Confused about 80-200 Nikkors. Help?

Hey everybody. There are two different 80-200mm D lenses that Nikon

makes, and I am confused as to what the difference is, as well as why

there is such a huge price difference! Can anybody clue me in? One is

the 80-200 F2.8 D MACRO ED (77) for about 500$, and the other is the

80-200 F2.8 D ED INTERNAL FOCUS AF-S (77). The only thing I can

decifer, is one has the motor built into the lens, the other does

not, relying on the motor inside the camera, making it a little

slower. If I am correct, is the slower one worth the savings? 500$

is a good price!

 

http://www.keh.com/shop/SHOWPRODUCT.CFM?

CRID=8106711&SKID=NA07999032018J5&SID=newused&BID=NA&CID=07&SOID=N&cur

pic=0&dpsp=0

 

http://www.keh.com/shop/SHOWPRODUCT.CFM?

CRID=8106711&SKID=NA07999034114J4&SID=newused&BID=NA&CID=07&SOID=N&cur

pic=0&dpsp=0

I thought there were more versions of this!

 

The current AF-D (lower priced) one has 16 elements in 11 groups

and has 3 ED elements (supposed to help improve the image quality).

 

The AF-S (handsomely priced) one has 18 elements in 14 groups and has 5 ED elements. It is also heavier by about 280 gms. In this version there are two additional different versions: one black painted and the other white!

 

The AF-D version was supposed to have undergone quite a few revisions?

 

There is also a 70-200 f/2.8 G AF-s VR lens...which has even more complex lens construction (21 elements in 15 groups)

 

Vivek.

Brandon the links do not work for me and you only gave the price for the first lens. this price must be for a used lens. so what is the condition? nobody will be able to tell you how much the difference in afs versus regular AF is worth for you in terms of money. only you can know. if you ask this question then most likely you will not need the afs. one reason is that afs will not work on all nikon bodies. so the question is which body are you going to use the lens with? even with bodies that support AFS the question remains if AFS will be fast enough for your application. (I needed to buy an F5 at a time to be fast enought to capture model planes in flight, my F90X was too slow with an AFS lens). No problem for landscapes though :-) besides faster focus afs allows for manual correction of the focus while in AF mode. with a direct gear coupling as in regular AF lenses you waste time to disengage the gears manually in order to correct focus manually. and again the same to switch back to AF you need to turn AF on. for some situations this can be more important than the faster action. The 500$ lens will give you good optical quality at a good price if in mint condition and the latest model. I am a bit confused about the "macro" part. Its not listed as "macro" in the current lenses at www.nikon.de. but - if you want to act fast this may already help.

I dont know why those dang links dont work. Here is the more expensive one:

 

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

 

Here is the cheaper one I found... obviously a totally different lens:

 

http://www.keh.com/shop/SHOWPRODUCT.CFM?CRID=8107181&SKID=NA07999032018N5&SID=newused&BID=NA&CID=07&SOID=N&curpic=0&dpsp=0

 

(i just copied and pasted this, so this SHOULD work)

Brandon, Nikon made two different 80-200 AF-D lenses. The one

touch is the older one, the later version had separate zoom and

focus rings. Your link shows the older one touch lens. Neither of

the AF-D lenses will autofocus with a Nikon teleconverter. The

AF-S lenses can be used with the AF teleconverters. The AF-S

lens is much larger and heavier than either of the AF-D lenses

but it focuses much quicker and is very quiet.

Sorry about my earlier unhelpful post!

 

As Kevin says, the second version (two ring version) is supposed to be a better of the two AF-D lenses.

 

Vivek.

This is one of the most frequently asked questions. Please take a look at this thread; it has all the details:

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<A HREF="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=000nBZ&topic_id=23&topic=photo%2enet">http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=000nBZ&topic_id=23&topic=photo%2enet</A>.

<P>

All non-AF-S versions of the 80-200mm/f2.8 AF are optically identical. However, the later versions AF faster.

Hey Brandon...check out Ken Rockwell's web page it explains everything you want to know about all Nikon's 80-200 lenses. I think it's KenRockwell.com...

I would get the best bargain I could on a used two-touch 80-200mm available. Nikon has never made a bummer in this range but the AF-S version is neither faster nor sharper by the price differential it sells for, in my opinion.

Thanks for the help guys! IT all makes sense now :)

I had a "One Touch". Great optically but sucks in dust and is a lot of lens to be hanging off the camera without a tripod mount. I now have the latest model (AF D non AFS). It is a real bargin in a pro lens. Superb optics and build.

If you are talking the 80-200 lenses that Nikon currently make, there is only one; the 80-200 2.8D ED. This is a very good quality lens available at a relatively (for its performance) low price. It does not have an interanl focus motor like the discontinued AF-S (that is what the S stands for; silent [wave?] motor). Rather it relies on the focus motor in the camera body in the time honoured Nikon tradition.

 

Close to the 80-200 and effectively the replacement for the 80-200 AF-S is a 70-200 AF-S VR F2.8G IF ED. This is now the premium expensive lens in this focal range. It is a fantastic lens. A bit lighter than the 80-200, the optics are about the same, the G means it has no external aperture ring (relies on camera body control only) the VR (vibration control/image stabilisation) really works and is good for two full stops.

 

For a history of the 80-200's that Nikon used to make (there are at least four versions previous to the one I describe above) have a look at kenrockwell.com.