Should I get these lenses used? 70-200; 24-70; maybe a prime?

[DGMPhotography]

So I think I'm finally going to be able to invest in decent glass, and my budget is about $2,100.

Ideally I would like to get the 70-200 f/2.8 VRII, and the 24-70 f/2.8 VR. Each of these are about $2000 refurbished... Do you think it'd be worth the risk to get a used one for cheaper (around $1300)?

I know I probably won't be able to get both on my budget. But I'm thinking I can get one, and then get a decent prime instead with the left over money.

I'm currently working with a D750 and 50mm f/1.8, 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6, 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6.

Thoughts?

 

[goooner]

The Tamron 70-200 G2 is supposed to be the bees knees. I'm very happy with the older version of the lens. Any reason you are not looking at Tamron?

 

[Destin]

If you stretch your budget $300 you could get a Tamron 24-70 and 70-200, both G2 versions.

If you can’t stretch your budget you could get the 24-70 G2 for $1199 and a used 70-200 VC for $800 or so.

I have the 70-200 VC and it’s incredible. Bought mine used for $775 on eBay and absolutely love it. No desire to upgrade at all.

Third party lenses are as good or better than the Nikon equivalents right now in many cases.

 

[Destin]

The Tamron 70-200 G2 is supposed to be the bees knees. I'm very happy with the older version of the lens. Any reason you are not looking at Tamron?

Great minds think alike.

 

[pixmedic]

for weddings and portraits, the 70-200 f2.8 was our most used lens, followed by our 85mm.
i got most of our gear used. i find it a great way to get a little more for your money.

 

[DGMPhotography]

for weddings and portraits, the 70-200 f2.8 was our most used lens, followed by our 85mm.
i got most of our gear used. i find it a great way to get a little more for your money.

Yeah, I'm finding that I use my current 70-300 quite a bit for weddings, so it makes sense to get the 70-200. But I do need a better wide angle, in general, so either a wide prime or a 24-70.

I'm not really interested in third party lenses. I've looked at comparisons, and I've read quite a bit about it, and it seems that while some may be good, they're simply not as good as the Nikon brand. And they have compatibility issues when new cameras and firmware comes out.

 

[tirediron]

for weddings and portraits, the 70-200 f2.8 was our most used lens, followed by our 85mm.
i got most of our gear used. i find it a great way to get a little more for your money.

Yep... out of all the lenses I own, I've only bought three new. Everything else, including my key lenses (70-200 208, 85 1.4) have been bought used. In my experience lenses either work or they don't. Out of my entire stable, I've only ever had one lens with issues (my 24-70, bought new).

 

[Destin]

for weddings and portraits, the 70-200 f2.8 was our most used lens, followed by our 85mm.
i got most of our gear used. i find it a great way to get a little more for your money.

Yeah, I'm finding that I use my current 70-300 quite a bit for weddings, so it makes sense to get the 70-200. But I do need a better wide angle, in general, so either a wide prime or a 24-70.

I'm not really interested in third party lenses. I've looked at comparisons, and I've read quite a bit about it, and it seems that while some may be good, they're simply not as good as the Nikon brand. And they have compatibility issues when new cameras and firmware comes out.

Your call man. 80% of the lenses I’ve owned have been third party, and I’ve never had an issue with any of the higher end ones. I’ve never heard of an actual compatibility issue with a new camera or firmware.. just of the theoretical possibility.

The Tamron 70-200 G2 is rated by most people as better than the Nikon VRII and as good or better than the newest $2800 Nikon 70-200.

I was hesitant to get one as well until I got my hands on one and checked out the photos. But on your budget the newest generation of third party stuff is certainly better than going back a generation or two with the OEM stuff.

Is it as good as the latest Nikon lenses? That’s debatable, but they’re both well out of your budget anyway.

That’s just my opinion. If you wanna get OEM that’s totally your call and you’ll get great photos, but you’ll be buying used over new (no warranty) and getting an older generation of tech.

 

[DGMPhotography]

for weddings and portraits, the 70-200 f2.8 was our most used lens, followed by our 85mm.
i got most of our gear used. i find it a great way to get a little more for your money.

Yeah, I'm finding that I use my current 70-300 quite a bit for weddings, so it makes sense to get the 70-200. But I do need a better wide angle, in general, so either a wide prime or a 24-70.

I'm not really interested in third party lenses. I've looked at comparisons, and I've read quite a bit about it, and it seems that while some may be good, they're simply not as good as the Nikon brand. And they have compatibility issues when new cameras and firmware comes out.

Your call man. 80% of the lenses I’ve owned have been third party, and I’ve never had an issue with any of the higher end ones. I’ve never heard of an actual compatibility issue with a new camera or firmware.. just of the theoretical possibility.

The Tamron 70-200 G2 is rated by most people as better than the Nikon VRII and as good or better than the newest $2800 Nikon 70-200.

I was hesitant to get one as well until I got my hands on one and checked out the photos. But on your budget the newest generation of third party stuff is certainly better than going back a generation or two with the OEM stuff.

Is it as good as the latest Nikon lenses? That’s debatable, but they’re both well out of your budget anyway.

That’s just my opinion. If you wanna get OEM that’s totally your call and you’ll get great photos, but you’ll be buying used over new (no warranty) and getting an older generation of tech.

You're saying the G2 is as good or better than the 70-200 FL? Imma need some sources on that, my man.

 

[Destin]

for weddings and portraits, the 70-200 f2.8 was our most used lens, followed by our 85mm.
i got most of our gear used. i find it a great way to get a little more for your money.

Yeah, I'm finding that I use my current 70-300 quite a bit for weddings, so it makes sense to get the 70-200. But I do need a better wide angle, in general, so either a wide prime or a 24-70.

I'm not really interested in third party lenses. I've looked at comparisons, and I've read quite a bit about it, and it seems that while some may be good, they're simply not as good as the Nikon brand. And they have compatibility issues when new cameras and firmware comes out.

Your call man. 80% of the lenses I’ve owned have been third party, and I’ve never had an issue with any of the higher end ones. I’ve never heard of an actual compatibility issue with a new camera or firmware.. just of the theoretical possibility.

The Tamron 70-200 G2 is rated by most people as better than the Nikon VRII and as good or better than the newest $2800 Nikon 70-200.

I was hesitant to get one as well until I got my hands on one and checked out the photos. But on your budget the newest generation of third party stuff is certainly better than going back a generation or two with the OEM stuff.

Is it as good as the latest Nikon lenses? That’s debatable, but they’re both well out of your budget anyway.

That’s just my opinion. If you wanna get OEM that’s totally your call and you’ll get great photos, but you’ll be buying used over new (no warranty) and getting an older generation of tech.

You're saying the G2 is as good or better than the 70-200 FL? Imma need some sources on that, my man.

Going to find them now.

But it shouldn’t matter. You aren’t looking at an FL in your budget anyway. And it’s rated better than the VRII by just about everyone.

 

[pixmedic]

i can see the argument for forwards compability, but dont discount third party lenses because of OEM "superiority".
the days where tamron and sigma were miles behind Nikon and Canon in terms of IQ and image rendering as well as VR are long gone.
going third party gets you probably 97% of the Nikons quality at half (or less) the cost. might let you add another lens or two to the budget.
filling out needed or wanted lenses would rank higher on my list than going stirctly OEM. if ya got the cash, by all means go OEM. can never go wrong there. but if you really want to get the most bang for your buck, its heard to beat tamron and sigmas newest lenses.
middle ground of course is to go used OEM, which is not a bad option either.

 

[Destin]

for weddings and portraits, the 70-200 f2.8 was our most used lens, followed by our 85mm.
i got most of our gear used. i find it a great way to get a little more for your money.

Yeah, I'm finding that I use my current 70-300 quite a bit for weddings, so it makes sense to get the 70-200. But I do need a better wide angle, in general, so either a wide prime or a 24-70.

I'm not really interested in third party lenses. I've looked at comparisons, and I've read quite a bit about it, and it seems that while some may be good, they're simply not as good as the Nikon brand. And they have compatibility issues when new cameras and firmware comes out.

Your call man. 80% of the lenses I’ve owned have been third party, and I’ve never had an issue with any of the higher end ones. I’ve never heard of an actual compatibility issue with a new camera or firmware.. just of the theoretical possibility.

The Tamron 70-200 G2 is rated by most people as better than the Nikon VRII and as good or better than the newest $2800 Nikon 70-200.

I was hesitant to get one as well until I got my hands on one and checked out the photos. But on your budget the newest generation of third party stuff is certainly better than going back a generation or two with the OEM stuff.

Is it as good as the latest Nikon lenses? That’s debatable, but they’re both well out of your budget anyway.

That’s just my opinion. If you wanna get OEM that’s totally your call and you’ll get great photos, but you’ll be buying used over new (no warranty) and getting an older generation of tech.

You're saying the G2 is as good or better than the 70-200 FL? Imma need some sources on that, my man.

https://petapixel.com/2017/03/07/hands-new-tamron-70-200mm-f2-8-g2/

At work so I don’t have time to hunt down a ton of sources, but here’s one test claiming they can’t see much of a difference between the two.

I’m sure the Nikon wins on an MTF chart. But MTF charts are useless in the real world.

 

[coastalconn]

for weddings and portraits, the 70-200 f2.8 was our most used lens, followed by our 85mm.
i got most of our gear used. i find it a great way to get a little more for your money.

Yeah, I'm finding that I use my current 70-300 quite a bit for weddings, so it makes sense to get the 70-200. But I do need a better wide angle, in general, so either a wide prime or a 24-70.

I'm not really interested in third party lenses. I've looked at comparisons, and I've read quite a bit about it, and it seems that while some may be good, they're simply not as good as the Nikon brand. And they have compatibility issues when new cameras and firmware comes out.

Your call man. 80% of the lenses I’ve owned have been third party, and I’ve never had an issue with any of the higher end ones. I’ve never heard of an actual compatibility issue with a new camera or firmware.. just of the theoretical possibility.

The Tamron 70-200 G2 is rated by most people as better than the Nikon VRII and as good or better than the newest $2800 Nikon 70-200.

I was hesitant to get one as well until I got my hands on one and checked out the photos. But on your budget the newest generation of third party stuff is certainly better than going back a generation or two with the OEM stuff.

Is it as good as the latest Nikon lenses? That’s debatable, but they’re both well out of your budget anyway.

That’s just my opinion. If you wanna get OEM that’s totally your call and you’ll get great photos, but you’ll be buying used over new (no warranty) and getting an older generation of tech.

You're saying the G2 is as good or better than the 70-200 FL? Imma need some sources on that, my man.

FWIW....

I love my G2, Hopefully Ill use it more with Hawk season coming up.
Testing Tamron 70-200 G2

 

[DGMPhotography]

I'm looking at the FL, and I think if I can book another gig or two I could be able to get it. I'm finding it listed for $2400. The more I read about it the more in love I fall.

I think I need to test out the G2 and the FL and see what I think.

 

[coastalconn]

I'm looking at the FL, and I think if I can book another gig or two I could be able to get it. I'm finding it listed for $2400. The more I read about it the more in love I fall.

I think I need to test out the G2 and the FL and see what I think.

FYI if you are seeing the FL listed for $2400 new it is probably grey market..