VR ( vibration reduction ( Nikon )) or IS ( image stabilization ( Canon )) is a technology that helps to get sharper images by reducing lens shake. Gyrosenors quantify the amount of camera shake and little motors drive a lens element in a way that the resulting image on film or CCD remains exactly in the same position. This is amazing but even more amazing is that it works! This technology is the only way to get sharp images with telephotolenses under less than perfect conditions i.e. if its windy.

AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 2.8/70-200 ED

Preface

When I first saw the announcement of this lens I was really happy because the AF 2.8/80-200 ED was my favourite and most used lens and since my Olympus E-100RS I know what image stabilisation means in real life. I bought the 80-400VR before I bought this one and I never regret this step although I sold it now and lost some money. Why? Because I took a lot of images with the 80-400VR and it was my most used lens for everthing from landscape to bird photography and because:

It took Nikon over 18 months from the first annoucement to get the lens in the shops. Maybe a quality issue was the reason why it takes so long because my first 70-200VR stopped working after two hours ( no VR and no AF ). I went back to the shop next day and got it replaced immediately. The second lens works fine with both the TC-14E and the TC-20E ( both are the first versions AF-I/AF-S converters ).

How is it built?

Yes, this is a very fine lens. It´s smaller or better it´s thinner compared to the AF-S 2.8/80.200 ED but it is very well built. The zoomring works very smooth, the focusring is great to use and the tripod collar is an evidence that Nikon does listen to their customers. With some serious tripod collar issues especially on the AF-S 4/300 ED and the 80-400VR - Nikon did everthing right on this one. The solution was simple: You can´t remove the tripod collar but you can remove the foot. The foot is even a two hole design! I´m very glad that Nikon has found the perfect solution to use it for new lenses. Maybe they bring out an improved version of the 80-400VR with AF-S and the new collar or a AF-S 4/300 ED with VR and the new collar.

The lens hood can be used with ease because it snaps in on the lens. You have to push a release button to take it from the lens. And last but nor least: Nikon uses the same lens cap design as they use for the AF-S 24-85 where you can remove the lens cap with the lens hood in place. I think I will get a second one for my 20-35 lens.

AF-performance:

Very fast - thanks to AF-S and a smart focus limitter. This lens focuses very fast - not as fast as my AF-S 2.8/300 - but it´s close. No noise, no hunting - just perfect! It even works very fine with the converters. It only tends to hunt with the TC-20E in low contrast situations. The focus limitter may be of little use for the portrait or landscape photographer but it is great if you use the lens for actionshots like birds in flight. There it is really a great feature because if you lost "AF-sensor contact" to your bird - it is faster back in focus if the limitter is used.

VR - How does it work?

It works very well and even better than on the 80-400VR. Maybe this is because it is a faster lens ( f2.8 ) but VR works and nearly never fails. It is still amazing to take images at 200mm handheld with shutterspeeds as low as 1/15s and get sharp results. And VR makes sense! Even if you use a tripod most of the time there are situations where you can´t. Beside shooting from a boat or plane or on strong wind there are still other situations where a tripod is not very usefull: Crawling on the floor with a lens mounted on a tripod to shoot squirrels ( thats what I did in Canada ) is a painfull workout. Today I would use my 70-200VR with a converter to take these kind of images.

Image quality:

As I shoot digital I can´t say anything about vignetting or corner sharpness but I don´t think that this lens will perform worse than it´s predecessor.

On my D1 this lens is a great perfomer. The sharpness at 70mm is impressive even if the lens is used wide open. Bokeh ( the way how out of focus areas are rendered ) is superb and this makes it a perfect lens for portraiture. The sharpness at 200mm / f2.8 is still very good but 1 stop down improve sharpness noticeable. Contrast and especially colorsaturation is very high. This is typical for modern ED-glass and an amazing difference to "normal" glass. People unsatisfied with the color or contrast performance of their Nikon D-SLR should at least test some real ED-lenses ( I mean the expensive 2.8 zooms ).

The overall optical perfomance of this lens is extremly high ( sharpness, colors, contrast ) but one thing is really amazing: Bokeh. It is nothing but imprressive how this lens deals with out of focus foreground and more important with the out ouf focus background of an image. This lens was clearly designed with the importance of a good Bokeh in mind. Even if the lens is stopped down to 11 the optical performance is still very high and out of focus areas are still rendered softly. Contrasty, unattractive backgrounds do no longer ruin an image. I never used a lens that does so well in this area. To make a lens that delivers high sharpness, contrast and strong colors is one thing - to let it produce a very fine Bokeh too is true craftmanship. Bokeh is not a subtle, insignificant detail it really makes the difference. The AF-S 2.8/300 ED is one of the best lenses Nikon has ever made if you use it wide open. Use it with f8 or below and you risk that your images will be spoilt by harsh backgrounds.

Imagequality if used with converters: With the TC-14E you loose nothing except 1 stop. Sharpness is still there and AF is still very fast. This changed if mated with the TC-20E. Sharpness suffers and it does not perform as good as the 80-400VR at 400. That does not mean that you can´t get useable results but I wouldn´t recommend this combo as a replacement for a 80-400VR. AF tends to hunt if contrasts are low with the TC-20E though it is still faster than AF on the 80-400VR. But I have no problem to use this combo for hikes or boattrips where I need the reach and don´t like to lug around my 2.8/300.

This is one of the best performing zoomlenses - period.

Conclusion:

It´s very simple: If you can afford and justify this lens: Buy it! A fast telephotozoom like a 2.8/70(80)-200 really improves your images. They help to seperate your subject from the background. They usually come with a tripod collar which makes verticals on a tripod very convenient. They simply help you to make better pictures.

70-200VR vs 80-400VR:

Which one to buy? The answer is simple: It depends on your shooting style and the lenses you already own. In short:

70-200VR:

pros: image quality, fast AF and fast 2.8, Bokeh

80-400VR:

pros: image quality, versatile, reach ( 400mm gives you 4 times the subjectsize compared to 200mm )

cons: slow AF ( no AF-S ) and slow 5.6, tripod collar

Conclusion II:

If you try to shoot wildlife and birds and you can´t afford a teleprime yet or if you want to travel light than get the 80-400VR. If shooting of fast action is not an issue you get a powerful tool in a very compact form. This lens and the upcoming 24-120VR together with a 1.4/50 could be the perfect set of lenses for travelphotography.

If you already own a teleprime plus converters for your wildlife or birdphotography you better buy the 70-200VR. I would recommend the 70-200VR as a replacement for the AF 2.8/80-200 ED because you get AF-S ( very important if you like to use it with Nikon AF converters ) and VR. I even would think of replacing an AF-S 2.8/80.200 ED with this lens because VR can save the day sometimes.

Why did I sold the 80-400VR? Beside getting money to buy the 70-200VR it is the fact that I´m no lens collector. What doesn´t fit in my backpack makes no sense to me. A lens that sits on a shelf at home is of no use if I´m in the field taking pictures. With the 70-200VR and the 3.5/180 Macro I already own two bigger lenses and I simply don´t have enough space for another lens of this size. Anyway I discovered that I have to upgrade my backpack because of the converters someday.