http://www.photozone.de/Reviews/46-nikon--nikkor-aps-c/377-nikkor_1685_3556vr?start=1

The hottest consumer lens on the market right now, the Nikon 16-85 DX VR, has been reviewed by PhotoZone, a pretty trustworthy site when it comes to "sterile" lab-style lens tests.

The dang thing clocks in at over 2200 "lines" of resolution. If that number doesn't inherently make you drool, then trust me, you probably DON'T want me to explain it, either. Suffice it to say that the number 2200 is about as good as it gets, even for pro-series lenses. You ONLY see 2300 in an elite handful lenses out there, by stopping down one or two stops. And SOME lenses don't even crack 2000 or 2100 wide open. Not to start a fight or anything, but a few Canon L lenses (and Nikon "pro" lenses with the gold ring around the front instead of Canon's red L ring) come to mind. This thing is probably sharper dead-center / wide open than most of your "pro" f/2.8 or f/4 Canon or Nikon zooms / primes. And the corners are quite sharp too.

No wonder it's $700! I knew at that price that it HAD to be sharp as heck, and I was right. But, there's no such thing as a free lunch, and what the 16-85 boasts in resolution, it makes up for (in the bad sense) by having a little bit of distortion, light falloff, and chromatic aberration... In this digital age though, those are the kinds of things that software can automatically eliminate, in fact the D3 (and maybe the D300?) has a BUILT IN chromatic aberration removal system.

Bottom line: I'm a huge stickler for "no compromises" when it comes to picture quality, and I WANT this lens. To the point that I'm thinking if I owned one, I'd almost completely stop using my 17-55 f/2.8 DX...

But alas, 2008 is not a camera "toys" year, sadly. Maybe I'll get it as a wedding present to myself in 2009... Along with those Galen Rowell 20x30's that I've always wanted...

Take care,
=Matt=