Let’s be clear: this lens is all about expectations. If a reviewer wants to rip it up, they can. It’s got barrel distortion at the wide end and pincushion in the middle. It’s soft in the corners and has some lateral chromatic aberration. Autofocus speed isn’t slow, but you’re not going to catch action sports with it, either. And wide open at the wide end it’s got a fair bit of vignetting. For any particular purpose you can find a better lens.

But that’s not what this is about. This lens does something that is really remarkable: it gives FX shooters a single-lens solution that gives good, sharp images from 28-300mm. If that was an easy thing, it would have been done before now. If it was an easy thing, Canon’s 28-300 wouldn’t be 3 times longer, 2.5 times more expensive, and twice as heavy. This, my friends, is a remarkable lens. As a vacation lens, a walkaround lens, and outdoor do-everything lens its just amazing. Lets put it in perspective: from 28-120 its just about as good (although not as wide an aperture) as the 24-120, plus you get the extra range at a lower price. An amazing thing Nikon has accomplished here.

Will fine-art, landscape, and wedding photographers be waiting in line to get a copy? Probably not. Will about a million other people be taking it on vacation? Absolutely!