How is a zoom aperture fixed?

Does a Nikon fixed aperture zoom take better pictures?

• If I make an exposure at f11 1/640 with fixed aperture Nikon zoom lens and then I take the same scene with the same settings but with a variable aperture Nikon zoom then will the two photos have the same quality?

• Answer:

  Under the same circumstances they will be nearly the same, give they are shot at the same focal length. But there is no way to know which will perform the best if you do a technical inspection of the results. If I had my choice, I would much rather have a 24-70 mm that was f/2.0~2.8 than the current f/2.8 one. Fixed aperture zooms are interesting, but neutering the short end of the zoom just to make the lens the same aperture throughout the whole zoom lens is to me sad