Camera Labs

So the weather forecast is looking good for the weekend. I hope to finish the testshots at 200mm and 300mm on the D300 plus reshoot the 150mm with a little "unwarping". Will be interesting to see whether there are any differences on DX from warping too.
Why the wait for good weather? Well the distance needed for the 300mm testshots doesn't fit in my house, so I have to put the target outside. And flash is not an option at these distances, too.
I hope that I can finish my little review of this lens with these last testshots and I'll be looking into AF accuracy and repeatability after that and give you my insights as closing remarks.

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

Interestingly Ken Rockwell has answered one of my questions regarding the new 24-120 VR vs the 28-300 VR:
"The new 24-120 is as sharp as the 28-300mm VR. In fact, some times the less expensive 28-300mm is sharper, and both are excellent."
and he continues:
"Therefore, I see no reason to pay $250 more for the 24-120. I think Nikon has introduced so many new lenses that someone got confused and reversed the prices, since the 28-300mm is by far the more desirable lens, and costs less."
And he ends with:
"Get your 28-300 before everyone else figures this out, and they either sell-out or the price goes up. My new 24-120mm is going back, quickly. It's much less useful than the 28-300mm, which focuses as close, too. Nikon's pricing mistake is our gain!"
It's in typical Ken Rockwell style and I cannot check whether he's right as I have no access to the new 24-120. But looking at Nikon's own test-shots makes me believe that Ken is right.
That indeed would support that the 28-300 is a real nice super-zoom for all (aspiring) FX-shooters

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

Phew, I'm through with the test-shots, apart from AF accuracy and repeatability. But as I had no obvious AF problems in normal shooting I summed it all up in my final verdict of this lens: Highly recommended!

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

[edited]
and don't like this lens, it doesnt have 2.8 constant aperture. Who would need such a big zoom..

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D300 | 17-55mm f/2.8G IF-ED | 50mm 1.8 |

Watch your language, Zephyr.
This is no forum for verbal atrocities.
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Coming back on topic: this lens is much smaller and lighter than the 70-200/2.8.
And much cheaper too.

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

how about someone who has to hike miles a day with more weight on their back than the average person carries in a week. someone who gets shot at and might not have enough time in a clean environment to switch lenses. who doesn't shoot in the lowlight because lowlight means an absolute absence of it.

oh and btw, 5.6 on full frame is like 2.8 on a dx camera. just stating.

you've got much to learn about photography, as do I, but let's not be snobs about it.

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WHO I AM BLOG, WHAT I DO BLOG
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To be precise:
- regarding dof / oof-rendering a 5.6+FX equals 4.0+DX
- regarding light-sensitivity it depends on the body. With all the fabled high-ISO capabilities of the D3s you might come to the conclusion that FX has a +2EV advantage vs. DX. But physically (area of photo-sites) it is only +1.1EV. Perhaps the D7000 might show what a modern DX-sensor is capable of.

Another point to note re the value of the 28-300 is that the speed with which you can change focal lengths. And in certain photographic situations you simply don't have the time to change lenses.

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

Hmm still unsure if I should buy 18-200 or 28-300 for my Nikon D7000

Hello Mr Ray, and welcome to the friendly Camera Labs forum!
To enjoy your stay here please have a look at the house-rules!
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If you read my report from visiting Venice you can learn something about the distribution of focal lengths that I needed to capture all the nice vistas in Venice.
From that experience I'd say: It's astonishing what you can do with a 24mm-xx zoom on a DX body. But I'd seriously doubt that a 28mm-xx zoom will fill the bill. You definitely need something shorter to complement a 28-300 for a DX body!
So if you're looking for a single lens solution: get the 18-200 (or even the 18-105VR, or 16-85VR).

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

Hi Thomas and thanks for the warm welcome

I'll have a read of the house rules and your Venice thread.

Defo after a one solution lens as I'll be selling my old D50 along with the 18-55 kit lens that I'm using on the D7000 for now

Focal length is an interesting thing. When I go shooting I often take just the D7000 with the 16-85 and feel I'm not missing anything.

However, when I went to the south coast to look at the whales I took only the D90 with the 70-300. It was great for the whales (and incidentally never ran into buffer problems on JPEGs) and excellent as a general photography tool. I didn't miss the WA end too much - just looked for photos appropriate to what I had. There's a lot you can do at the 70mm end.

Sometimes I think it's good to be a little constrained on focal lengths - makes you think a bit more creatively and constructively about the shot.

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HCC
Nikon DSLRs, film cameras from Leica to Linhof

Are there any images from this lens, that can be added to the `Sample images` thread?

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Nikon D700 & D7100 bodies + Nikkor 300mm F2.8 VR11, 1.7TC, 50mm F1.4G, 16-35mm f/4G VR, 105 F2.8 VR macro, 70-300mm lenses. A couple of filters, Giotto tripod & ballhead. Lowepro Slingshot 302 AW

http://www.flickr.com/photos/oldcarlos/