Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D ED Lens USA

Comments about Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D ED Lens:

What can I say? This lens is solidly built and oozes quality throughout. Yes, it's rather heavy. And it's crazy that I use it on a Sony Nex-7 body via a Novoflex adapter. I would not recommend a cheap adapter with this beast. Besides the cool factor, I do get great results with the help of a monopod... and some compliments along the way. A passerby glanced at my set up and commented "Now THAT'S a camera!" I guess, like it or not, SIZE DOES MATTER :)

Comments about Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D ED Lens:

Wildlife/Scenic
Portraits

Comments about Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D ED Lens:

I recently bought the Nikkor 80-200/f2.8 ED for shooting kid's sports. It does not have the silent wave or VR. I decided not to spend the extra money but more importantly did not want more technology that could break. I have now shot about a dozen soccer and lacrosse games with the new lens. Compared to my Nikkor 70-300/f4-5.6 ED, the new lens has significantly improved my percentage of sharp images. It seems to focus faster than my older one but I can't tell if that is because of the increased light due to the larger aperture or just a sharper lens. The increased light certainly helps me get more depth of field at shutter speeds that capture the action. In any case, it is now my lens of choice for sports. I have been using the lens on a D300 and D700. This is not a walk around lens. I always use a monopod to shoot the games.

Comments about Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D ED Lens:

This lens is awesome. The bokeh is fantastic. I've used it mainly for people shots in medium to low light, and the 2.8 really helps. It's heavy and has no VR, but it's built like a tank. My handheld shots came out quite good, but after a while my shoulders wanted a tripod/monopod.

Comments about Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D ED Lens:

I am a professional photographer. I shoot mainly travel, beauty and fine art images. This is a workhorse for me. I didn't want to spend the extra money on the 70-200 2.8 VR because I don't have any use for the VR...and this lens is ultra sharp and I would say just as sharp as the Nano glass on the VR.

Comments about Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D ED Lens:

I had the same lens for 12 years and lately I was using it with my second body (D300), while shooting wide angles with my primary body (D700). It's great to have the 80-200 ready to grasp and shoot. Unfortunatly while doing a large group shot with my 16-35mm, I fell from a chair! and my 80-200 that I had hanging from my shoulder landed lens first on the pavement. I'm a freelancer but also being a father of two I have to balance my budget so when I was looking for a replacement lens a new 80-200 was not only one I worked with for many years but also a huge saving from the new state of the art 70-200. I find my new 80-200 to be sharp and fast. Some times I change it to my D700 and have more MM choices to compose with. I'm glad they're still making this great lens.

Comments about Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D ED Lens:

I bought this lens to use at a baseball game. I didn't think I would use it for pictures of our grandson or our dogs but that is what I am using it for. Crystal clear pictures with great details.

Comments about Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D ED Lens:

I already own the 70-200 VR II for photo and it is my favorite Nikon lens. I purchased the 80-200 for video adapted to Sony F3 but it was not parfocal, and had much breathing. It is not nearly as nice as the 70-200 in addition to no VR but less than half the price. Very well made but seems dated in design. It was not good for my purposes so I returned it.

Comments about Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D ED Lens:

Everything is as advertised. Substantial well made lens. I'll enjoy using this lens. I am now lusting for another Nikon Prime Lens. Nikkor AF-S 17-35mm F/2.8D ED IF. Hopefully I'll win the drawing to give me a good start on acquiring this wide angle zoom

Comments about Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D ED Lens:

I am now using this lens on the D7000,and have seen a further jump in resolution/clarity.
Prior to that it was paired with a D200,a very good combo,but the D7000/nIKOR 80-200MM F/2.8 is exceptional.

Comments about Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D ED Lens:

I use this lens for indoor basketball photography. The pictures were so clear! However, it is a little too big of a zoom for me because I had to sit so far away from the action in order to get the shot.

Comments about Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D ED Lens:

Quick and sharp, I'm using it every chance I get

Comments about Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D ED Lens:

I've been deciding for some time now between the 70-200 and the 80-200 and finally decided to get the 80-200. the lens is not as heavy as some people say it is. it works well for me, i usually go to the zoo or the everglades and shoot wildlife. hasn't given me any problems yet and I'm super happy with the results.

Comments about Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D ED Lens:

This is definitely worth the investment. I don't think I will miss the Vr function for the price. This is probably the best first pro glass you can buy. It is just so versatile that it fits several applications. It is heavy but not heavy considering the quality and amount of glass that is in it. I use it with a dx sensor. The d7000 is a great fit and focuses extremely fast. I would recommend this to anyone.

Comments about Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D ED Lens:

Fits my needs for sports and portraits. Love the 2.8!

Comments about Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D ED Lens:

I've owned my Nikon D90 for 3 years, and purchased it mostly to take pictures of my kids athletic events. I purchased a Nikkor 70-300mm lens some time ago in Singapore, which was a good lens for outdoor sports with a lot of natural light. However, it was an average lens when I moved indoor to shoot volleyball. I recently purchased the Nikkor 80-20mm f/2.8D lens to handle the indoor duties, and the only disappointment is that I didn't purchase it sooner. The 2.8 aperture is excellent for indoor sports, and freezes the ball in flight. The pictures are sharp, and the color is brilliant. I heard a lot of negatives regarding the weight of the lens, but that really isn't an issue, especially when I'm shooting at higher shutter speeds to capture the action. It's an easy lens to use. I would highly recommend it to anyone that is shooting indoor sports or activities and requires a zoom lens.

Comments about Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D ED Lens:

The best zoom lens throughout the Nikon line. The most used lens in my Nikon collection since I take a lot of indoor basketball games.Great for low lighting situation, color, focus and bokeh is excellent, no complaint on this lens especially considering it is "only" [$]. Focus is sometimes hesitated especially when half of the frame has moving object at the direction of "depth of field". Lateral movement is fine. Not sure if I have not found right way of using my D3s' autofocus mode yet...

Comments about Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D ED Lens:

I bought this lens specifically to shoot indoor sports and I could not be happier. In the 2 short weeks I have been using it, my indoor sports shots have been outstanding. Even shooting hockey THROUGH the glass the picture are crisp and clear. It is heavy but a monopod solves that problem. I am using it with the D90 body and AF works great. Five stars!!

Comments about Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D ED Lens:

zoom and 2.8 f-stop.. cant get any better than, that.. I was taking pictures of my daughters basketball games.. works great if you have lots of light in there.. but I need to get a bigger add on flash to go with this..standard flash on the D80 just doesnt reach far enough to work with this lense..

Comments about Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D ED Lens:

Everyone who is at all serious about shooting needs to pick up a 70 (or 80 in this case) to 200 mm f2.8 sooner or later. For me, it was sooner. Typically, I like to shoot wide but I found myself (yet again) in need of something with reach to shoot my son's 5th grade basketball games. This lens blows me away.

Recently, I switched from Canon to Nikon (long story). When I was a Canon shooter, I had their venerable 70-200 f2.8 IS which was for all intents and purposes a very nice lens. However, it weighed a ton and cost two tons. I also thought I would like owning a "great white" but it became tiresome because it really stuck out like a very sore, very heavy, very expensive thumb when I was out in public. I shot basketball with that lens and it did a fine job. Of course the IS was useless for shooting fast action.

As basketball season approached this year, I started shopping. I knew I would need at LEAST 100 to 130mm based on previous experience and almost went with the 135mm f2 from Nikon, but I'm glad I didn't. The Nikkor 80-200 that I ended up going with is an absolute GEM! I don't care what anyone else says, and I don't care how many reviews you will ever read on this subject, YOU CANNOT GO WRONG WITH THIS LENS.

I think I have read every review ever written on this lens and I have to dispute some of the negatives I encountered. First of all, this lens is NOT all that heavy. I mean sure, it's a 200mm 2.8, it's going to weigh a certain amount...but people act like it is cripplingly heavy. Not so! It is smaller and lighter than my old Canon. I will say that it is dense...very dense. I feel like I could almost hammer nails with it. I hate to be so cliche as to repeat the worn out truism that it is "built like a tank", but if it fits it fits. I guess I could say it is built like an anvil, or a safe. Suffice it to say it is a solid, solid, solid piece of professional grade equipment. It is a joy to hold and a joy to BEhold. Another thing I think needs addressed is that this lens focuses VERY fast. I had heard what a dog it is because the new version is "so much faster". So mush faster? By milliseconds, maybe. Not that big a deal in real life, and if you think you can't shoot sports with this lens, you are sorely mistaken. The lens has been around for about 12 years and at one time THIS was Nikon's latest and greatest. What do you think everyone shot sports with in the late 90's?

Now for the important part. I paid less than half the price of Nikon's 70-200 VRII at B&H and received essentially the same lens. The optics are almost identical and I have shot the VRII many times. In fact, I looked at some of my VRII shots EXIF data and recreated the pictures so I could look at them side by side. I can't tell the difference. This lens produces images that are scalpel sharp with excellent color rendition. This lens is also built WAY better than the new version, with the added luxury of NOT having VR and Ultra Sonic motors that will undoubtedly go bad before you are ready to replace your lens.

Had I paid 2.2X for the VRII version over this lens, I would be having my head examined right now. This lens is everything a great pro lens should be with the exception of being ridiculously expensive. If for some unknown reason you have convinced yourself you can't live without VR, by all means, get the other one. OR, if what you really care about is the end result of your art, buy this lens and pocket enough to buy another one and some change.