Thanks for the input guys! I'm actually looking to get the new D850 as the D810 greatly surpasses all other full frame cameras in terms of dynamic range, in which case the D850 will likely inherit this quality. Since the D850 will likely have a 42-46MP sensor, lens resolution would be a very important thing and thus the reason why I am considering the 24-70 even though the F2.8 isn't really needed.
I personally prefer zoom lenses as I found the conditions for landscape shooting very limiting most of the times, especially when your camera is mounted on a tripod. I also try to minimise the frequency of lens changing while outdoors to minimise the chance that I will drop my lens by mistake at the same time prevent dust from getting into the mirror(my current D7000 has a very dirty mirror).
As for the 16-35, see the links below:
Nikon 16-35mm f/4G AF-S VR Nikkor Lens Image Quality
Above is a comparison at F8 for the 16-35 against the 18-35 at F3.5. As you can see the extreme corners of the 16-35 remains mushy even stopped down to F8, and certainly a lot worse than the 18-35 wide open.
Nikon 16-35mm f4G VR review - Page 2 of 4 - Cameralabs
Above includes a large distance test conducted by cameralabs, while it appears that borders(not corners) of the 16-35 does not appear to be as bad as the corners in the close-range test shots, it is nonetheless unimpressive for an F4 lens. This corner blurriness that remains even when stopped down to F11 has been documented in many sources and appears to be a design flaw instead of individual differences
As for now I will likely decide to choose the 24-70 G and the 18-35, might add the 24-120 as a kit lens together with the D850 although it doesn't seem to have much of an advantage at anything apart from being slightly lighter, I haven't really decided yet. The problem is that if I buy it as a kit lens I probably won't get to exchange it if I get a lemon, which seems to be a common thing lately as all QC of the major Japanese camera/lens manufacturers seem to have slipped. I had originally intended to get the 24-120 however I was quite disappointed at the corners after comparison with the 24-70 G.
As for the zoom ring issue of the 24-70 G, lensrentals data from 2012 and onwards seem to indicate that the 24-70 G has a relatively low service rate compared to the 70-200 and 14-24, which both suffer from stiff zoom ring issues, although for some strange reason aren't as infamous as the "Nikon 24-70 zoom grind". I heard that the loose screw in the zoom mechanism has been fixed in newer batches of the 24-70 G lens, however it is still possible to jam your zoom ring by deforming the zoom barrel either by shocking or smacking the extended front tube or storing it in a way that allows gravity to bend the lens body due to its massive weight(although I have no idea if this even makes sense...).
I did consider the Tamron 24-70 VC, however decided not to go for it for three reasons: 1) 82mm filter instead of 77; 2) weaker corner resolution; 3) higher chance of focusing issues. The first two are my main concern as I am not willing to drop several hundred dollars to buying a new set of filters for a potentially weaker lens. The same goes for the Nikon 24-70 VR, despite having better performance it is simply too huge.
