Nikon 80-200

bobman

bobman

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Name
Russell
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Hi all

I have just taken the plunge and ordered a used 80-200mm AF-D two touch version, which I will take delivery of at the start of next week.

I will be pairing this lens with my D7000 and would be keen to here from people with experience of this lens on whether I have made a good decision.

Thanks, Russell
 
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It's a terrible lens. Can't believe you've bought one. To make you feel better I'll take it off your hands for a small fee

Seriously it's an awesome lens and would have bought one myself had I have had the cash available.

Look forward to seeing your shots!

Ta

S
 
You won't be disappointed. Had one for a few years and its very sharp even wide open. It's also fast enough focusing on the body's motor for what I need. Takes the Kenko 1.4 TC for extra reach but doesn't show in exif. Don't think it will take the Nikon TC's. Overall it's a belting lens for less money than the 70-200.
 
It's brilliant. I love mine dearly. It's better on FF, but works great on a crop too.
 
I have the twin ring version of the 80-200 as you have just bought and also use it on a D7000.

I use it to shoot candid people and crowd shots at event for my event jobs.

See here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aircooledsix/sets/72157631553217237/

(The DJ shots with nice bokeh and close up people shots in daylight were done with it - the exif data will all be there if you want to check as I swap lenses a bit)

And also use it for some car show type stuff:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/aircooledsix/sets/72157630269661430/

It's a very good lens, really sharp, great colours and contrast.

I always use it with a centre point focus on the D7000 and find it locks on quickly and rarely misses with focus.

I tend to shoot it wide open at 2.8 all the time to keep the shutter speed up and ISO down.

Here's a tip: set up one of your U1/U2 modes specifically for this lens! No VR so shake will be an issue so set up a mode for a minimum shutter speed of 1/250, aperture priority, and auto ISO.
That way you can shoot away knowing that it will always be minimum 1/250 in that mode.
Trust me, a grainy photo due to higher ISO is much better than a blurry one!

My only beef with this lens is that it really is a bit too 'long' on a crop camera, unless its telephoto reach you need for sports/wildlife etc.
If you are shooting people or cars then you have to be quite some way back to get them in the frame!

Forget shooting head to feet shots of people unless you are outside and can step back a good 10 meters or so...

One of the reasons I'm considering a D600.

But for clarity, detail and bokeh it's a cracking lens!

I'm vain so I put the new style 70-200 hood on it!

HB-29Adapter-5.jpg
 
I didn't even know the 70-200 hood fitted!
 
The23rdman said:
I didn't even know the 70-200 hood fitted!
Click to expand...

It doesn't, but you can buy an adapter ring off eBay to enable this nice little hood swap!

It works fully so you can press the hood release button and clip the hood on backwards for storage :)
 
Use the same combination here, both pieces of kit are wonderful tbf, even handholding it for a days worth of shooting the lens balances so nicely on the body, it's brilliant, Picture quality is pretty damn good too :)
 
I have a 70-200 hood and 80-200 lens... struggling to find that adapter on Ebay, anyone?? Thanks
 
BlackCloud said:
I have a 70-200 hood and 80-200 lens... struggling to find that adapter on Ebay, anyone?? Thanks
Click to expand...

Yep.

Search "HB-29 hood adapter 80-200" but make sure you search worldwide as the seller is in the US.

There's some on there now :)
 
TimB said:
I have the twin ring version of the 80-200 as you have just bought and also use it on a D7000.

I use it to shoot candid people and crowd shots at event for my event jobs.

See here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aircooledsix/sets/72157631553217237/

(The DJ shots with nice bokeh and close up people shots in daylight were done with it - the exif data will all be there if you want to check as I swap lenses a bit)

And also use it for some car show type stuff:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/aircooledsix/sets/72157630269661430/

It's a very good lens, really sharp, great colours and contrast.

I always use it with a centre point focus on the D7000 and find it locks on quickly and rarely misses with focus.

I tend to shoot it wide open at 2.8 all the time to keep the shutter speed up and ISO down.

Here's a tip: set up one of your U1/U2 modes specifically for this lens! No VR so shake will be an issue so set up a mode for a minimum shutter speed of 1/250, aperture priority, and auto ISO.
That way you can shoot away knowing that it will always be minimum 1/250 in that mode.
Trust me, a grainy photo due to higher ISO is much better than a blurry one!

My only beef with this lens is that it really is a bit too 'long' on a crop camera, unless its telephoto reach you need for sports/wildlife etc.
If you are shooting people or cars then you have to be quite some way back to get them in the frame!

Forget shooting head to feet shots of people unless you are outside and can step back a good 10 meters or so...

One of the reasons I'm considering a D600.

But for clarity, detail and bokeh it's a cracking lens!

I'm vain so I put the new style 70-200 hood on it!

HB-29Adapter-5.jpg
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice regarding the U1/U2 mode, never really thought this feature was necessary I see where you are coming from and have just set up as you advised. Do you not think since the D7000 is crop camera that a shutter speed of 1/320 sec would be better?
 
bobman said:
Thanks for the advice regarding the U1/U2 mode, never really thought this feature was necessary I see where you are coming from and have just set up as you advised. Do you not think since the D7000 is crop camera that a shutter speed of 1/320 sec would be better?
Click to expand...

I find the U1/U2 modes very useful :)

As I advised, U1 is for my 80-200 and activates minimum shutter speed and aperture priority.

U2 is my landscape/tripod mode, where it selects Aperture priority, F8, ISO 100, and 3 step bracketing with 2 stops lighter and darker.

Again, really useful. If I'm walking the streets of a new city shooting, or out for a country walk and I see a scene that requires more respect than a handheld snap, I just pop the camera on a wall or table or on its tripod, spin the dial to U2, other dial to timer, and press the shutter. The camera will then automatically take 3 shots in sequence at F8 and ISO 100, but one correctly exposed and 1 at -2EV and one +2EV for me to later blend in photoshop if I want to add a bit of depth to the photo later.

When I'm done with that shot I just spin the dial back to A or P or whatever I was using that day :)

Using both these modes saves loads of fiddling for me, and I couldn't do without them now.

As for shooting at 1/320... Ignore the crop issue and just do loads of test shots and see what is sharp! I have a fairly steady hand so either 1/200 or 1/250 is fine for me.

You could argue that being a crop camera the image is merely cropped from what full frame would see, not actually extended in zoom or focal length... So in theory the you should use 1/200 for no shake on both FX and DX but let's not go there!
 
I had the old one ring version of this. It was a cracker. But it was missing the tripod collar and the one I had suffered awful 'creep' on the zoom/focus ring. Hold it down for a second and it would slide out of position. That got very annoying. If I'd had the 2 ring version I might have held onto it after going FX. I used it on the D90. And though it was a bit tight indoors, I found it ideal outside. We do buy zooms for reach after all. If you're on Dx you'll have a shorter 2.8 lens for inside, right?

I'm actually pondering on buying the newest version of this for mu D800 over a used 70-200. Anyone using this on FX? Any vignetting or softness wide open?
 
I had the the AF-S version on a D3, cracking lens, fast, sharp wide open and great bokeh
 
Check out the Nikon HB-7 hood designed for this lens. Cheap, and in exactly the same finish as this beautiful lens.
 
I can't believe u guys are putting on a hood that's is not designed for this lens just for the sake of the look ????
 
Can't say I understand that either. Though have to admit, I hated the hood on my old push-pull version. The 70-200 does look much nicer on there.
 
Took delivery of my new lens on Tuesday and have just managed to try it out over the last two days.

I was delighted with the excellent condition of the lens (bought used from dealer) but had to do a af- fine tune last night as I think it was back focusing quite a lot when tested. Iam by no means an expert at this so hope I did it right I have it set at -20 which is a bit alarming, I will see how things go a re-check if necessary.

Here are the first shots.

DSC_9924.jpg


DSC_9708.jpg


DSC_9863_-_Version_2.jpg
 
Backfocus is common but easy to workaround, you don't even need to fine-tune it in most cases, I have a D90 and the 80-200 AF-S and have found that backfocus occurs right on the focus limit, so step back and increase zoom, done! My colleague has the D7000 and he has the 80-200 Push/Pull version, backfocus was evident so he Fine-Tuned it and that solved it at the limit, however it had problems at other focal lengths.

On the whole though, absolutely cracking bit of kit, although I will most probably be getting rid of it at some point as I need some quality glass within the lower range so funds for a 24-70 have to come from somewhere lol

Enjoy!
 
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