I mean, you must ask yourself the question – how many 24mm zooms does one man need?
Horses for courses – there’s always a good excuse to buy another lens, but in this situation is does seem slightly bonkers to own four 24mm zoom lenses – here’s my story.
These are ‘my’ four – and I’m certain that I can convince (myself) why I need all four.
24-70 f/4 S
This was my first foray lens purchased on my first NIKON Z6 – I admit to having doubts about the quality from the outset after having used the excellent AF-S f/2.8 on my DSLRs for some years. The first results put my mind completely at ease – stunning from a so-called ‘budget’ lens, there’s nothing budget about the quality of the images. Added to the fact that it’s a remarkably compact design (and no, I don’t like to have to un-lock it to use it!) this was a very pleasant surprise and I use this regularly.
Recommended for travel (compact, light)
24-70 f2.8 S
This was the first of the ‘Holy Trinity’ f2.8 zooms that I purchased – well before the 14-24 and the 70-200. And it stood up to all the reviews I’d read – excellent quality, nothing much to say aside from the fact that it’s a large, heavy lens, which more than makes up for these little quibbles with the quality of the images, even wide open.
Recommended for it’s high quality.
24-120 f/4 S
This is an f/4 too, but still an ‘S’ lens – people still have the AF-S version in mind (not so hot…) but this lens has worked very well for me. I purchased it to have that little bit extra reach – which for concert or circus photography can be REALLY useful when you can’t move around a lot.
Recommended for use in ‘difficult’ environments, stage, concerts etc.
24-200 f/4-6,3
This is my most recent purchase, and while not being considered by NIKON as an ‘S’ lens, the results I’ve seen (and the general ‘noise’ on Internet) show that this gives very good results. I purchased this as strictly for travel – I would love to be able to cart around a host of f/2.8 lenses but frankly I haven’t got the stamina for that now, so a wide to medium telephoto seemed like a good idea – I appreciate the perspective compression at the 200 end, and the few tests I’ve down so far show I’m on the right track.
Recommended for travel (compact, light)
NIKON have recently announced a 24-400 F/4-8 super zoom which is also not an ‘S’ lens. It’s 141mm long which makes it actually longer than the 24-70 f/2.8 S so I’d have hesitations calling it a ‘travel’ lens, but then there’s the 400m end which makes this a 14x magnification!