24-120mm VR + N80

[david_clark10]

Hello all, I had been contemplating buting a 24-120mm VR for some

time. I was offered a mint one and N80 at a price I couldn't refuse.

I have been enjoying using it over the weekend on my D100 and have

read a fair bit about it as well. However having never used a VR lens

before just wondered if anyone had any tips - when it should(n't) be

used on VR etc and how much more battery power does it use than

standard AFS lenses.

[User_276104]

Haven't heard much about the 24-120 VR in awhile. I don't think B&H has had it in stock for months, so somebody must be buying them all.

 

As for VR use, it's said that it shouldn't be used on a tripod.

 

And as for battery consumption, I haven't noticed that it drains things much more than regular camera use. I only own the 80-400 VR, and it's not on my camera all the time, but if it does get used the VR is on. And when I'm bored I play around with it with the VR on. I've always used it with the VR set so you see the effect in the viewfinder, which probably takes the most power to operate.

 

Obviously a 24-120 lens would be used much more, so you'll probably have to just get out and use it and see how long it takes for your batteries to go. You might get more life out of a set if you have the N80 battery pack (MB-16?) that takes 4 AAs, and use lithiums.

[ShunCheung]

Just checked B&H's web site, and they have 24-120 VR in stock for $570. I was at my local pro store (K&S in Palo Alto, California) last weekend and they had it in stock too, for $600.

[Mary Doo]

I use lithium batteries and I haven't noticed much if any change in power consumption. But then I never keep track of these things unless there is a noticeable change of component behavior. The manual advises against using VR with a tripod and I think it's a good idea to follow the advice because we don't know what we don't know. Hwvr, sometimes I forgot to turn it off and I hadn't noticed any problem in the resultant images. Maybe there will be a difference under certain conditions which need the utmost stability, such as long exposures -- I don't know.

 

So far Nikon's standard instruction is to turn VR off when using a tripod. Hwvr, I read that the new 200-400VR will be an exception. You may turn on VR and leave it there -- tripod or otherwise. IMO, this is great news.

[ilkka_nissila]

Yeah, great news at $7000 a pop. ;-)