On Sun, 07 Jul 2002 19:52:18 GMT, Julian Vrieslander wrote:

>In article ,
> T.P. wrote:
>
>> The new 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5G AF-S replaces the previous 24-85mm
>> f/2.8-4.0D AF-S which was a very disappointing lens.

>For some people, the older 24-85 might be a better choice, with several
>advantages over the newer model:
>
>manual aperture ring, compatible with older cameras
>one more stop of light gathering power
>max repro ratio of 1:2 (newer model is 1:1.47)

I recently "rediscovered" the wonderful Nikkor
24-120mm f3.5-5.6, and while this one may appear
at first look to be very slow, keep in mind that
unlike almost all other zooms, this one is good
to the corners wide open at all FLs and normal
focus distances - and at 85mm, it is not much
slower than even the 24-85 f2.8-4. The widest
"good" aperture, then, is roughly the same (or
wider) than it is for most other zooms within
its range... The 24-120 also has the still-useful
aperture ring (and most zooms with high-magnification
macro are not very sharp at the edges near maximum
magnification...). For more, see:
www.David-Ruether-Photography.com/slemn.html and the review
of the 24-120 listed under "I babble" at this URL:
www.David-Ruether-Photography.com/articles.html.