Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsVR is worth it!
Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2015
I own both this one, the Tamron 24-70 VR, and the old Nikon 24-70mm NON-VR, and this is the best, but the Tamron is not too far behind. Physical handling wise, this feels better on the hand, because it is longer and slimmer than the Tamron and is so more balanced. Although both take 82mm filter, it seems for some reason the Nikon feel slimmer on the hand.
Picture quality wise, I tried taking pictures with both my Tamron and this Nikon, and the difference was negligible. Of course my review is very non-scientific, but I do like the VR very much. I took a picture at 1/2 second of a piece of paper without VR, and of course, it was very blurry. I took the same picture with VR on, and it was almost perfectly readable. I took a second picture ,and it was 100% readable. Overall, the VR was very good! I would say at least 3-4 stops easily. Autofocusing is very fast......faster and more predicable than the Tamron.
Overall, if you are on a budget, I would highly recommend the Tamron which also has VR and I have been using it for more than 1 year. The only problem with the Tamron is autofocus. It will focus perfectly 98% of the time, but you will miss a picture 2% of the time, whereas, with my nikon lens, autofocus is almost 100%. I am not a pro, so I don't mind the 1-2% miss rate.
If you are looking to see whether you should upgrade if you have the non-VR Nikon lens, my opinion is a definite yes. Most people don't think VR will help, until they use it. Before, without my Tamron, I was very nervous using my nikon indoors without flash. There was always a chance of blur. With this new lens, I am very confident using it shutter at 1/30 or even 1/15. At speed under this, I am still able to get some very sharp images, but I would check and possibly take a second picture to be sure.
In conclusion, VR is highly recommended. If you are on a budget, get the Tamron. If you are thinking whether you need to upgrade to VR, I highly recommend you do. This is a very nice, but expensive lens.
