Nikon’s 24-70mm f/2.8 Z-Mount Lens is ‘The New Benchmark’: DxOMark

We’ll start with the conclusion. DxOMark has dubbed Nikon’s NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S lens “the new benchmark for 24-70mm lenses.” The lens’ overall score of 36 makes it the best 24-70mm f/2.8 lens DxOMark has ever tested, and the 5th best zoom lens overall. Not too shabby.

You can read the full review here, but suffice it to say the lens does well in almost every category.

The areas where the lens struggles the most are distortion at the extreme ends of the zoom range—which DxO points out is corrected automatically by the built-in RAW profile—and vignetting at f/2.8. It’s also extremely sharp, but not quite as sharp as the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM or Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM.

Where the lens really shines is in the chromatic aberration score, where the Nikon 24-70 outperforms just about everybody. “A score of just 5 microns for chromatic aberration places the Nikon lens among the very best zoom lenses that we’ve tested,” writes the lab. This, together with great—if not class leading—performance in most other areas inspired DxO to dub the NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/2.8 lens “the new benchmark for 24-70mm lenses.”

Here’s snippet from DxOMark’s conclusion:

Many professional photographers consider their 24-70mm f/2.8 their standard, everyday workhorse optic. The Nikkor Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S sets a new benchmark by which other 24-70mm lenses will be judged.

[…]

If you want the best all-around image quality from a 24-70mm lens, the Nikon Nikkor Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S is the lens to go for.

Head over to DxOMark` to dive into the full review or compare the NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S against its closest competition from Canon or Sony. And if you’re interested in picking the lens up, you can snag one online for $2,300.