Camera Labs

The old 70-200 remains a great portrait lens (especially on FX), since that's when the vignette comes in handy. It was optimized for DX-format sensors, because they were the only ones back then. Looking at the MTF charts it's difficult to say which lens has the better optical characteristics on DX. Maybe there is a comparison somewhere on the Internet. If I already had the 80-200 and Mr. elijahschaffer's budget, I'd be looking for different lenses to buy anyways.

I for one didn't hesitate to get the new version even before being able to read any reviews and I think I will not be disappointed (although I'm currently plagued by a AF-issue, but seems camera related not the fault of the new lens).

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

ok but my friend is already buying mine because I often use my 80-200 for family photos in low light situations where VR is needed that why I am wondering if it is worth the extra money for VR II or is VR substantial enough for me being I cannot shoot below 1/200's without worrying about camera shake

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I have a variety of gadgets that capture and create light... people tell me their cameras, lenses, strobes, and speedlights...who knows

Hey guys is this true?? It 65-165mm vrii not 70-200mm...jus askin b4 i get 1.
Thats what the guy say.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjA4lDLs ... re=related

You should read this post in my ongoing review of the new lens.
And the short answer is: No, at closest focus distance of 1.4m it behaves like a theoretical 70-133mm lens But what most people miss: every modern zoom shortens its effective focal length when focusing up close albeit not as strong as the new VRII.
As to labeling: each lens is labeled according to their focal length at infinity. And there it really is a 70-200mm lens.

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

I don't have conclusive evidence yet, but shooting more test-targets at larger distances and smaller magnifications (1:50) I at least can say as much: It is not easy to create samples at focal length of 150mm, 105mm and 70mm that match the sharpness at 200mm.
But that may be due to the very challenging task of manual focus in live-view. And even small variations in focus with such an extremely sharp lens will give you visibly poorer results
That means
(a) I have to try repeatedly and check on my large monitor for the results
(b) and weakness of the AF will become more obvious than with a so-so lens.
So you need some more patience before the definitive sample-images come out...

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

Dear Thomas

Your reviews are the most useful I have seen, going deeply into the operational factors affecting use of the lens.

A previous detailed review steered me away from the AF85, but more importantly, the reviews are teaching how best to use lenses in more critical situations.

Much appreciated.

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HCC
Nikon DSLRs, film cameras from Leica to Linhof

Thank you, Hillary!
I hope that you will find the new review equally useful, once I've added many more tests, images and insights.

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

If you are interested how the "old" Nikon AF-S 70-200/2.8 VR performs on a D3x: Photozone has its new review up here.

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

I must say I have seen far worse CA — especially for a zoom lens it is acceptable performance and it seems to handle CA better than the predecessor. This lens will definitely be in my camera bag in 2010.

Picked up mine today for 2300Euro in Ireland .... can't wait to get out tomorrow and test it out. Shop said they couldn't keep them in stock they are so popular..also can't wait until Jan to couple it with the new TC III ..!!! the new 300mm is a tad outside the price range..!

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D700, 50mm f1.8D, 50mm f1.4G, 24-70mm f2.8G ED, 70-200mm f2.8G ED VR II, SB-900, Manfroto055XPROB & 322RC2, Crumpler 8 million dollar home

Congratulations!
I think, you will not be disappointed. For all you can hear on the Internet the performance on FX is not far behind the DX-performance
Post your impressions, images and comments here!

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

An observation from recent testing: The design seems to be pretty par-focal - I got the sharpest results at 70mm by live-view aided MF at 200mm and then zooming back to 70mm. Better than a few tries in live-view aided MF at 70mm before.
First tests seem to indicate that this also holds true for other focal lengths.
Remember: With lenses this sharp even the slightest focus error results in visible deterioration of sharpness.

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

One of my first images with the lens playing about with it:

1/2000, f/4.8, ISO 200 200mm

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D700, 50mm f1.8D, 50mm f1.4G, 24-70mm f2.8G ED, 70-200mm f2.8G ED VR II, SB-900, Manfroto055XPROB & 322RC2, Crumpler 8 million dollar home

I've just read the latest edition 01/2010 of the German magazine ColorFoto*. It has a test of the lens with comparison to the older VRI version on D300 and D3x. I just thought you might be interested.

Both lenses were compared at 70mm, 120mm, and 200mm.
The comparison of both lenses on a D300 yielded the following results (1st/2nd number = points of old/new lens, max 100 pts.).
@70mm: 88/89,5
@120mm: 78/85
@200mm: 69/83,5
Overall score: 78,5/86
So on DX the new lens is consistently better than the old esp. at longer focal lengths. The big difference at 200mm is around 10% higher resolution wide open and greatly improved contrast of the new zoom over the old version.

On a D3x the results were as follows:
@70mm: 82,5/87
@120mm: 86,5/85
@200mm: 62,5/79
Overall score: 77/83,5
So the results on DX were repeated here except for 120mm where the old lens has a slight lead.

Generally CA was almost negligible with <=0.3 pixel and vignetting on FX was more than 1/2 stop better on the new zoom.

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*their latest reviews cannot (yet) be found online.

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses