Nikon 18-35, 17-35 & 16-35 VR

I have used all 3 of the above lenses at some point in time.
Having shot film for many years before digital, i had used a F100 with the 17-35 AF-S F2.8. An outstanding lens for film, in-fact using Velvia 50 with the F100 and 17-35 gave trully fantastic results at F2.8 or F22.
On Digital however, there are different results. The 18-35 i had owned for two weeks, i never enjoyed my experience with this lens. On the D3, it flared quite a bit, the IQ wasnt anything to shout about, and overall this lens never produced shots that gave good dimension and pop to say a 24-70. This lens is the sister version of the AF-S F2.8. I was reunited with a excellent 17-35 AF-S recently and whilst this lens was better than the 18-35, again, i just didnt see results in how i saw them in the film days. Maybe this was a bad copy, there have been reports of varying QC issues with this lens. But when we look back in the film days, we didnt have these issues. Speaking to someone in the know, the micro fine tolerance levels of the digital sensor and focal plane could be one of the reasons for this issue. the thickness of film may have also given lenses a bit more tolerance and not *as critical* to what digital is now. Who knows.!!!! We have AF fine tuning in most modern digital cameras these days.. there must be a reason for this.
In anycase, i did a quick 17-35 and 16-35 test on the weekend, at vanbar, inside their showroom. Both at F4 as the 16-35 has a max. aperture of F4. The quick results i saw is that the 16-35 looks much better in the corners, the slightly crisper image perhaps from the nano coating, however the overall sharpness, both are about even. Im not technically minded to do all these scientific tests, however the inital results ultimately gave me reason to send the 17-35 and swap for a 16-35. This lens may not be for everyone and my copy of the 17-35 may infact have some flaws, sample variation could be the reason.
ECS will be sending me a 16-35 this week and the addition of Vibration Reduction (VR) will give me some interesting ideas for up & coming car shoots.