Ok, so I returned the aforementioned Nikon 12-24mm f/4 AF-S DX back to Adorama via USPS Priority Mail on Friday (~$10 for shipping, $10 for insurance and signature release, ouch!). It gets delivered on Monday morning and by evening, I get an email from Adorama saying my credit card has been refunded minus the shipping charges. No questions asked, very impressed at the speed, especially since they estimated a week for this to happen.
Basically I decided to ship the thing back cause it was defective? Question mark because all of the reviews I read indicated that this was one sharp lens. My sample was not at all by an obvious margin, I mean all the shots taken brought up question marks, like this can’t be a Nikon lens. My 18~135mm was a lot better, really negating the need for this lens in my world. Initially I was willing to go heavier for sharpness and a slightly wider view but this has taught me that I probably won’t need the latter for most my shooting.
Part of me is also afraid to try another copy refurbished or new. I’m fairly certain it was an inspection problem, the first owner noticed something wrong, returned it, Nikon “refurbished” it, where it found it’s way back to me. Unfortunately it seems that the process used by Nikon is not sufficient to weed out all flaws, or the packing is not adequate to handling shipping. This “lesson” cost approximately $30, $10 from Adorama to me, and $20 for return shipping. I can’t afford to find out the cause, and have learned enough from the experience.
I’ve attached a couple of shots, the 12-24 basically gave me a “halo” effect which was noticible throughout the range as blurryness. The pictures are at 100% and about a quarter of the frame.
