Nikon AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8 VR

Nikon AF-S 70-200mm

Back when I was a Canon user, one of my favorite lenses was their 70-200mm f/2.8 L. When I switched back to Nikon, I really did miss having the features of that lens. That’s not to say the Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8 is anything but an excellent lens, but the little extra range with a high speed motor built into the lens, in addition to Vibration Reduction/Image Stabilization was something I longed for.

Nikon clearly knew that the AF-S 70-200mm VR was a lens that was going to be popular and after announcing it and making Nikon users wait a year we finally got ahold of our version. And what a lens this is, the quality of the shots from the 70-200mm VR are nothing short of spectacular. I love this range as its very useful when taking shots from the end of the aisle inside a church and the constant f/2.8 aperture certainly doesn’t hurt. The lens probably has the most beautiful background blur, or bokeh as its now fashionable to call it, of any zoom lens I’ve used. It is also incredibly sharp and the good news is that adding the 1.7 tele-converter doesn’t knock the sharpness too much and is very useable indeed. One area you have to look out for is flare, just make sure the sun isn’t in the shot as this lens doesn’t like it, but this isn’t too much of a concern for what I use it for. The vibration reduction works wonders, although I have to say the active setting never gets used on mine and I do turn VR off whenever its on a tripod as it can be a little unpredictable. This is a very small price to pay for having the technology though as it can save your bacon on some hard to get shots.

I also like the newer lens hoods Nikon is using, they are so much easier to put on and take off. The build quality 70-200mm is all Nikon pro, they just don’t get better than this today. Now the bad news, cost of entry is about $1600 or £1200 which is a sizable amount of money for anybody. All I can say is that if this focal length is of any interest to you, there is no finer lens in this range - and no, a 70-300mm lens of any sort or price is not in the same league. There is nothing wrong with the 70-300mm lenses, in fact some of them are very good indeed today, but there is a reason why all the pro lenses are 70/80-200mm and the consumer versions are 70-300mm, there is a world of difference in performance (& cost unfortunately).