posted by admin on Reviews

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The Nikon 70-200 VR is currently, in my opinion the bargain lens to get for any amateur and even serious photographers. It has been superseded by the 70-200 VR II which is a complete re-design optically and costs nearly double of that a used mint conditioned version 1 costs. Why would you spend more if you don’t need it?

The review

There are two major points that you can read most old reviews on about, corner sharpness on full frame cameras and light falloff, which is said to be very pronounced.

• Corner Sharpness: This is the sharpness of the image in the extreme corners of the frame.
• Light Falloff in the corners: This is basically the darkening of the corners because the light does not reach or is not enough to iluminate.

Both of these complaints are when the lens is wide open, essentially shooting at f2.8.

I can verify that both of these points are true, to an extend. First off, this is a telephoto lens and it’s intended purpose is to bring a subject at a distance closer and therefore making it stand out.  This can be a portrait or head shot, a wildlife shot or whatever else.  If you shoot this lens against a uniform background with nothing else in it, like a sky, the result will look like this:

As you can see the light falloff is pretty pronounced. This photo was shot on a full frame Nikon D700 camera with NO correction applied.

Now Nikon saw this and corrected it in the new 2000 USD lens. Does it really matter? Well consider this: Even as a serious shooter, if you want to make a subject stand out, what do you want the background do? Blur!! Dissappear!! And where would youlike the subject to be? THE CENTER or thereabouts so you can crop if necessary!!.

Now, consider this other fact: Any subject will likely have something else in the background unless you shoot in the studio and even then the background, most likely is not uniformly white. Now, consider shooting outside or in any situation and then look at the following picture:

All of a sudden the corners don’t matter that much anymore. Yes there is a dark corner but that can be corrected easily.

Does this lens have any other faults? NONE!!.

• The VR (Vibration Reduction) is spot on and works like a dream.
• The lens is SHARP, i mean SHARP even at f2.8 and I would say it rivals my Nikon 105mm VR Macro lens for portrait sharpness.
• It is heavy but it is extremely well built and oozes quality. It is also weather sealed so you can shoot outside in the drizzle.

ReCap

essentially this was Nikon’s flagship for many years and there is nothing that makes this lens bad over night. The cost difference to the newer version is like in the Canon camp: HUGE. If you buy  the lens second hand from a dealer or refurbished you get a warranty, albeit a small one, with it as well. Now, in my book the 800-1000 USD I can save with that are spent better otherwise. I think this lens is awesome and will do 50% of my shooting, easily. If you find one in good condition and you can look over the two small details, buy it. It is the best investment you will make, unless you have the cash to buy a version 2.

Tags: 70-200, lens, nikon, photography, review