Help choosing a 200mm lens

[rollosphotos]

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[prinothcat]

Nikkor 80-200 2.8. Hands down my favorite lens. I wrote up a brief review in the camera database. It's heavy. It's either AF or manual, there is no "grab the ring and focus" like the AF-S lenses. A little loud if your used to the Nikkor AF-S lenses. It's plenty fast enough to hand hold. It delivers very crisp high contrast images. Examples in my galleries (link at bottom). Metal construction, build is fantastic. If you want a hood for it they are sold separately. The case is useless, you can store a 6 pack in it. . They are going (or have gone) out of production, so if your leaning that direction you may want to jump soon. They do hold their resale value if you decide you don't like it.

[rollosphotos]

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[prinothcat]

If you're thinking of going fixed as opposed to zoom the Nikkor 300 f.4 might be worth looking into. The fixed 2.8's are in the 4 digit price range... mid to high 4 digit. If you can swing the 1600+ price tag the 70-200 is really a good choice.

[northern_quill]

I had a Sigma 70-200 f2.8 and it had to be calibrated by Sigma 3 times before getting the focus spot on, but it would not track moving subjects properly. After 3 months I gave up on my specific copy and got a Nikkor 70-200 f/2.8 VR. This lens delivered perfect focus right out of the box, and focus tracking sticks like glue to the subject, this is expected because of the price you pay for the lens.

My advice is that if you can get a good copy of the Sigma 70-200 f/2.8 lens, then you're set because this lens has it's own motor so in theory it should be quick in focus and tracking, and it has the best bokeh I have experienced. Don't get me wrong, I still like Sigma because I have a wonderful copy of their 24-70 f/2.8 and the 10-20, no re-calibration needed.

If you can't get a good copy of the Sigma lens, you can try the Nikon 80-200 AF-D on your SLR body which is about the same price of the Sigma, but bear in mind that this is a screw driven lens so you may need stronger bodies like the D200 or D2H to drive it, if you are into sports. If they had it in stock when I bought the 70-200, I would have gotten this lens because at sports photography VR is not that useful, your shutter speed would be high enough to counter hand shake.

Whatever lens you get, I hope you will be happy with it and be able to get the images you want.

[rollosphotos]

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[northern_quill]

I bought the lens used and without warranty, so they had no option of replacing it. But I believe I just got a bad copy that time. I hope you get a good one from where you are buying it. You will be happy with this lens, as I said before, it is tack sharp, good contrast and the bokeh is wonderful.

This is at f/3.5, notice that the background is smooth and creamy:
http://www.pbase.com/northern_quill/image/97975556

This shot is at f/5.6 but since it's at 120mm it gives a nice bokeh, with good enough details:
http://www.pbase.com/northern_quill/image/96403249

You can even get better images than that if you set your aperture at f/2.8. So have fun with your lens and post some shots after buying it.