advice for good 200 mm nikon

[elrafo]

hi there,


I went to kenya and did quite good pictures with an old 70-200 serie E nikon. My only concern was not to have the autofocus...
Is there an affordable good zoom Nikon with Af, not like the very expensive 70-200 VR apo (2000 USD) I don't need a 2.8 constant, a 4 is enought!

thanks for your advice!

Raph.

 

[Sw1tchFX]

The Nikkor 80-200 f/2.8D is what I use and It's a fantastic lens. It has similar optics to the 70-200, just without the VR. It's $820 off of B&H, and except for the 70-200, the clarity doesn't get much better than this.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=124669&is=GREY

 

[midget patrol]

The Nikkor 80-200 f/2.8D is what I use and It's a fantastic lens. It has similar optics to the 70-200, just without the VR. It's $820 off of B&H, and except for the 70-200, the clarity doesn't get much better than this.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=124669&is=GREY

Debatably one of the sharpest zooms nikon has made to date.

 

[KevinR]

Moving away from Nikkor. The new Sigma 70-200 2.8 has been getting really good reviews.

 

[Tiberius]

The Nikkor 80-200 f/2.8D is what I use and It's a fantastic lens. It has similar optics to the 70-200, just without the VR. It's $820 off of B&H, and except for the 70-200, the clarity doesn't get much better than this.

Purely as an aside, while the two lenses are in the exact same range - razor sharp across the board - the optics behind the 70-200 were radically changed from the 80-200 series. It was more than just adding VR. They're still both stunning lenses and I think the 80-200 is exactly what you need.

If you don't need a tripod collar, you can get some great deals on the older push/pull version.

 

[fmw]

But do note that the 80-200 f2.8 is a big, long, heavy lens. It is a pain to carry around. Optically it is about as good as zooms get but be prepared for a giant lens.

 

[elrafo]

cool, and can you tell me the diffence between the 2 versions of this lens? I heard there was an older 80-200...

 

[Tiberius]

The 80-200 has gone through a variety of phases. Pretty sure there was a pre-AI version, the AI-S (MF) version, the initial push-pull ("One-touch") AF without a tripod collar, and the current two-touch AF-D with a Tripod Collar. There was also, briefly, an 80-200 AF-S with different (many say superior) optics, but that was discontinued when the 70-200VR was introduced.

 

[LWW]

All good choices. This may fit the exact criteria better.

Nikkor 70-210 f4.0 AF. Can be found in great shape used for $200.00 or less.

IMHO it is 99% as sharp as my 80-200 f2.8 EDIF. And it probably weighs 50% as much. I've never seen it mentioned but it must have had at least 1 ED element.

I love my 2.8 but wish I had kept the 4.0 as well for when weight or possible loss/damage to stuff was high.

LWW