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70-200mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S

Jeff Donovan

New member
I rented this lens from Calumet along with the TC-20E teleconverter for a trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. We did some shooting in the Pea Island Wildlife Refuge and definitely needed the extra length.

The early part of the week was really a learning experience for me. I got some good photos, but not great ones at the refuge, mainly because I'd left the ISO at 100 thinking that 1/500 shutter times were good enough to get sharp images of wildlife. Lesson learned. Later in the week I shot at ISO 320/400 and had much better results which I'll share below.

All told I'd say this lens lives up to its lofty reputation. The autofocus was fast and tracked moving birds with ease and even through a teleconverter the lens was sharp through the whole aperture range.

It might take a year or so, but the penny pinching has begun so I can have one of these beauties all to myself.

I'm not an experts on birds, so unless I'm pretty sure I'm close to the mark I'm not going to identify the birds.

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Hello Jeff. I hope you had a great visit to the Outer Banks. My wife has family in New Bern and we spent a week there not too long ago. It is a beautiful place. I have this lens and it is one of my favorite and most used. I used it initially on my D200 so with the crop factor I got a bit more effective reach than 200mm. Now that I have the full frame D3, I have lost that "extra" reach but it is still one of my most used lenses. I do not have the TC-20 yet but do use the 1.7x TC with this lens with no problems. It is well built, a bit eavy but that does not bother me, and like you said, is lightening fast on the focus. I am extremely happy and satisfied with the purchase I made on this lens. I have the 24-70 f/2.8 as well and it is probably my 2nd most used lens. Now all I need is the 14-24 and I will be set. Save more pennies and get all three then you will be set also:)
 

LeRoy Parson

New member
Jeff, it is a great lens. Worth every penny that I paid and more. Every time you get tempted to spend your stash on something else... be strong and take a look at these pictures and you will quickly remember what you are saving for.
 

Jeff Donovan

New member
I will, believe me. I actually have a separate bank account that I keep (free checking) that all the camera money goes into. Out of sight, out of mind :)
 

Brian Patterson

New member
Hello Jeff. I hope you had a great visit to the Outer Banks. My wife has family in New Bern and we spent a week there not too long ago. It is a beautiful place. I have this lens and it is one of my favorite and most used. I used it initially on my D200 so with the crop factor I got a bit more effective reach than 200mm. Now that I have the full frame D3, I have lost that "extra" reach but it is still one of my most used lenses. I do not have the TC-20 yet but do use the 1.7x TC with this lens with no problems. It is well built, a bit eavy but that does not bother me, and like you said, is lightening fast on the focus. I am extremely happy and satisfied with the purchase I made on this lens. I have the 24-70 f/2.8 as well and it is probably my 2nd most used lens. Now all I need is the 14-24 and I will be set. Save more pennies and get all three then you will be set also:)

I'm on the same track as you are, James! The 14-24 is my next acquisition and I truly love the performance of my 70-200 VR. These lenses will be especially useful when I graduate to an FX body...
 
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