Any Experience with 70-200mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor

[VA_Shooter]

I've been reading various forums on this newsgroup for a couple of months now and have gotten lots of great information. I would really appreciate any opinions you folks could give me on a purchase I'm thinking on making. I need a good, long, zoom lens. My retailer is recommending the 70-200mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor with a 1.4 TC or a 2.0 TC which would actually make the focal length 105/300mm or 140/400mm by the time you figure in the magnification factor of the CCD sensor in my S2. Does anyone have any experience with this lens? $2K is a lot of cash, and I can buy a very decent Tamron lens (I have several Tamron lenses that I have been very, very pleased with) for a lot less. Let me know what you think. Thanks.

VA_Shooter

[Swampy]

This is one of my favorite lenses in my arsenal. If the length is right for you, it's a great buy. I think you can find it for under $2k now though. B &H has it for 1600 bucks.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=274780&is=USA


I have posted some sample shots from mine here:
http://s2pro.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1440

Remember about the seadoo pictures there, I'm on a seadoo while taking the pictures, bobbing up and down! The VR is great.

[Rockyw]

We have this lens also. We use it for ceremony shots all the time.
We normally can not use flash, so we use this at 2:8, 30 or 45 shutter and 400 or 800 ISO for great ambient light shots. Even at 2:8 it very sharp. We got ours at BH also for about 1600.00.

[Steve Wynn]

Love that lens. It's probably the one that I use more frequently during the ceremony and at air shows than any other. What an example of opposites! I own 12 Nikon lenses and only three are zoom lens. (I know I am partial to fast fixed focus lenses.) And I owned over 16 manual focus Nikkor lenses back when.

Steve

[VA_Shooter]

OK, folks, I give. I'm off to B&H. I don't need much arm twisting when it comes to major life decisions--that's why I have to keep low limits on my credit cards, otherwise I'd be in hock up to my eyeballs. Thanks for the good reviews--I'll feel better about making the investment now and can't wait to shoot and share some shots. By the way, is there some place here that we can post our shots and get some critique and guidance? I'm relatively new to photography--about 3 years now--and it's difficult to improve when one is his own best critic. Where can I go and get some advice and direction from people who have been shooting a lot longer than I have?

[sandman]

No problems with posting shots here VA, just scroll down to the photo's section , click on new thread , give it a name , browse through your h/drive , resize it to about 800 X600 if it's landscape or about 500 pixels wide if it's portrait , and post. If it's good someone will tell you , if it's crap ,someone will help you out.easy.

Brian

PS .. don't ''preview reply'' after you've posted or else you'll lose the picture , just click on ''submit reply''

[RacerX]

Very very happy with mine even enough to post a night picture WITH NO FLASH! Hope the pic helps you!

take care . . .
Rick

[VA_Shooter]

Thanks for the shot Racer. I've seen lots of good shots with this lens and have decided to purchase it. It should be here next week and once I've figured it out and taken some test shots I'll post them for criticism and advice on how to make them better. Thanks for posting yours.

[RacerX]

Glad it helped and you will NOT be disappointed in the lens. It was recommended to me by swampy when I first got started with purchasing lens. I already shot over 4500 pics with this lens since August of this year. And shes still going strong!
Love my S2 with the VR lens!

take care . . . .
Rick

[Igor]

I've been using this baby for less than a week, and love it very much! Coupled with Kenko 2x teleconverter it is 140-400mm /5.6 with AF-S and VR features retaining!

[ballroom_boy]

Hi Igor,

Glad you received your 70-200 VR... tell me, what is AF like with the 2x teleconverter on? Are you ready to sell your 80-400VR?:)

[Igor]

Hi Roel,
sorry, I didn't recognize you having a new avatar! :)
Well, I can tell ya one thing: they were made for each other: the 70-200 and the Kenko 2x TC. The AF-S works as if there's no "slowing down" to f5.6 and VR works just fine.

As for the 80-400, give me a week more, I need to evaluate this all, OK? Though I don't think I'll be willing to part with it, I took so many great pics with it :) Just love it, and you know: don't part with those you love!! :D

Take care!

[ballroom_boy]

Originally posted by Igor
Well, I can tell ya one thing: they were made for each other: the 70-200 and the Kenko 2x TC. The AF-S works as if there's no "slowing down" to f5.6 and VR works just fine.

That's great to hear! I've been thinking about the 80-400mm VR as I like the VR feature, but I find it slow to focus. It is nice to know I won't lose much (and still have VR) with a 2x TC when I upgrade my AF-S 80-200 to the AF-S VR 70-200.

Glad you're enjoying it! (remember, another $10 and it would have been mine!) :)

[Igor]

Yeah, you're right, it was my lucky chance! :)