Nikon 70-210mm f4-5.6 D - Any good ?

John Young

John Young

Messages
4,330
Name
John
Edit My Images
Yes
Just curious if anyone has the Nikon 70-210mm f4-5.6 D Lens.

I have the chance to get one and just wondering what they are like ?
 
Yeah but the 55-200 VR is DX right ? I need full frame

I used to have the 18-105 VR and that was excellent but was no good on full frame


edit - mostly good reviews there thanks for the link, I think it should be good for £80
 
Last edited:
Ah shot, yeah 55-200 is DX, sorry. The 70-300 VR is FX but that's another price level

£80 ...bargain really ;)
 
Yeah worth a try for the price and I read that the D version used to go for big money

Maybe you should get one as you have a D800 and the review (shown below) seems to rate it highly on his

I have just purchased the non D version of the Nikon 70-210 f4-5.6 to go with my D800.

I bought it because it was so cheap that it seemed crazy not to buy it - especially given many of the other positive comments here. Also I was looking for something lighter for everyday use to complement by 80-200 f2.8D (pull push version).

In a nutshell I was bowled over. This is a seriously good, superb value lens. Mine is very sharp wide open from centre to edge improving to bitingly sharp once closed down a stop. In terms of sharpness I can can hardly tell the difference from my 80-200. And whereas the latter needed some heavy AF fine tuning to get sharp results, the 70-210 seems spot-on with no adjustment. It also performs better (sharper from corner to corner) at the 70mm end than my Nikon 24-85 f3.5-3.5 (non VR) lens.

Moreover, I have no problems in terms of slowness of autofocus with either of these lenses - but maybe that's because I do not have the later fast focussing versions to compare against.

My only real dilemma is convincing myself why i should keep the 80-200. I guess the latter is just so solid, feels so good to use and performs so well even at f2.8 from edge to edge.

The lesson: some of Nikon's old lenses are real bargains and have a great deal to offer even with its latest cameras.
Click to expand...
 
I would probably buy one for that price if I didn't have the 70-200! I used to use a Vivitar Series one manual 70-210 f/3.5 on my D90. It was a cracker of a lens for what i paid - €50! It was push-pull, and manual focus of course, took a little getting used to, but it did great macro [1:2] at the 70mm end, and was sharp through to about 180mm, beyond that it was a bit soft but you couldn't complain. I love a bargain! sold that and traded up to a push-pull 80-200 2.8 which was even better and of course, had full AF. But sticking to as good as I can get for the D800 for now :)
 
Last edited:
Yeah bargain lenses are great and to be honest I have only really thought of them since I got the D600 as I know it will take some of the older lenses.

I recently got a NIKON AF NIKKOR 28-80mm 1:3.3-5.6 G off ebay for £25 and that is a cracker of a lens... well happy with that. AF focus meter etc.. superb!

I also have a 8-200 f2.8 which is great (and heavy) but that was also a bargain at £110
 
Too right, nothing like a great bargain! :)

When I think of what i spend on my current lenses ... I could have a tonne of older gems for the money, and I'm sure some of them would be excellent. But, the one thing about higher end gear is the re-sale value, they're an investment. But if you don't plan to buy and sell much, older gems are ideal, just do the research each time you come across one you fancy :)
 
Yeah very true....... and you can still sell on the old lenses if needed.

I was looking at the Nikon 28-105 and that still goes for well over £100
 
TheCrewDesigns said:
I also have a 80-200 f2.8 which is great (and heavy) but that was also a bargain at £110
Click to expand...

Now THAT'S a bargain!!!!!!!! If you see another one, be sure to let me know.

Adrian

P.S. Made a bit of a correction to the focal length. Hope I got it right.
 
Unless there's an 8-200mm 2.8 I don't know about! which would be an amazing lens! :D

That is very cheap for the 80-200, no matter which version. I sold my 2nd gen push-pull version for €400
 
Its this one

lens80-200.jpg


takes photos like this

William%20Bucket%20Head.jpg


and this

little_lads.jpg


Both these taken with above lens and D90 (R.I.P)

I think I was a bit out on the cost I think including P&P it was around the £120 mark but P&P would be a lot for something that heavy. It came with a big case to

BUT before I get linched there is a few problems with the lens. One I knew about and that is the zoom collar is bent and makes the zooming stiff but that not that bad once you get used to it. The other I was a bit annoyed about and its the aperture blades sticking when below F8 so making the photos below that undereposed. But it does not affect me at all as I never go below F8 and mostly use it at F2.8 like its really meant for. Why use below F8 on a lens like that it would be a waste.

I love the lens, works great and cost me little.... but like I said it is HEAVY
 
Last edited:
I have one of those lenses but its a non D version. It might not be the fastest focusing lens in the world but I think I've managed some decent results out of it :) I use mine on my D7000 but I always want something extra at the long end so I've been eyeing up a 70-300VR but I can never choose which lens to buy so I end up buying nothing! It's just a shame I can't pick up a 70-300 for what I paid for this, £40-50 delivered if my memory serves correctly.

1/250 f/5.6 210mm

Baby Elephant3 by andyroberts1868, on Flickr

1/80 f/14 170mm

Diadora Porsche by andyroberts1868, on Flickr

1/320 f/5.6 210mm

ABR_5368 by andyroberts1868, on Flickr

1/320 f/5.6 210mm

Metro 6R4 by andyroberts1868, on Flickr

And a portrait for good measure :)

1/500 f/5.3 190mm

MarkPosing by andyroberts1868, on Flickr
 
Last edited:
I had this version:

80-200mm-f28-d-950.jpg


Pretty much the same as the older one you have, but for the crinkle coating on the barrel and the focus limit was a bit better.

These were shot using it hand-held:



Nap on the green by Cagey75, on Flickr


Concentration by Cagey75, on Flickr



Ben Bulbin by Cagey75, on Flickr

Every bit as good optically, maybe, as the 70-200 VRII, for a fraction of the price. No VR or tripod collar or anything fancy, but once you got used to the heft, hand holding wasn't too bad at all.
 
thanks John :) Just to give you an idea, if you look at the exif on those you'll see that most of them are shot wide open at the long end, which i didn't think was too bad at all :) apart from the Porsche which was f/14 :lol:

in fact, i'll add the exif onto each one for you to have a look :)
 
andy1868 said:
thanks John :) Just to give you an idea, if you look at the exif on those you'll see that most of them are shot wide open at the long end, which i didn't think was too bad at all :) apart from the Porsche which was f/14 :lol:

in fact, i'll add the exif onto each one for you to have a look :)
Click to expand...


fantastic - well that's even better, I should get the lens today so looking forward to trying it
 
Well got the Nikon 70-200 today and so far very happy with it. Not tried it outside much but took a photo of my wife Katie which was wide open for the lens (F4) and this was jpeg straight out the camera not sharpened at all just resized for the forum

katie.jpg


100% Crop
eye_crop.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top