Nikkor 70-200 F4 discussion

heartyfisher

I have a 80-200 f/4 AIS and it is remarkably sharp. It holds up quite well against both my 85mm f/1.4 AIS and 105 f/1.8 AIS, both of which are legendary lenses.

Ahh so that's what it is.. I played with one of those a long time ago but could not remember what it was.. all I remember was it was very impressive and I should get one when I ever get rich (I was a teenager then .. who could only dream of owing such an out of reach lense )

Vipmediastar_JZ

Alright I been having neck/back issues for a decade already and I been complaining mostly to myself about the weight issue of the 70-200m 2.8 v2 and most of time it stays at home on non event shoots.

I decided to check out flickr for photos and they all looked good.
This thread was more convincing too. So I ordered the little dragon to give it a try and take advantage of the lens only rebate deal.

I tried it last night photographing my kids and it is sharp out of the box. Perhaps I can fine tune it but it looks great as it is. By 5.6 it is crispier than bacon.

I took it out today in 9 degree F and it did a good job on the candids and ice skaters. Focusing was good with the normal miss due to the cold temperatures and me shaking.

I haven't seen them on the computer so this post may be preamture but on the camera lcd they look great.

I had a the 14-24 sigma 50 Art 70-200f4 and speedlight in the bag and no back pain as of yet or sore arms.

Looks like ill be trading in the Big dragon for the Little dragon. Dragon Reference HERE

I re-read the other thread in the first post and the parafocal feature will be cool to try. Focusing on the subject and zooming in and out seems like fun and getting a diffrent view.

funtagraph

If you want to increase your fun with the new toy, compare the VRT of the 70-200/4 with the f/2.8



Envy on yourself?

Vipmediastar_JZ

VRT? Envy myself? you can send me a PM if you wish.

heartyfisher

VRT? Envy myself? you can send me a PM if you wish.

I think he means VR .. which is really very good, love it.. I have no idea how to envy myself .. ;-)

funtagraph

@heartyfisher thanks for the right guessing, @vipmewdiastar sorry for typo
Envy yourself is only possible with two lenses of the same FL 8->

Vipmediastar_JZ

Oh. Ok i had to google vrt lol but didnt find anything relevant.
The 2.8 will be departing my side most likely. So if I envy myself it will be temporarily.

kanuck

Oops, I am slow out of the gate on this discussion. Yes, its surprising how there hasn't been another conversation on here about this lens. It is tremendous and that bokeh Heartyfisher is even better than I could have imagined for an F4 lens. Talk about great value for the price!

manhattanboy

The resolution diagrams on Fx look a little soft. I am torn between adding this lens or the 80-400. I would love the reach of the 400 but the size and weight of the 70-200 f4 is much more to my liking. Hard to go back to a zoom after shooting primes for so long as everything looks soft. Everyone raves about this lens though.

funtagraph

Part of the raving @manhattanboy is of course nobody expects this performance out of a lightweight and "only" f/4 lens and most of us are surprised, I'm making no exception.

There's only one lens in my collection able to beat that VR: Sigma's 24-105/4 @ 105 mm (for both lenses of course), but I trust the 70-200 a lot.

spraynpray

Part of the raving @manhattanboy is of course nobody expects this performance out of a lightweight and "only" f/4 lens and most of us are surprised, I'm making no exception.

There's only one lens in my collection able to beat that VR: Sigma's 24-105/4 @ 105 mm (for both lenses of course), but I trust the 70-200 a lot.

I find that hard to believe as the VR on the 70-200 sticks the image to the sensor like glue. I haven't used the Sigma though and as the VR on my 24-120 is average at best, I'm interested in hearing more about the Sigma - IQ and VR.

spraynpray

The resolution diagrams on Fx look a little soft. I am torn between adding this lens or the 80-400. I would love the reach of the 400 but the size and weight of the 70-200 f4 is much more to my liking. Hard to go back to a zoom after shooting primes for so long as everything looks soft. Everyone raves about this lens though.

Don't get hung up on curves - go out and use one and you'll see how good it is in reality.

heartyfisher

At its optimal settings, it out-resolves both my cameras at the moment (D610 and D7000). Looking to get the D7200 when the dust has settled. However, my sigma 150 F2.8 macro is sharper. I was hoping that it could perform well for macro, but that's asking too much of it ;-)

Vipmediastar_JZ

Here is my tests shoot from yesterday braving the single digits temperature.



Here is the test album from yesterday. All images have been cropped for framing except the one where the guy in the hat is looking straight at me. Its nice to focus close and have not focus breathing.

spraynpray

@Vipmediastar_JZ: Still a lot of light around looking at your exif, try some shots like 200mm@1/15th second and check out the VR.

Vipmediastar_JZ

Ok I will try indoors as today its -14 with windshield. By comparison i can tell you that the 2.8 at 1/125 is still too heavy for me to have a steady shot. I'm already guessing the f4 will be fantastic at that shutter speed.

Here is album of a few days ago with the 2.8 just for comparison and much warmer. Both do a decent job but for street work like this the f4 version will suit me better. There seems to be regulars and maybe i can print a few photos and give it to them. There are a couple shots at iso 1000 and that is because I didnt notice it until a few photos later.

jturrici

Hi,

Would you buy a refurb 70-200 F4 from Nikon for $990.00 + tax?

Thank you

spraynpray

Hi,

Would you buy a refurb 70-200 F4 from Nikon for $990.00 + tax?

Thank you

Yes. Go for it.

jturrici

Thank you Spraynpray.....I decided to go for the new one with 5 yr warranty rather than just 90 days.
990+tax = approx 1100.........new 1196+no tax from Authorized dealer

JonMcGuffin

I have the lens, it's a fantastic and fine performer and I expect to have this lens for a long long time. Bottom line, any charts or diagrams that tell you this isn't great are just silly IMHO. It's easily on par with my 1.8G primes on average. A great lens no doubt.

spraynpray

Thank you Spraynpray.....I decided to go for the new one with 5 yr warranty rather than just 90 days.
990+tax = approx 1100.........new 1196+no tax from Authorized dealer

That was the best decision. Well done and enjoy it.

Vipmediastar_JZ

This lens has now replaced the sigma 50 art and is glued to my camera well partly becuase it will only fit in the bag if mounted to the camera.
i have done portraits, candids, street, fashion show and I was not tired or concerned about/with the weight. I should have bought this lens first but I'm glad i had the 2.8 for the times that I needed 2.8.

JonMcGuffin

I actually have what I think is a really nice combination in that I own the

Nikon 80-200 2.8D + Nikon 70-200 F4 G AF-S VR

When I need the 2.8, I have great glass, when F4 is sufficient I have great glass. It works for me.

IanG

Very happy with mine too

Vipmediastar_JZ

First let me say I do have lots of electronics issues and they are always failing on me so don't roll your eyes

While this lens is my current go to lens I am very happy with it. I did encounter some problems with it.

I noticed an issue recently and maybe it happened before but I didn't make much of it.

The most recent issue I took about 150-200 photos in a session and somewhere in between the lens wouldn't focus.

I turnd it off, remounted lens, reset the af/m modes on lens and body etc.. A little bit afterwards after playing it off with the client it started to focus again.

I was using the D810, Oem battery grip using af-c and single point with the af/on button and En-EL18a battery (just in case it matters). I'm going to pay more attention to it and send it in if it happens again.

I do have another body but I beleive it happened at least twice with the D810. If the body is what triggers the AF on the lens then that might be a clue but it has only happened recently and I have been using this lens exclusively.

Has anobody has this happen to them?