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| Courtesy of Nikon |
Well, it finally got here. I ran downstairs to grab my camera, cut open the box and quickly snapped on my brand new Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G VR II lens. Wandering around the house (and soon my yard and neighborhood), I tried the super high-quality optics, the Vibration Reduction, and my cat's patience.
I'm going to try to create some sort of universal format for this review that I can use on reviews in the future. However, after blowing out my bank account on this lens, that future will likely be a long ways off.
Bear with me.
First Impressions
Somehow, the stupid grin on my face was so big it actually hampered my attempt to open the box...okay, I'm exaggerating, but in fairness, I've been waiting to get this lens for years.
My real first impression was how big it was. In photos, it looks quite slender.
It's not.
It's actually a beast. It feels and looks solid and I immediately felt that I'd made a good purchase. The lens comes with a matte box (that looks really cool), front and back lens caps, a carrying case and a shoulder strap for the case (which can also go on your belt).
Pros and Cons
Great Optics: The BEST feature of this lens are the optics. The amazing depth they provide, even on the short end, are great!
Huge Iris: I've shot several hockey games with this lens and have been getting about 1/100 shutter speed at ISO 250: no flash. There's still some motion blur and perhaps I will start using my flash but I'm pretty happy with the results.
Ease of Use: The functions are pretty self-explanatory and for those that aren't, the manual is quite helpful. A feature that I really like is that the focus ring is geared down so that manual focusing is much more precise.
Vibration Reduction: The vibration reduction works wonderfully. This is definitely one of my favorite features of the camera.
Metal: It's both a pro and a con but the lens is made out of cast aluminum (I think). Of course, this makes the lens much more rugged and able to withstand abuse. However, since I live in Canada, I have already run into the problem of my hands freezing because the metal gets quite cold quite fast.
Weight: It's HEAVY. Now, for me, that's not really a big problem. I'm a relatively big guy but someone smaller than me may find it a difficult lens to wield. However, when it's on a tripod or monopod, there's virtually no problem at all.
Other Notes
As I've mentioned before, I use Black Rapid straps which attach to the camera's 1/4"-20 tripod nut. With a lens like the 70-200, there is way too much weight to attach the strap to the camera as this could damage the lens mount. Instead, the strap should be attached to the lens itself. I thought this meant I was going to have to leave the lens' tripod foot on so I could attach my strap: I was (happily) wrong. It turns out that after the foot is removed, there is actually another 1/4"-20 mount point attached permanently to the lens so I can attach the strap and leave the foot off.
I do, however, use the foot to attach to tripods and monopods for a few reasons. One, it gives me a bit of added height. Two, I can pull the lens off quickly if I'm not using a quick release. And three, if I break or strip the foot, it's a heck of a lot easier to replace than to have the lens repaired.
Why do people use this lens without the lens hood? In addition to the obvious, the hood protects the front element from accidental impact and it looks really cool.
Cost-To-Benefit
I paid about CAD$2,100 plus shipping for the lens and let's be honest: that is a lot of money. As such, this probably isn't a lens for someone with no intention to move into professional photography. However, if you do intend to do so, you may want to take a very serious look at this lens, and/or it's smaller sisters, the 24-70mm or the 14-24mm. Ultimately, I plan to own all three and as you may have noticed, most professional Nikon photographers own all three, or at least the two longer ones.
The features of this lens, especially the amazing optics and the nice big aperture, drive me to conclude that it was a great purchase. I can only assume that I will be using it every day for decades to come.
Conclusions
I think I'm probably a pretty tough person to please but I would buy this lens again. With virtually every piece of equipment I own, I can say "I wish it did..." fill in the blank. But with this lens, when I try to think of something it could do better, the best I can come up with is that I wish it could accumulate more light than there actually is. Obviously, that's simply not possible so I've got nothing.
If you are thinking of buying this lens and you have the money for it, buy it. I beg you not to waste your money on anything else.
I give the Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G VR II five Petri 7s out of 5.
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