New gear announced: Nikon 200/2.0 AF-S VR, TC-17EII Teleconv, Coolpix 4100

Ok I cant afford this beast but I have to say Nikon really did it right to make such a beast. Loads of amatures buy into a brand just because they believe it's the best brand. Nikon has to release some more beasts similar to this 200/2 regardless of being a volumn seller or not, to set a benchmarker and to prove nikon the best. Only by this way amatures would come back to nikon and praise for nikon though they may not be able to afford such beasts.

Illka is right. I was shooting yesterday in dense forest on a sunny day using ISO 400 and shooting conditions were 1/60 at F4.5! I don't see the possibility of shooting my 500 F4 P with a 1.4x TC under those conditions unless I was using a Kodak DCS720X or Nikon D2H at ISO 3200.

 

The 500 F4 P is fine for a bird sanctuary out in the open under sunny conditions, but definitely not in forested areas. I doubt I could afford the 200mm F2 VR lens but could see its use in wildlife, concerts, etc. It won't be a big seller, but when its needed, its needed.

I have shot in forests with the 500mm/f4, w/ and w/out a TC. When there is not enough light, we use a flash. There are all sorts of "flash extenders" to concentrate the light beam for super telephoto lenses precisely for that purpose.

This may get cut, but here goes:

 

If Helen Keller fell in the forest, would she make a sound?

"A manufacture(sic) that has two other key players, Kodak and Fuji in bed with them

against a manufature that spends more on photocopier research?"

 

If you mean 'more of a percentage of their corporation's research budget' you may be

correct. If you mean to imply that Canon somehow spends less money on photo R&D than

Nikon then I would brand you insane. Which company pioneered aspherical SLR lenses,

fluorite lenses, USM, IS, etc?

 

Nikon and Canon exist symbiotically. In the distant past, Nikon was the clear leader in

almost all respects. In more recent times, Canon can be seen as the innovator. Nikon, on

the other hand, seem to take their time incorporating various new technologies. This is

true with VR (IS) and AF-S (USM) - Nikon lagged by half a decade or more on each one. It

appears also to be true with their digital SLR sensor sizes. If the 1Ds came out in 2002,

we could perhaps expect the full-frame F6D (or whatever the 'fantasy model' is now) in

2007! I think it'll be sooner, but not by much. They might surprise me and pull one out at

Athens, but maybe not.