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

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As hopelessly geeky as it sounds, I have indeed tested pretty much every single one of those 70-200mm lenses. Some more than others, but at least I have shot entire jobs with the big four. We’ll focus on those first, and then talk about the others:

Then again, if you’re very concerned about sharpness and you actually don’t need f/2.8 that desperately, don’t hesitate to get the 70-200mm f/4 VR instead. If you’re a landscape photographer toting around a D800e, for example, the 70-200mm f/4 VR is definitely going to be a fantastic choice. Or if you shoot mostly in daylight or casual conditions and are simply looking for something robust and reliable, the DOF / bokeh of the 70-200mm f/4 is still fantastic and beautiful. One of the main attractions of this lens is the versatile focal range that goes from moderate to close-up telephoto.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. The new vibration reduction system in this lens is truly amazing! I loved my old 70-200mm, but it made me nervous to shoot it below 1/40-1/50th of a second. After I got the new 70-200mm VRII in my hands, I decided to see what I can get with this lens at much lower shutter speeds. Take a look at this shot: NIKON D700 @ 180mm, ISO 400, 1/13, f/2.8 The Nikon AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm 1:2.8G ED VR II was announced in July 2009, as the second iteration of the company's professional stabilized fast telezoom. It's the successor to the AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm 1:2.8G ED VR which first appeared in 2003, and brings to the table an entirely remastered optical system designed to match the demands of the latest high resolution FX format cameras such as the D3X, accompanied by an improved vibration reduction system which Nikon claims offers up to four stops stabilization. That is why some say that if you have DX then the earlier lens will be fine, but if you use FX then its worthwhile to spend the extra money and get the MkII.

In terms of features, the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II has quite a lot to offer. It has an internal focus (IF) mechanism and a Silent Wave Motor, allowing you to use manual focus even when you are in auto-focus mode (denoted with the usual M/A sign on the lens barrel).Distortion is also well controlled and will cause very few issues in most circumstances with only 0.6% barrel at 70mm and 1.5% pincushion at 200mm.

An anti-reflective coating developed by Nikon that virtually eliminates internal lens element reflections across a wide range of wavelengths. Nano Crystal Coat solves ghost effects caused by red light and effectively reduces ghost and flare caused by light entering the lens diagonally. An 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. Complement this lens with a 24-70mm standard zoom and you can seamlessly cover a 8.3x zoom-range from fairly wide-angle to a decent tele with only two lenses. And while the 70-200mm f2.8 is corrected for full-frame FX format bodies, you could equally use it on a cropped-frame DX-body where it gives you an equivalent 105-300mm coverage plus future-proofing should you upgrade to an FX-body at a later date.For color, detail, and low-light AF reliability, you can’t go wrong with a mk2 70-200! 70-200mm Final Verdict Still, the Nikon Z 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S is hardly the heaviest 70-200mm f/2.8 on the market; that dubious crown belongs to some older generation 70-200mm f/2.8 DSLR lenses. In fact, when the Nikon F-mount 70-200mm f/2.8E FL came out in 2016, we praised it for its relatively light weight compared to prior 70-200mm f/2.8 lenses. While standards have risen in recent years (partly Nikon’s own doing thanks to their excellent and lightweight Z lenses), the fact remains that the Z 70-200mm f/2.8’s weight is manageable and not unusually high for such a lens. NIKON Z 7 II + NIKKOR Z 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S @ 200mm, ISO 250, 1/1250, f/2.8 I was a bit confused by SmittenHobbyist's response, but then I realized that he was talking about the optical design of the different generations of the 70-200 lens, not the VR systems they employ. Minimum focusing distance has nothing to do with VR.

Perhaps the most interesting handling feature on the Z 70-200mm f/2.8 S is that it lets you program two different custom functions: L-Fn and L-Fn2. While L-Fn has a single dedicated button on the lefthand side of the lens, there are a total of four buttons wrapped around the lens which you can use to access L-Fn2.These four buttons duplicate one another and cannot be independently programmed; they always match whatever custom setting you’ve chosen in your camera for Fn2. Nikon made this decision so that you can access your chosen Fn2 setting regardless of how you’re holding the lens. Note the L-Fn and L-Fn2 buttons on the 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S. The unlabeled button at the top of the lens (near the “200” in this image) is a duplicate of the L-Fn2 button. There are two more duplicates: one on the bottom of the lens and one on the righthand side. They cannot be programmed independently.

Sun stars

I rarely use this lens on a tripod, but if you need to mount it on a tripod for whatever reason, the tripod mount is very stable and sturdy, just like on its predecessor. Since nothing changed on the tripod mount and the leg is the same as on the previous model, I was able to re-attach my RRS “ L-10 Lens Plate” on the lens leg and it worked perfectly! When mounted on a tripod, don’t forget to turn “VR” off. NIKON D810 + 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 95mm, ISO 100, 30/1, f/5.6 Focus Breathing / Increased Field of View Weight: 1,540 g (3.4 lb.) . Only 110g heavier than the Sigma 70-200/2.8 OS. Mounted on a full frame body your shoulders will definitely feel the combined 2.4kg. [0] A-M stands for Auto-Manual Mode. Thanks to a mechanism incorporated in the lens barrel, smooth focusing operation in Manual focus mode is realized in the same way as users have become accustomed to with conventional manual-focus lenses by adding an appropriate torque to the focus ring. All of them use ED glass, has 9 diaphragm blades and has supreme image quality. All the AF lenses take standard 77mm filters. The lens accepts filters via a standard 77mm thread around the – non-rotating – front lens element, which is great news for those who like to use polarisers or ND grads.