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

Fantastic lens - well worth the price

Focus is very sharp and the lens takes almost no time at all to auto-focus. Image quality is the best in my kit, on par with my prime lens. Smooth, creamy bokeh with next to unnoticeable chromatic aberration or lens vignetting. 70-200mm Zoom covers a wide focal range and vibration reduction keeps images clear at 70mm and even 200mm. I love that I can focus as close as 4ft away. The infinity - 2.5m (10ft) switch makes focusing almost twice as fast, nearly instant focus on subjects even in dark or low light. Read full review...

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: missyrubycamera

Great fast lens for 70 mm to 200 mm photos

It is a sturdy built Nikon lens with a full range wide-aperture and smooth operating adjusting rings. With this lens the zoon adjustment ring is closer to the camera. For me, I like this orientation better because I prefer to control the frame and let the camera take care of the focus. The later model lens switched the orientation placing the focus adjusting ring closer. If you prefer to control focus then you will want to buy the later model lens. I like not having to use a flash for most indoor and outdoor shoots due to the wide aperture and large lens that fill the imager with light. It is a big lens which is OK for me when the quality of image is the most important thing.Read full review...

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: kenmorecamera

Very sharp professional lens

Pictures are tack sharp, it seems that Nikon did not compromise on quality. the VR system is very efficient, you can hand held this lens and have perfect pictures with 1/60s at 200mm, very handy for action photography or events. As expected, this professional grade lens is heavy, but if you need a 2.8 aperture ,VR and top quality, this is the price to pay. If you can leave with F4 only, the 70-200 f4 has identical performances and is much lighter and smaller to carry around. Overall it is a very specialized lens with top notch performances in its domain. This lens is compatible with almost all Nikon teleconverters and can be extended easily without noticeable image deterioration. Definitively one of the best lenses (if not the best) for low light situations requiring wide aperture like theater, dance, indoor sports or requiring small depth of field: studio, portraits...

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Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: eduardofierro

Nikon AF 80-200mm f/2.8D Lens

Name: Nikon calls this the Nikon ED AF Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8 D

Optics: Sixteen elements in eleven groups. Three of them are of ED glass.

Diaphragm: 9-bladed diaphragm with nine conventional straight blades. They make a nice 9-sided polygon at all apertures, unlike the AF-S that simulates a circle at larger apertures.

Filters: Uses standard 77mm filters.

Close Focus: About 5.5 feet, which is pretty good. That's about a foot less close than the AF-S when I compared the two directly, and about the same as the 180/2.8AF.

Size: 3.4" (87mm) around by 7.4" (187mm) long.

Weight: 2 pounds, 14 oz (46 ounces total or 1,300g)

Case: It comes with a fairly useless case. Just put it away someplace for when you sell the lens.

Nikon Product Number: 1986, in catalog as of spring 2008.



Performance

This is an extremely sharp lens. I have only shot with it a couple of times.

Distortion performance is also good for a zoom:

80-115mm: fairly neutral
200mm: some pincushion distortion

It has the usual light falloff. Here's a page, made at 200mm by someone else illustrating the falloff.

Autofocus is accurate. In real photographs the focus is always dead on at f/2.8. This is important to me, some other lenses' focus errors exclude me from being able to get good results wide open. I like this lens because of this.

Oddly I've heard a couple of others have inaccurate focusing at f/2.8 at 200 mm on a D70. If you want to use this on a D70 I'd check this carefully. The one I used worked great on my F100, and just as many other people see this lens working flawlessly, no, spectacularly, on their D70s.

I'm unsure if it is free from the ghost problem flawing the 80-200 AF-S.

AF speed is almost as fast as the AF-S on an F100. Don't worry about this difference. It does of course make more noise and jump around more than the AF-S does while focusing because the big front lens group is rotating at blindingly fast speeds.

Jump around? Yeah, this is because of the torque reaction you get as the big front element starts and stops rotating almost instantly while driven by the camera's AF motor. In the AF-S lens the elements that move for focusing are the smaller internal elements.Read full review...

Great lens. Great shots. Heavy.

This is still the best lens for Nikon in the 70-200mm range. Now there are some great third party lenses where you can still get a great product and save yourself lots of money, but this is the type of lens that can last for as long as you do photography and then some.
This is my heaviest lens thus far and will likely remain my heaviest lens so it takes getting used to. Don't think you will be carrying this around your neck for hours on a shoot.Read full review...

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: new | Sold by: deals-all-year

Amazing quality at an affordable price

Choosing to purchase a pro lens is a big decision for many photography lovers. Finding a way to move into that level without breaking the bank can be very challenging. The Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D ED Lens is a way the bridge the gap providing a high quality fast lens at a comparatively reasonable price.

Quality glass and uncompromised construction places this pro quality lens at the top of the list for those wishing to enter the professional level of lens performance. This is just a great lens. A variety of improvements have been made over the last several years, including the introduction of VR technology that have brought other very attractive lenses to the market. Get these too if you can afford it! While all of these improvements do in fact increase usability of the lens, underlying quality of image based on the glass itself is still proudly upheld in images produced by the 80-200mm f/2.8D ED lens. I love mine!

I would imagine that as camera technology improves we will see new lenses that allow armatures and professional photographers alike to improve the quality of the images they produce. Whether those images are for profit or pure enjoyment one thing will remain clear, after impact if you can capture the image in a clear a concisely optically appealing way, you will help shape the photographic world. The Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8 ED Lens is one of those instruments, that is part of the moment. If you have the opportunity to try this lens at price reasonable to the marketplace and from a reputable source, I would advise you to do so. I did am am very pleased with the images I can produce with it for the price.

This is just my opinion. There are other very informative reviews of this lens on the internet. If you are considering purchasing this lens I recommended seeking as many different opinions as possible. Thanks for listening and happy shooting.Read full review...

Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8 AF D Lens

After deciding to upgrade from my cheapie 70-300mm lens I began to research different lenses that would get me the sharpness and AF speed I was looking for. I narrowed it down to several lenses and although the Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8 AF D Lens is not the newest lens on the market as it was replaced by the Nikon 70-200 f/2.8 AF-S VR for the price it was an excellent buy. The fast 2.8 aperture has allowed me to hand hold shots, many of which where taken indoors and still retain excellent sharpness. The auto focus system while not as a fast or quite as its newer replacement is still very responsive and the little noise it does make is not that loud or distracting (and I shoot wildlife). The one disadvantage of this lens is that it is built like a tank and weighs close to 3 lbs. After a day at the zoo with this lens my shoulder was killing me from lugging it around in my camera bag. But for quality like this you really cant complain about its size.

Pros: Very sharp, decent auto-focus speed, excellent build quality, fast aperture for blurring out the background

Cons: Relatively heavy, lack of VR, lack of AF-s focus system

One thing to keep in mind when researching or bidding on this lens: There are several different generations of 80-200. The older push-pull style has a much slower auto focus speed. If you are looking for speed make sure that it has either the turn style zoom, is the AF-s 80-200, or the newer 70-200 VRRead full review...

You may not need it, but you definitely want it!

This is a superb lens. It is sharp wide open (f/2.8) and even better stopped down (i.e. 4-5.6). I'm using this lens on a Nikon D80 and D40 (meters but does not autofocus). If you are serious about using this lens on the D40 you should have a split focusing ring installed.

My kids play sports (soccer and football). This lens works great under stadium lights (usually ISO 800-1600, f/2.8, 1/200th) without a flash. Make sure you use the proper white balance (Auto works most of the time). During concerts this lens works great.

The only drawbacks of this lens are found at the 80mm focal length. On the DX sensor the crop factor means you are using a 120mm lens. You might find this a bit restrictive since the view is very narrow. Again, this is not a problem for outdoor sports, but might pose a problem in a small venue (i.e. sidelines of a basketball court).

I wondered if the zoom would be fast enough for Highschool football. It is just fine. In many instances I will manually focus, but generally autofocus works great. If you are used to AFS lenses, this could take some getting used to. You have to physically overide the autofocus using the selector switch between the zoom and focus rings. I never use the focus limiter.Read full review...

GREAT lens, amazing image quality

I've had several iterations of this lens over the years, as well as the 17-55 DX f/2.8, the 17-35 f/2.8, the 35-70 f/2.8, and the 20-35 f/2.8... I'm selling the most recent copy to make room for my new 24-70 f/2.8... I'm selling it with mixed emotions,m though. The 28-70 has less distortion, at several key focal lengths, in its zoom range compared to the 24-70, and it is equally sharp stopped down. Many pros feel that the 28-70 has a more pleasing color 'palette' than the 24-70, most agree that it is almost as sharp wide-open. Also, it's 'stubbier', shorter and wider than the new Nikkor 24-70 f/2.8. I've found that I prefer the 28-70's shape and balance on my D3 to the D3+24-70 combo... all that said, the 28-70 remains one of the handful of truly legendary pro line, 'gold ring' Nikon zoom lenses. Trying one for the first time leaves no doubt- 'the Beast', as many call it, is one of the sharpest, best handling zooms ever made, from any manufacturer. Try one and you'll see! I may just sell my 24-70 f/2.8, and keep the Beast anyway! =^DRead full review...

Nikkor 80-200mm f 2.8 ED, workhorse

This is an excellent lens, even in the old non-D version. Contrary to what some people observe I did not find it that slow at all and AF has been spot on. The lens is very solidly built and has a great finish that will not wear down quickly. Its however a very heavy lens. Some people like it some dont. Its not a lens to carry around just to have in your bag for the fun of it. Weighing about the same as the 80-400VR its one to take when you know you will use it. Performence is great and the quality of the results is impeccable. These lenses will outlast the cameras they are mounted to for many years to come. It works fairly well for sport photography, wildlife (here it could be slightly faster) and is great for portraits. Depth of field and build quality make this lens a definite leader in the nikkor line up.Read full review...