Nikon Or advice 70-200 vr II

<p>Hi,<br>

I have a few questions for some pro's....<br>

I currently have a nikon 18-200 1:35-56 g ED lens that i shoot on a D80 and can not seem to get a sharp enough image over 135ish-200. My images come out soft wether i manually focus or autofocus, I 'm looking for something sharp.</p>

<p>I shoot snow sports at the moment, skiing snowboarding.</p>

<p>I have been advised to grab a 70-200 vr II lens.....its pretty pricey for me. Will it work well with my D80 or should I upgrade my body?</p>

<p>DO I need to have a teleconverter lens if i get the 70-200 lens? Should I use one now with my 18-200?<br>

When do you need a teleconverter?</p>

<p>What should I do with my 18-200, should I have nikon service it and sell it?</p>

<p>Thanks,</p>

<p>--Ry</p>

<p> </p>

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<p>I have been advised to grab a 70-200 vr II lens.....its pretty pricey for me. Will it work well with my D80 or should I upgrade my body?</p>

</blockquote>

<p>First of all, you need to figure out why your images are not sharp. Neither the D80 nor the 18-200mm super zoom is ideal for shooting sports.</p>

<p>The 70-200mm VR II is fully compatible with your D80, but you probably should upgrade the body to something with a better AF system to take full advantage of that lens for sports.</p>

<p> I am sorry about your 18-200. If it is still in warranty I would not hesitate to send it to El Segundo to see what they think.</p>

<p>I use the 70-200 AFS-VR and not the VRII. Let me say that this is an especially sharp lens. I do not know many professional Nikon shooters who do not own one of the two. Clearly these are expensive lenses. They are worth every penny IF you are going to use them frequently and for that which they are designed. Right now Adorama has my version as a Nikon refurbished lens with a 90 day warranty for $1699.00. That might be an option. </p>

<p>I really think that you should go with sending your lens to Nikon to see what is up with it. You should not see soft photos. Also have someone check out your technique. I know you remember that the VR will help with camera shake but you still need fast shutter speeds to freeze motion such as that you will see with your snowboarding and skiing. </p>

<p>You could post an image for us to see what you mean by soft and if there is something that you may be able to do to improve it. I doubt there is anything actually wrong with the lens, it just is not as sharp as any of the xx-200/2.8 ED lenses.</p>

<p>Nikon has approximately 5 different xx-200/2.8 ED lenses and the actual image quality differences between them is negligible, although the latest seems to work with teleconverters better. Teleconverters are a less expensive way to get a longer focal length lens when you can't get close enough to the action to "fill the frame".</p>

<p>I highly recommend a used Nikon 80-200/2.8 AF-S ED. It is very sharp, very fast focusing, and very good control over chromatic aberation (colour fringing of edges against light backgrounds). These are available in the $700 to $1200 USD range. I use mine with a 1.4x converter on a regular basis and am quite pleased with the results, although when possible I stop it down an extra stop to maintain sharpness.</p>

<p>In my opinion it does not make too much sense to spend a tremendous amount of money on the 70-200/2.8 VR II and then put a converter on it. Better off with something like the used 80-200/2.8 AF-S and a used 300/4 AF-S for about the same price. VR is primarily for no-light still subject photography and not worth the investment for sports.</p>

<p>Your D80 is still capable. I'd recommend better glass before upgrading the body, although that will also help. </p>

<p>It is well known that the 18-200mm/f3.5-5.6 DX lens is not sharp on the long end. Bjorn Rorslett and I have the same findings. I have tried multiple copies of both version 1 and version 2, and I came up with the same conclusion. The fact that the 18-200 is only f5.6 wide open is not going to help you in sports. Unless the OP find a problem on his/her particular lens, I don't see the point to send it to Nikon.</p>

<p>See Rorslett's comment: <a href="http://www.naturfotograf.com/lens_zoom_02.html#AFS18-200VR">http://www.naturfotograf.com/lens_zoom_02.html#AFS18-200VR</a><br>

"Image quality is remarkably good at the wide end and declines towards the telephoto end."<br>

<br>

We are talking about a 11x super zoom. What exactly do you expect?</p>

<p>I have to correct myself. I totally agree with John Crowe. The 80-200 F2.8 is made for what you do. It is a great compromise. I mentioned that you did not need the VR for your snow shots but completely forgot my old favorite. And there is one sitting on my desk. </p>

<p>Snag an 80-200 F2.8D. B & H has them for $1099. You will need a rip-off Nikon lens hood for $39.99 and a filter (snow reminder for the purists) but you will still be in the lens for around $1200.00. Another $400 for the TC and you are in for a grand less than the VRII. And you will love it. </p>

<p> </p>

<p>It is possible there is something wrong with your lens. It is also possible you need to improve your technique. </p>

<p>Does your lens sometimes give you good images at 135ish-200mm?, For example, when you are taking of shot of a still subject? If not, I suggest you send it to Nikon to have it serviced. Your lens should give you reasonably sharp images at all focal lengths.</p>

<p>Keep in mind that shooting moving subjects can be difficult with any camera and requires favorable camera settings and good technique. Can you share with us how you have your camera and lens setup? For example AF mode, typical aperture and shutter speed, ISO?</p>

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<p>I currently have a nikon 18-200 1:35-56 g ED lens that i shoot on a D80 and can not seem to get a sharp enough image over 135ish-200.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>That's characteristic of the lens. It's just soft on the long end, period. The closer to 200mm, the softer it gets. I've been using one for DX (D70s, D200) for almost five years. It's not particularly fast, either...great all-purpose lens, but it's a pretty poor sports lens.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>I have been advised to grab a 70-200 vr II lens.....its pretty pricey for me. Will it work well with my D80 or should I upgrade my body?</p>

</blockquote>

<p>The 80-200 f/2.8D lens is a less expensive alternative. Sharp lens, but no VR, and won't focus quite as fast as the 70-200 f/2.8G VRII. In good light the D80 is adequate. For low light/high ISO, it's inadequate. Your plan should include a body upgrade. As mentioned, it's not ideal for sports, and is noisy with low light/high ISOs.</p>

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<p>DO I need to have a teleconverter lens if i get the 70-200 lens?</p>

</blockquote>

<p>No.</p>

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<p>Should I use one now with my 18-200?</p>

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<p>You can't - it's not compatible with Nikon TCs. If you could, you'd just aggravate the long-end softness issue, and you'd cut enough light transmission that the AF in your camera probably wouldn't work right.</p>

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<p>When do you need a teleconverter?</p>

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<p>When you want to make the lens act like a longer one, but they only work with compatible lenses, and there's always an optical penalty - both in terms of light transmission and image quality. TCs are magnifiers. They're commonly available in powers of 1.4, 1.7, and 2.0 (TC-14EII, TC-17EII, TC-20EIII). To figure the effective focal length, multiply the lens' focal length by the respective number. The loss of light in terms of f/stop is roughly 1, 1.5, and 2.0, respectively. The viewfinder will also appear dimmer with a TC. You'd need to obtain a maximum effective aperture of f/5.6 for the AF to work properly (e.g. f/2.8 + 2 stops = f/5.6).</p>

<p>I use a 1.7 on my 70-200 f/2.8G VRII when I need to gain focal length. It works out fairly well in terms of IQ, and the AF with my D700 or D200 hasn't been hindered noticeably (yet). When the TC-20E III becomes more available, I'll probably pick one up. I'd rather have a 400mm f/2.8 lens, but the cost is prohibitive for the couple of dozen shots I'd use it for in a year. Rental is an option - you could check out the gear before you make a purchasing decision.</p>

<p><em>I have been advised to grab a 70-200 vr II lens.....its pretty pricey for me. Will it work well with my D80 or should I upgrade my body?</em></p>

<p>It is expensive indeed, however, the second hand market is full of earlier versions of the fast telezoom; there are various Nikon 80-200/2.8's and the first version of the 70-200/2.8 which you can use, these are priced on both sides of 1000 EUR. All of these would give much better results in your application than the 18-200.</p>

<p><em>DO I need to have a teleconverter lens if i get the 70-200 lens?</em></p>

<p>Well you can, but I wouldn't advise it.</p>

 

<p>you do want to check for poss. user error as it would suck to plunk down a lotta cash for a lens if technique is the issue. that said, the 18-200 is known to be soft at wide apertures and has light fall-off, distortion, etc. upgrading from the d80 would be a good idea but so would getting a new lens. for snowsports and action you dont need VR, unless you are going for deliberate motion blur, so that may factor into your decision.</p>

<p>I would rent the 70-200 VRII and see if it solves the problem. It's an amazing lens, having the confidence it will nail the focus on moving subjects is worth a lot for the kind of shooting you do and getting a much higher % of in focus shots.</p>