It is extremely sharp and the Nano glass does a fantastic job of cutting down on reflections, resulting in better color and contrast; the benefits of the Nano coating is best seen in wideangle lenses where light comes in at a sharp angle.
That being said, I love the color and contrast I'm getting with this lens, but for some reason, its sharpness gets to me a somewhat. I can't quite put my finger on what it is that is irritating me and all I can really say is that the sharpness is quite "jarring", sort of like an "in-your-face" feeling.
Perhaps it's in the way the sharp areas transit into the out-of-focus areas of the image :dunno: somehow I prefer what I see in the 70-200 f/2.8 or the 50 f/1.4 or the 85 f/1.4. I just can't quite put my finger on it :mad2:
And unfortunately, I seem to have less of this issue with the Tamron 28-75 f/2.8, which is almost as sharp but doesn't have the smooth bokeh and great colors that the Nikkor 24-70 f/2.8 has. :faint:
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