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Best fstop setting for legacy Nikkor AF 70-210mm 1:4-5.6 lens

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gww816

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I have a D90 with the 18-105 vr kit lens. I also have a leftover Nikkor AF 70-210mm from my N8008 film days. The 70-210 works ok on the D90 but it is heavy, slow and not very suitable for hand held, long zoom shots. In fact, I haven't had much luck getting very clear shots at any zoom setting. I'm using aperture priority. Some images appear "smeary".

From anybody's experience, what is the optimal fstop for this lens for best IQ, and, what was the verdict as to how good this lens actually was in its day? It seems to be built like a tank but has push/pull zoom.

Maybe I need to adjust iso moreso with this lens to get a useable shutter speed and optimal fstop for handheld shots?

I can tell you, I am very spoiled by VR now. If I can't get what I want out of this old lens then maybe it's time to move on and get a more recent long vr telephoto lens for my nature shots (200mm doesn't seem like quite enough reach anyway). Thanks for any comments.
 
gww816 said:
I have a D90 with the 18-105 vr kit lens. I also have a leftover Nikkor AF 70-210mm from my N8008 film days. The 70-210 works ok on the D90 but it is heavy, slow and not very suitable for hand held, long zoom shots. In fact, I haven't had much luck getting very clear shots at any zoom setting. I'm using aperture priority. Some images appear "smeary".
Click to expand...
What is your shutter speed when you get "smeary" photos? At the long end of the zoom, you'll need at least 1/320 or so to eliminate blur from camera movement.
gww816 said:
From anybody's experience, what is the optimal fstop for this lens for best IQ, and, what was the verdict as to how good this lens actually was in its day? It seems to be built like a tank but has push/pull zoom.
Click to expand...
I have no experience with this lens, but I'd be willing to bet the optimum f-stops are f/8 at the short end and f/11 at the long end.
gww816 said:
Maybe I need to adjust iso moreso with this lens to get a useable shutter speed and optimal fstop for handheld shots?
Click to expand...
Yes. You'll have to trade off image quality for sharpness by raising ISO to get a faster shutter speed.
gww816 said:
I can tell you, I am very spoiled by VR now. If I can't get what I want out of this old lens then maybe it's time to move on and get a more recent long vr telephoto lens for my nature shots (200mm doesn't seem like quite enough reach anyway).
Click to expand...
VR is definitely useful on long telephoto lenses, especially if they are slow. I used to have a 70-300 f/4-5.6D ED but rarely used it because only in the best light was I able to get sufficient shutter speeds without going up to an ISO I felt comfortable with.
 
Is it the f/4-5.6 or the f/4?

I have the 70-210/4-5.6D and find it either slow or heavy. The non D version might be slow to focus though. The 4-5.6 is a bit soft wide open, but sharpens up nicely if stopped down one stop from wide open. At 70mm that means f/5.6 and at 210mm f/8.

Center crops (shot with a D70, so they probably are a little bit "crisper" than you can expect from the D90):
http://motljus.no-ip.org/media/reviews/70-210/70-210_center.jpg

Corner crops:
http://motljus.no-ip.org/media/reviews/70-210/70-210_corner.jpg

"Real world" crops:
http://motljus.no-ip.org/media/reviews/70-210/70-210_test.jpg
gww816 said:
I have a D90 with the 18-105 vr kit lens. I also have a leftover Nikkor AF 70-210mm from my N8008 film days. The 70-210 works ok on the D90 but it is heavy, slow and not very suitable for hand held, long zoom shots. In fact, I haven't had much luck getting very clear shots at any zoom setting. I'm using aperture priority. Some images appear "smeary".

From anybody's experience, what is the optimal fstop for this lens for best IQ, and, what was the verdict as to how good this lens actually was in its day? It seems to be built like a tank but has push/pull zoom.

Maybe I need to adjust iso moreso with this lens to get a useable shutter speed and optimal fstop for handheld shots?

I can tell you, I am very spoiled by VR now. If I can't get what I want out of this old lens then maybe it's time to move on and get a more recent long vr telephoto lens for my nature shots (200mm doesn't seem like quite enough reach anyway). Thanks for any comments.
Click to expand...
 
Optically the lens is pretty decent, but will require thought put into most situations to get the best out of it due to max aperture, zoom length and available light - as you have found already.

If you want to shoot Ap priority, I suggest setting up auto iso with a min shutter speed of 1/400 to avoid camera shake. Set the default iso to 200.The camera will use the lowest iso it can, but will raise it when required.

This setup allows you to concentrate on the subject more (wildlife, composition etc) in those fleeting moments.

--
Cheers, Rob.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/robsouthoz/
 
As with all lenses, the best f stop setting is between 1-3 stops down from smallest, so from f8-f11. And at 210mm on Dx you'll want 1/320th and faster so you'll need to adjust ISO to make that work. I own this lens even though I also own much "better" and have good results from it observing those rules.
--
http://www.sportsshooter.com/cyadmark
Ann Arbor, MI USA

No that TC won't work with that lens, and no you're not getting that camera/lens at
that price.

Equipment in profile
 


Here is a sample shot using the lens with some pp. I think it is ok although not really that sharp. It is not a D lens and it is f4 at 70mm and 5.6 at 210mm. Playing with the lens with the settings recommended has proved helpful although it's apparent that there is some setup required before shooting to make it all work. The auto iso is a great idea.

I still think 210mm is a bit short for the kind of shots I want to take and think that a 300mm vr might better fill the frame and allow for shooting at lower iso's. If I remember, there is a 70-300 vr lens for about $600. Does anyone think that lens might do a better job for what I am wanting to do? Thanks.
 
If you intend to shoot small birds and such you will want a longer lens than 210mm. you would probably want longer than 300mm too.

Anyway, the picture you posted look a little on the soft side. If this i due to the lens, bad technique or lack of post processing skills I cannot comment on, but you should be able to expect something like these from the 70-210/4-5.6:







 
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