leonis_balodis

Quote from one website that reviewed that lens: "We're a little worried about the amount of sample variation we saw during the creation of this review. A total of 4 lenses were run through the complete test cycle, two of which showed resolution values significantly below what you see in these charts. Two additional lenses were so soft wide open that we stopped to review them after just a few test shots. In all cases softness wide open seemed to be a result of misalignment of one of the elements, maybe the VR unit (but this is pure speculation on our side)."

I must say that right side sharpness improves when I close f stop. Shouldn't blur stay the same at every aperture if it's because of the moved/discentered element? Maybe it's just a bad copy of the lens... I saw in one article that, while they were testing it, few copies were unacceptably soft at the sides.

Just one thing, If lthe ens is decentered, would the whole image be softer? Because of that moved element? Could it be because of the lens mount maybe?

Ok, so I removed UV filter, and I tested it a bit. You can cut yourself on center/mid sharpness @ 2.8, form 70-200mm at close range. Even sides are good. But it seems that side blur comes at higher distances, when focus is at 10m or infinity. Center and mid are still sharp, but edges get blured. I will use it for portraits and action/sport/pets in action photography, and 90% of the time @2.8 with center focus. Image @200mm f2.8, few meters from the wall. Handheld. Both edges are soft. Ok, maybe that was not the right example, because focus could be behind bricks in hole, but there is a second one. There's some reflection on D and Y letters. Also 200mm, f2.8. I noticed that sharpness improve a little when I remove UV filter (yeah, it was cheap one), I will dedicate more time to that, and I want to say THANKS to anyone who participated in this topic.Tnx guys! I will keep you up to date with service and other stuff.

It could be that, 24MP. Seller used it on D300S, 12MP sensor... Maybe she didn't noticed any dramatic sharpness because of lower resolution sensor? I don't know much about it, so I can't claim anything. The thing is, lens is very very sharp at the center and mid frame. Left side is little softer than mid/center which supposed to be a normal thing, and right side is softer than left side. It's not so dramaticlly visible at closer distances, but when focus is ~30 meters for example, right side of the image (edge) is kinda blurry.

Sure, tnx for the info. I have a plan to use it for indoor sports, events and portraits. So, yeah, for me, center is the most important. I agree that it shouldn't show up any softness at the corners, but I guess that I was out of luck with this one. But for the price of 460 dollars, I can't complain. Just for the info, does anyone knows the price for lens centering? Is it complicated? I guess it is, considering the number of elements in lens...

Tnx guys. I will contact local service to see what can they do about it. Shame, lens is really remarkable. I did a quick test, and yeah, I know, it's not perfect, low light, handheld, high iso... Sadly, I don't have enough time right now to test it, but you will see what I'm talking about. I have noticed that sharpness gets better when it's stoped down, and I may be wrong, but it seems like right corner gets sharper when I move single focus point from center to right side. Maybe some fine tune will do the trick. I will try some different and better tests in next few days. I also noticed that focus difference between left and right sides are more visible when is focus distance higher. So, high iso, handheld, 2.8... Handheld, 200mm, 2.8, 1/1000 center sharpness

Yeah, the price was insane. And she had two of those. The other one was is worse shape, but still, very good performer. Anyway, I will post some photo examples later. Right side sharpness is ok, not great, but ok. It gets better by stopping it down a bit, but there's a difference between sharpness at the left and right side. Is it that visible in everyday shooting, I will see. But man, that lens is so sharp in the center / middle frame, it's insane. Considering the price, I may live with one slightly softer side I guess.

Thanks. I have no problem with sharpness with this lens. Its thick sharp. Softness is only visible at the right side of the image. It's fast, VR is great, can't really complain... Considering the price, I might keep it. I will see.

Hello guys. I recently got Nikon 70-200 f2.8 VR 1 in good cosmetic condition, and it looked good at overal performance. It's very sharp @ 2.8. I got it for ~460 dollars, which is, here where I live, very cheap for that kind of lens. Price for used is between 750-900 dollars, depends on condition. That seller had two of those, and she was using them both for years. I think that she was the first owner. Anyway, she dropped photography because of the kids, and she wanted to dedicate all of the free time to them, and shee was selling all gear cheaper than usual. Amen to that. I have been using it for a few days with D7100. I have noticed today that one side of the lens is softer than the other. Center and middle are perfect, VR @ 200mm 1/50 no problem for that bad boy. But there is some unusual softness on the right side of the image. Even if I stop it down, let's say 5.6, when you zoom a bit image, you can see difference in sharpnes between those two sides. I have found on web that lens may be decentered, and also that it depends on copy of the lens, that there are some good and some less good copies *photozone.com*... All kind of stories. I have found this thread: Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VR has very soft corners, and the "problem" is very similar. I got it for sport events and portraits. Not for landscape, ofc. I will use it mostly wide open, with center focus most of the time. So, should I live with that "softness" on one side, or should I take a risk and send it to Nikon and get short by few hundreds?

<p>I almost forgot, what You guys think about Nikon AF NIKKOR 70-300mm G? It's the same price range lens as Tamron and Sigma.</p> <h1 > </h1>

<p>Thank You for Your relpies guys. I will check out that Sigma. Sure, I can get Tamron 70-300 VC, but Im not going to use it at full potential. Im more ultra-wide angle guy. Tele is just for fun for me. And yes, it's D7100.</p>

<p>I want to buy budget tele lens for Nikon. I can buy something more expencive, but I don't need it. I had 55-300mm VR, but I have sold it together with my previous camera. Anyway, for this amount of money, I can buy Tamron 70-300 non VC, but it have very slow autofocus, so I would use it on manual focus. So, no. Optics quality is surrely on Nikon's side. I have found two of these. "Nikon jewel" 80-200 f4, and "fastes Nikon autofocus" lens 70-210 4-5.6 D. Here, they are both around 120 US dollars. Fast autofocus is adventage, but constant f4 is also. Manual focusing is ok too. Build quality, I didn't tried them. Optics? Anyone? What You would suggest? I don't need it for sports events, to capture ball in the air, etc... I need it for nature photography. Some non-fast moving animals... 70-210 have macro option too, or Im wrong?</p>

<p>English is not my native language. I couldn't find the right term, streaks, yeah. That's right. Im from Latvia. Anyway, I tried to do some long exposure shots, etc... Also tested lens at higher aperture. And then I noticed some dust, and the rest...<br> <br />Dust after few months of usage someone asked? Yeah, I was changing few lenses, and some dust must be on them. Although I have used blower on lens everytime I changed one. And I out in the forest most of the time... So, dust-welcome-environment.<br> <br />Today my friend photographer came by with sticks that had some silicone on top. Some of You will know what that is, I guess. He told me that there was a chance for scratch, but he would like to try to clean that. Like a gentleman in post up said, he thought it was a streaks. And he was right. After cleaning with that silicone thing, there were no more stripes. None. I took a test shot, sky, blank piece of papper... nothing...<br> <br />Point of my first post, well, I wanted to confese somewere that Im sick perfecionist, and that swabs aren't 100% safe, especially if You are using them for the first time. It's better for someone to show You how to use them. I wish You all good light, and thanks for advices.</p>

<p>Is it possible? Sure it is. I would like to share my story with You. What's one of the worst thing that could happen' to You digital baby? Yep, scratched sensor.<br> <br />I was shooting some landscape with my ultra-wide love named Sigma 10-20, and I have noticed some nasty dust spots, 5 of them, on my sensor (damn you f22), on my 2 months old Nikon D7100. It wasn't only at f22, they were showing up even at f16/f18. I was moving from one appartment to another, and yes, there was alot of dust everywhere. And all 5 were at top center part of the photo (worst part, where ussualy comes sky). I tried to blow it with that rocket blower, but it just didn't want to get away from my sensor. I did some research, and come to decision to buy cleaning kit. 4 swabs (that green one's), and liquid. <br />Did my homework, watched some videos on Youtube, for wet cleaning, read instruction manual... Ok, I locked up mirror, took a battery lamp to see sensor better, put some liquid on swab, a carefuly whipe from one side to another, two times, with different sides of swab. Hm, something went wrong. I didn't saw any dust with lamp, but there was some, I don't know how to call it, like when you wiping a window and there's some lines that stay after whiping. I come to conclusion that I must put little more liquid on swab to whipe that better. So I did. With second fresh swab. And there was a mess. No more lines, but a lot of liquid on sensor. I took a third swab, clean, dry, and whiped it again. So 3 swabs, a lot of mess. Then I looked up, and my sensor was full of dust, and at some angle I saw 3! lines that look like scratch. Jesus. 3. My life was over. I was sure that I scratched my little baby. And for what, 5 dots that are visible at high apertures?! <br> <br />Tommorow, I went to a local service to clean it, and to get adviced what to do. Nice guy from service said to me that doesn't mean that, if sensor is scratched, it will be shown at images. It happens, don't worrt, he says. Yeah, it's easy for him to say that, he didn't whipe his sensor like it's kitchen flor. He took magnification glass thing with lots of led lights, to check it out. He said "I see some dust, but no scratches". He told me to come in few hours when he finishes cleaning. I finaly felt some relief...<br> <br />Two hours latter i came back, and he said that sensor does not have scratches, and that he cleaned dust (most of the services here are guarrantee 95% clean sensor after treatment). He gave me back my camera with shot before and after cleaning.<br />Jesus, I was happy like a little kid. Took some shots, below f16, I was scared that nasty dust is goind to show up again. <br> Two days latter, I was thinking again about that stupid thing that I done. I was sure that I scratched it. So, I did a little test, again. 50mm and 10-20mm shots, f16, f18, f22... clear sky... and there it was... I zoomed and barey saw that three lines. I new I was right! Lines are visible barely if you shoot something like clear sky, but at very high apertures. They are showing up at f22 I think. But they are in bottom right side of the frame. Not it the sky part of the photo.<br> <br />I was mad at myself, messed up a new thing... I felt stupid... Some dust parts scratched my sensor while I was doing cleaning... And I was careful. Then i realized that a barely shoot at aperture higher than 16, and that the scratches are not visible at all. Dust neither. I were banging my head in wall for nothing, for material thing, (250$ is new sensor glass), that is meant to broke at some point... I was perfectionist my whole life, all about not to make a mistake. Everything must be at it's place... This thing with camera was like waking up for me. <br> I don't know why I wanted to share my story, but I feel better now, when I say it loud. I did mess up, so who cares. Life's go on.</p> <p> </p>