scrane

When the 24-105 first came out I criticized a guy who gave a review saying the 24-105 was sharp at all focal lengths at all apertures. I told him no zoom is sharp at all focal lengths at all apertures. Well, it turns out I was wrong. My 24-105 is just amazing.

If you can put up with manual focus the new Voigtlander 40/1.2 is sharp, colorful, has great bokeh, and is actually usable at f1.2.

The 24-105 is a very sharp and versatile zoom. It is well worth owning. I would go with your plan B. Keep the faster 55 and supplement it with the zoom as finances allow.

Check out for yourself using this comparison tool: https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ISO-12233-Sample-Crops.aspx?Lens=1176&Camera=1175&Sample=0&FLI=0&API=0&LensComp=1105&CameraComp=1106&SampleComp=0&FLIComp=0&APIComp=2

I know that the 24-105 initially had problems with focus shift due to assembly problems that were quickly corrected, but I have heard nothing about decentering issues. I have a 24-105 and it is a very, very sharp lens throughout its range. Can you elaborate?

As reported on FM and DPR all samples with sn 180xxxx have been ok, but about 50% of samples with sn 181xxxx have been bad. When using AF-S, the camera focuses wide open and the stops down to shooting aperture and the resulting photo is very much out of focus if a aperture outside of f4 is used. Using AF-C the camera focuses at shooting aperture and the problem will not manifest itself.

The 28/2.8 (AIs only) is one of Nikon's best.

There is a lot of discussions on other forums concerning aperture dependent focus shift on a considerable percentage of the new lens. If your test shots were made at any aperture outside of f4 this might explain your problem.