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AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II

£0.5£1Clearance
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Login to access your dashboard, watch tutorials, submit photos for critiques and and get recognized for awards. The very first question I respond with is, what do you use your 70-200 for? Because in the case of both Nikon and Canon, the mk1 versions are good enough for many different kinds of work, while others will indeed “demand” that you upgrade to the mk2. The Nikon 70-200mm lenses The 70-200mm covers all of the most useful portrait ranges; 85mm, 105mm and 200mm. Its 4.6 feet close focus capability also makes this the go to tele-zoom when shooting formal or environmental portraits. Technology Even more important is that while the rated close-focus distance isn't that much closer, the older 70-200s cheated and weren't really 200mm at their close-focus distances. Build quality is similar to the majority of Nikon lenses we have tested so far. Most exterior parts are made of plastic, but that doesn't stop the lens from feeling solid and substantial in the hand.

What about bokeh, you might ask? Let’s take a look at how the two lenses compare. First, let’s start by comparing the highlights (Left: Nikon 70-200mm f/4G VR, Right: Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G VR II):To say that a lens, which drops 40-70mm of reach in typical portrait/wedding/party type shooting "bothers" some people is a bit of an understatement. The purpose of teleconverters is to increase the focal length of lenses, in other words to get closer to subjects, and the TC-20E III is the biggest and the longest teleconverter manufactured by Nikon – it doubles the focal length of a lens. While this teleconverter works with any professional Nikon lens that can take teleconverters, it is specifically designed to work with fast prime lenses with an aperture of f/2.8 and larger. The Nikon TC-20E III is targeted at sports, wildlife and other types of telephoto photography where the photographer cannot physically approach subjects. A NIKKOR lens in which only the internal lens group shifts during focusing. Thus, IF NIKKORS do not change in size during AF operation, allowing for compact, lightweight lenses capable of closer focusing distances. These lenses will be designated with the abbreviation IF on the lens barrel. Zoom is now a separate ring instead of push-pull combined with focus as every previous production lens has been. Nikon's Nano-Crystal-Coat does a sterling job of minimising flare and ghosting and the lens performs well for a design comprised of so many elements. A lens constructed of 21 elements in 16 groups would normally be an absolute nightmare for this. With a strong light source placed just out of the image, some ghosting and loss of contrast is present, but not to anywhere near the extent of the previous model. Shooting straight at a strong light source is also surprisingly ghost-free, with only a small amount of blooming around the edges of the light source.

DXO Mark 2013: “[it] has no significant weaknesses and is the best zoom lens you can mount on a Nikon Full Frame body. If your photography demands a medium telephoto zoom with a fast maximum aperture that will deliver across the board, but par If you’re the type of person who loves spoilers, here it is: You could probably shoot your entire career without ever upgrading and be just fine. The mk1’s, as well as most of the even older lenses and third-party lenses, are all really good. So, let’s not get into an argument about whether or not a lens can “get the job done”. They all can. I’m not a fan of upgrading your equipment simply because something new came out! We are just going to discuss the various reasons why you might decide to upgrade, or which lens to invest in if you are totally new to this category of lenses. What Type Of Photography Do You Shoot With Your 70-200? Distance information is relayed to the camera, so the Nikon body can do all the advanced exposure-related stuff with this lens. But this is true for all alternatives too. [+] The score in the “features-department” is 1[-]/5[0]/7[+]. The minus-point being the steep price. But the price is only high compared to third party alternatives. If you compare the lens to offerings from Sony and Canon you could as well say that the Nikon is comparatively priced. MotivationThe Nikon 70-200mm f/4G looks a little worse in the center as the 70-200mm f/2.8G (which is razor sharp stopped down), but take a look at the corners – it clearly resolves more details in comparison. The previous generation 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR was nowhere close in comparison with the 1.7x TC. On the first generation 70-200mm VR, the lens would have a hard time acquiring focus with a 1.7x TC in anything but ideal light. This lens focused marginally better in a similar environment with the same teleconverter. Again, stopping down improves sharpness quite a bit, especially towards the edges of the frame. Although I no longer have my old 70-200mm lens (I sold it at a higher price than what I paid for it 3 years ago) to compare with, I feel that the bokeh actually looks better on this lens than on its predecessor. I went through some of my archived images and I can say that the bokeh on the previous 70-200mm does look a little harsher, although I rarely shot the older lens wide open, due to softness at very large apertures between f/2.8 and f/4.

samples from a center crop from a Vr1 and a Vr II...the vr1 was a used example that the shop had ..I almost went for it..but after seeing the crops and because I wanted to use a 1.7x TC with the lens I opted for the VII Lastly, it does have a slight improvement in the stabilization however I personally don’t consider this to be a huge difference since I’m a little oldschool and I believe in trying to shoot as steady as possible, or from a tripod / monopod even. Where the "II" does not refer to the type of VR employed in the lens, but rather, it refers to the entire lens as the second version (or MkII if you like) of this lens.Nikon gelded (removed) the aperture ring to save money, which renders this lens useless with manual-focus cameras. That's the " G" in the model name, and it's a handicap, not a feature. A noteworthy feature on the 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S is that the front element has a fluorine coating that repels dust, water droplets, and fingerprints. Although this is far from the only Nikon Z lens with a fluorine coated front element, it’s a good complement to the rest of the lens’s weatherproofing features. In windy, rainy, and dusty conditions, we never had any issues with the front of the 70-200mm f/2.8 S getting covered in grime. It handled well in every condition we threw at it. NIKON Z 7 II + NIKKOR Z 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S @ 77mm, ISO 64, 1/125, f/8.0

A stabilized 2.9x zoom with a focal range of 70-200mm is an excellent complement to a 24-70mm standard zoom on an FX body. The Nikon has a constant f2.8 aperture that is sought after by photographers who need to capture fast moving action or isolate the subject with a shallow depth of field. Its zoom range is flexible enough to capture most action that is a little further away: A person can be captured full-hight in landscape orientation from around 17m distance on a full-frame body (or from 25m distance on a DX-body). Alternatives Just like I thought, the Nikon 70-200mm f/4G turned out to be one hell of a lens. And my lab tests using Imatest fully support this data – the lens outperforms its bigger brother in a number of ways: Due to the use of low dispersion glass, Chromatic Aberrations are very well controlled peaking at around 0.8 pixel widths at 135mm towards the edges of the image area. At both the long and short ends of the zoom range are of little concern and barely register 0.25 pixel widths. Most people will struggle to notice this, even if they go hunting for it. The original Nikon 70-200 2.8 VR probably has a slight edge over the original Canon 70-200 2.8 L IS. I am basing this off both the actual optical performance as well as the resale value. In other words, people seem to still desire the older version of the Nikon a little bit more than the older version of the Canon. The not yet released Tamron SP AF 70-200mm 2.8 Di VC USD: The cheapest listing of around 1500 EUR certainly is not a real street price yet. Focus, build quality, and image stabilizationAn update to Nikon’s legendary f/2.8 fixed aperture telephoto zoom lens, the AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II captures stunning full-frame images with remarkable speed. Nikon VR (Vibration Reduction) image stabilization provides 3.5 stops* of blur free handheld shooting, assuring dramatically sharper still images and HD video capture. Silent Wave Motor (SWM) enables ultra-fast, ultra-quiet autofocusing with seamless manual focus override. No matter what you’re shooting, you’ll capture it with uncompromising speed and precision—at any focal length. Hmm...point taken, Sorry. The 18-55, 55-200, and 18-105 that are bundled with the consumer DX bodies are VR I, and are the least expensive zooms in Nikon's lineup. The 18-200, 16-85, 55-300, and 70-300 are VR II. What threw me off is that VR II started showing up on the metal-mount DX line BEFORE the 18-55, 55-200, and 18-105 came out - in the 16-85, 18-200, and 70-300. The optics are still the same as the excellent original AF version of 1988, and used the same HB-7 bayonet hood as the previous D version. Its only vice is that the corners are never super-duper sharp for landscape photographers at the 200mm end, but these lenses have always been for sports, low light and portraits, not tripods.

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