view is equivalent
to 36-180mm (5x ratio). The 1.5x crop factor is a little unfortunate here
because the lenses looses quite a bit of its sex-appeal by loosing the highly
useful moderate ultra-wide setting but it can be still considered
as a standard zoom with a pronounced tele range.
One key selling feature is, naturally, the VR (Vibration Reduction) mechanism.
The camera motion is detected by 2 gyro sensors which measure the angle and
speed of the shake. This information is used to shift a lens group off the
optical axis (a forced decentering) to counteract this motion. The result is
a significant improvement of handholdability under extreme conditions.
The 24-120mm has a 1st generation VR and Nikon claims an extra potential equivalent
to 3 f-stops.
The mechanical construction of the lens is closely related to the new
AF-S 18-200mm VR (or vice versa). The build quality is decent but nothing
to rave about due to the extensive usage of average quality plastics.
Both the zoom and focus action feel reasonably smooth across the range.
As you can see above the lens uses a duo-cam design to extend towards
the long end of the zoom range and attaching the supplied petal-type hood
adds a few cm. Thanks to an IF (Internal focusing) design the front does
not rotate so using a polarizer is no problem. The lens features a
silent-wave (ultrasonic) AF motor resulting in fast and near silent AF
operations.
| Specifications |
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| Equiv. focal length | 36-180 mm (full format equivalent) |
| Equiv. aperture | f/5.3-f/8.4 (full format equivalent, in terms of depth-of-field) |
| Optical construction | 15 elements in 13 groups inc. 2 ED and 2 aspherical elements |
| Number of aperture blades | 7 (rounded) |
| min. focus distance | 0.5 m (max. magnification ratio 1:4.8) |
| Dimensions | 77 x 94 mm |
| Weight | 575 g |
| Filter size | 72 mm (non-rotating) |
| Hood | Nikon HB-25 (supplied), petal-shaped |
| Other features | Lens provides distance (D). VR (Vibration Reduction). |
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