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I just wanna add, that I got a pristine VR1 a couple of years ago at a bargain price, and I do not see much IQ drop at distance. I think disagreement you describe might be in the vague definition ...

See this thread: https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3242799

I agree with this assessment. I think D700 is still a very capable body, and it is also a remarkably pain free camera to use. I just returned from an overseas trip, and I had with me, to keep ...

Yes, I was talking about 1.4 TC II.

In my experience, 1.4x teleconverters from Nikon, Sigma, Kenko are all good, and IQ loss is minimal, sometimes practically negligible. The 2x teleconverters are a different matter altogether, and ...

True conditionally, the significance of this depends on the subject matter, how the light falls, high contrast edges, etc. This is very debatable. My only hesitation with using this lens at f/2 is ...

I love cats of all sizes, but this seems a bit too close for comfort. ;-)

Unless you are going to shoot fairly large animals and can get fairly close to them, the 400mm on FX will often feel like a limitation. Once you put a TC on it, I think you won't benefit much over ...

Close range at 70 mm and f/2.8 is the weakest area of this lens, and generally is not recommended. That said, it is not all bad, at least on a D700.

Between 14-24, 16-35, 18-35, and various primes, this is probably not the highest priority.

OK, I would accept this refinement of the general idea.

On a 12MP FX, e.g. D700, D3S, which are arguably not "modern", both 35-70/2.8D and 80-200/2.8 are very good, but ... both are weak at their respective long ends wide open at close distances. ...

May I respectfully observe that you either had a very poor copy of the 16-35 or severely overstating the case. At "landscape" apertures of f/8 - f/11, in my honest opinion, it is perfectly usable ...

There is a lot going for this lens: zoom range, effective VR, very good, even excellent IQ, at least stopped down a bit, relatively light weight. I find the ability to shoot at e.g. 1/5 of a ...

Stay away from the D7000, the AF is not the best and so are the colors, it gave me a lot of grief back in the day, so I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

Of course anotherMike, who, unlike Nikon, isn’t trying to sell us anything. Whether I agree with his preferences and tastes could be another matter, but I see no reason to question his motivations.

Well, that was fun. Thanks for posting. Wish Nikon kept its colors, too much yellow now, and not enough magenta.

Cheap filters will affect IQ. The one you listed, B+W multi-coated, etc, in my experience will not. I tend to use B+W clear filters more often than not, and I see no difference in clarity, color, ...

I usually use monopod when I need shutter speeds in the neighborhood of 1/1000, so I haven't observed the problem you described under such conditions. However, I can see what you refer to when ...

100-300/4 I used to handhold regularly, but when I once stupidly tried to handhold 120-300/2.8 for the duration of a soccer game, I regretted it. I managed somehow, but there was nothing enjoyable ...