I continue to marvel at the phenomenal level of acuity with the Nikon "Trinity" lenses, 14-24, 24-70, 70-200. For deliberate, carefully framed tripod images, they are exquisite. If an image falls short, that's on me, no excuses. The Z-mount 24-120 paired with the old F-mount 70-300 (crazily, my all-time favorite lens) are perfect for excellent quality architecture/abstracts when handheld is a must, and weight concerns are secondary. The 100-400 is a specialty lens for me that, when needed, produces outstanding results, Thom Hogan notwithstanding :).

Which brings me to my most recent purchase, the much heralded and equally maligned 24-200 superzoom. Being Mr. Cheap, the Nikon 3-day refurbished sale was too much to resist, so for $590, it was on the doorstep in two days. A lens known for copy variance plus being refurbished was a risky bet, but it seems to have paid off.

Marie and I have an overseas trip planned for late Fall and it will require traveling super light (all public transportation), but the images will still be important to me. Hence the new purchase. I am pairing it with the S-line 14-30, a quite nicely performing, very compact wide-angle. It, too, was a successful refurb purchase.

The lens reviews suggest pairing the 24-200 with entry level cameras. So, of course, I violated the first rule of image quality by putting a non-S-Line lens on a Z7ii. After several test-drives, my impression is that the Z7ii frequently elevates the lens performance by virtue of the high-quality capture data. Does it have limitations? Absolutely, but as I fail, succeed, learn, the images improve :) Learning the quirks of any lens improves results. The 24-200 reviews say it is soft at 200mm, and that can be true. It is particularly fussy about shutter speed and aperture at that focal length, but it can also produce surprisingly sharp images that you would be hard pressed to differentiate from the S-Line lenses. My very unscientific guess is the image-stabilization sometimes gets pushed past its capabilities at that focal length.

The biggest surprise for me, which still mystifies, is that I am having a lot of fun just knocking about with it. There has been a certain freeing effect that I can't quite articulate, and that's been a good thing.

This may well be the agile travel kit I have sought!