proartfoto
Active member
First off let me start off saying that I am not here to bash on any brand of camera and/or lens. As the professional photographer with over 11 years of experience it was interesting for me to see all the threads about new Nikon 70-200 VRII problem. While everybody is comparing this lens to older and original Nikon 70-200 VRI, I decided to do something totally wild and crazy. Here is what I’ve done, here is my setup:
1. Canon EOS 5-D Mk I with Canon EOS 70-200mm F2.8 IS lens (images stabilizer)
2. Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm F2.8 VRII (Brand new lens, just got it)
The distance from sensor to the subject is 6 feet exactly (I measured!). The focus used is CENTER and focus is always on "CHICCO" writing in the middle (for both of the setups). All the images are RAW with Lightroom straight conversion.
The idea here is that distance should be within +or- 5% difference between the cameras and or lens. What I found out was totally crazy, here are my results:
As they say "A picture is worth a thousand words", I think the results are speaking for themselves. This is a MAJOR {HUGE!} problem for Nikon and the problem is not with quality or any other issues with this lens, per say. The problem is that Nikon falsely advertises and charges $2400 for the lens that is simply no where even close to what it is trying to be.
Nikon's lens costs $500 dollars more than Canon's L series lens. Yes, in my opinion Nikon performs better, but at what cost? Loosing that 200mm zoom is everything in the world.
So what is the problem? What happened there? How come Nikon’s lens the way it is? It seems to me that Nikon engineers where designing this lens on DX test rig. What is so surprising to me is that none of Quality Control or early testers noticed this huge problem.
Conclusion: I love Nikon and Nikon's lens, but this latest offering is a total bust. Yes the saturation, autofocus, sharpness, etc. , etc. is better than previous version. But the loss of that entire zoom is a total killer for me (I am a wedding photographer!). I think that we should return all of our 70-200mm VRII lens and none of us should buy them. This way we will send a message to Nikon that will be hard to ignore.
1. Canon EOS 5-D Mk I with Canon EOS 70-200mm F2.8 IS lens (images stabilizer)
2. Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm F2.8 VRII (Brand new lens, just got it)
The distance from sensor to the subject is 6 feet exactly (I measured!). The focus used is CENTER and focus is always on "CHICCO" writing in the middle (for both of the setups). All the images are RAW with Lightroom straight conversion.
The idea here is that distance should be within +or- 5% difference between the cameras and or lens. What I found out was totally crazy, here are my results:
As they say "A picture is worth a thousand words", I think the results are speaking for themselves. This is a MAJOR {HUGE!} problem for Nikon and the problem is not with quality or any other issues with this lens, per say. The problem is that Nikon falsely advertises and charges $2400 for the lens that is simply no where even close to what it is trying to be.
Nikon's lens costs $500 dollars more than Canon's L series lens. Yes, in my opinion Nikon performs better, but at what cost? Loosing that 200mm zoom is everything in the world.
So what is the problem? What happened there? How come Nikon’s lens the way it is? It seems to me that Nikon engineers where designing this lens on DX test rig. What is so surprising to me is that none of Quality Control or early testers noticed this huge problem.
Conclusion: I love Nikon and Nikon's lens, but this latest offering is a total bust. Yes the saturation, autofocus, sharpness, etc. , etc. is better than previous version. But the loss of that entire zoom is a total killer for me (I am a wedding photographer!). I think that we should return all of our 70-200mm VRII lens and none of us should buy them. This way we will send a message to Nikon that will be hard to ignore.
