Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/4G ED VR Lens

Product Information

Comes with a cheap flexible lens pouch, the lens-shade is included, reversible for transport, and the lens-caps are standard Nikon’s. But there’s no tripod collar ring as with the f2.8. That has to be bought separately for an additional 130 EUR. [-] The Nikon 70-200mm f/4G VR is compatible with all three of the current Nikon teleconverters: TC-14E II, TC-17E II and TC-20E III. I have received a number of requests from our readers, who asked me to tell about my experience with these teleconverters – which ones work well, which ones don’t. Specifically, most people seem to be interested about how the lens works with the Nikon TC-20E III. Weighing only 850g, this lens is relatively lightweight and compact, especially when compared to Nikon's f/2.8 70-200mm lens, which weighs almost twice as much. The lens barrel is constructed form high quality plastics and the lens mount is metal, with a rubber gasket to help prevent the ingress of dust and moisture into the camera. Unfortunately the lens itself is not weather sealed though. The lens balances well on the Nikon D700 used for testing and should feel right at home on even Nikon's more compact entry level bodies due to the light weight. I value portability and utility over ultimate laboratory performance. If all I wanted to do was shoot test charts, this 70-200/4 is the way to go for you tripod and NEF guys — it's undefeated for sharpness. The Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 Macro also looks good, but my sample had a serious issue when stopping down to f/4 – the aperture was actually smaller, closer to f/5.6. You can see it from the crop above; bokeh highlights look smaller in comparison. I dismounted the lens and tried a few other things and this issue reoccurred every time.

The VC is amazing, clearly superior to Nikon's VR. It takes a tiny-weeny bit longer to engage, but then you'll think you suddenly had a monopod under the camera! Close-focus is unbeaten. This is Nikon's closest focusing traditional telephoto zoom. Other lenses cheat and shorten their effective focal lengths when focusing closely; this lens gets down to 1 meter (3.3 ft) while retaining its full 200mm setting. You might be wondering whether to get this optional collar or not. In my opinion, Nikon did the right thing by excluding it, because the lens does not need it for most cases – again, it is not much different than using a lens like Nikon 24-70mm. The only case where I recommend the collar, is for people that have lightweight/entry-level DSLRs and need the extra stability (for photographing landscapes, etc). Without a doubt, all entry-level Nikon DSLRs will easily be able to handle the weight of the lens, so that’s not why I recommend it. The main reason is the long length of the lens and the balance of the setup.Price: already down to 1200 EUR new (incl. 19% VAT), but that’s still a lot of money, and the tripod collar RT-1 is an extra. The Sigma AF 70-200mm 2.8 EX DG APO HSM OS is 20% cheaper, the new Tamron SP AF 70-200mm 2.8 Di VC USD 30% more expensive, and the Nikon 70-200/2.8G VR hovers around 1800 EUR street price – and all three come with a tripod collar. But if the new Nikon zoom delivers performance-wise I’d say the price is adequate. [0]

As you may already know, the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G VR II was a disappointment for some photographers, because it suffers from a “lens breathing” optical design, where the focal length of the lens varies depending on subject distance. At close distances, the 70-200mm loses quite a bit of the range, which can be a problem for those of us that like to fill the frame with small objects. The Nikon 70-200mm f/4G VR does not have this problem – I measured its focal length and it was exactly 70-200mm, no matter how close or far I focused (compared directly to other lenses with similar focal lengths). Its optical formula is similar to that of the Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 Macro, which also measured about the same. Most importantly, for those who can afford the latest version, we found that in our lab tests that optical performance has been noticably improved.

Comparison to Nikon AF-S 70-200mm f2.8 VR ii

The scale on the left side is an indication of actual image resolution. The taller the column, the better the lens performance. Simple. In spite of the Nano Crystal Coat element, claimed mostly for marketing purposes, with 20 elements in 14 groups, if you point this in the sun and look in the darkest parts of the image, you'll see some ghosts. What does this all mean? It means shoot the lens at f/4 with confidence at any focal length and only stop down if you need to increase depth of field.