Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G ED AF-S Nikkor Wide Angle Zoom Lens

just got this lens today and i've test fired a couple dozen shots. you guys could see them in the customer photo section of this product. my pics are the ones at the farmers market mostly. very very nice PQ/IQ sharp as hell. my only dilemma is, i'm not sure if perhaps mine has a unique problem but when I zoom the lens in and out, it's does NOT feel buttery smooth. is that how it's suppose to feel? i dont hear any noises but something tells me that it should be wayyyy smoother and not feel like there's something resisting the twist. I dont want to say i feel like it's grinding, I just think for the price and quality it should be smooth as butter when i zoom in and out. can someone advice me if i should exchange it for a different unit or is that normal? and it's not really that heavy at all, i dont know why that's the number complaint of most who have used it.

Nikons 24 - 70 f/2.8 , can only be improved by changing it to an f/2 vr , period.
Just holding it in hand - beautifully designed & yes of course tac sharp w/extremely fast a-focus .

We shoot both Canon & Nikon's flagship cameras in our studio operation : I must say the workmanship on the Nikon is superior to Canon's counterpart , In My Opinion.

Gave up the 18-200mm's convenience for the 24-70mm's quality. I noticed an immediate difference in image quality with this lens. It's fast to focus, sharp at all apertures, and just a plain joy to use. Only issue with it is its weight, although it's balanced on Nikon's larger bodies.

I actually replaced the original Nikon 28-70mm f/2.8 lens with this one because I like to shoot wide open, and the new version is a tad better at maximum aperture, and has less tendency to flare. It's about the same weight as "The Beast" however, so there is no savings there. Because of its better performance wide open, I am using this more than I did the old lens. My cost difference was $500 after I sold the original lens, so I consider it to be a wonderful investment.

Beautiful optics and excellent sharpness, even at 2.8. Bokeh is great though not as good as the 85 1.4 or 70-200 2.8 VR2. I use with my D3 and love, love, love this lens.

Only real downsides in my opinion are (1) lack of VR and (2) distortion that is, in my view, a little bit excessive at extreme ends. However given that this is easily rectified in Photoshop if one needs/wants to be picky about it, not a big deal at all.

I would highly recommend this as a mainstay for any serious Nikon shooter and it is one of two of my primary use lenses (the other being the 70-200 Vr2.)