A box arrived last Thursday. A box I've been excited about for a while now. I'm incredibly excited to be the first to post any images made with this lens.
Some of these lenses have been out for a while, and I've had some of these in my bag. However, the new Nikon 70-200mm f2.8G ED VRII with Nano Crystal Coat is still a short month or so away from being available and I'm stoked to have one in my bag right now in order to see what it can do.
For those who may know me, or may be familiar with my work, the previous version of this lens has been a staple of mine since it's inception. It's speed of focus, vibration reduction, incredible sharpness, and ergonomics made it indispensable. I've made many images with that lens since 2003. It owes me nothing. However, I was just as fond of my Nikkor 80-200 2.8 before it, I put it aside to make room for something better- and something that could absolutely allow me to produce images I couldn't produce before.
Such is the case with this new piece of glass Nikon has engineered. The improvements are vast. From the Nikon site:
- Vibration reduction (VR II) equivalent to increases in shutter speed by four steps
- A new optical design utilizing seven ED glass elements
- Ghost and flare suppression with Nano Crystal Coat
- A Silent Wave Motor (SWM) for superior autofocus that is smooth and quiet
- Three focus modes built in: M, M/A, A/M
- Aperture diaphragm utilizing an odd number of rounded blades (nine) for natural blur characteristics
- Shooting at distances as close as 1.4 m throughout the entire zoom range
- High-quality exterior design
Yada, Yada, Yada... LOL. what does it mean to me??? It means the ability to shoot at ridiculously slow shutter speeds, faster autofocus(as if this lens needed to be faster), edge to edge sharpness, no vignetting on FX gear, closer shooting distance, and the nano crystal coat which produces a nearly flare proof lens with contrast and sharpness that I've simply never seen in any zoom lens in my 28 year career(besides the other 2 crystal nano coat lenses in my bag already!!!)
The question will be, for those who are considering this lens- is it THAT much better than the older version. My answer, after only shooting with this lens for a few days now, is absolutely. Below you'll see my first results, in fact, perhaps some of the only images available anywhere at the moment with this new lens. The VR and improved sharpness would have been enough for me.
As an aside, I'd like to disclose that I OWN all of my gear. Every single piece of Nikon equipment I have has been purchased. I have the huge AMEX receipts to prove that. The big box of lenses I just received will be heading back to Japan when I'm finished the campaign shoots, unless I accidentally forget to enclose the new 70-200 VRII with the package(just kidding Soichi-san)!!
If you're an NPS member, get on a priority purchase list if you can. I assure you, with all sincerity, this lens will be well worth the investment, and will be the hottest lens put out by anyone in years!
Here are a few images I've made with this new lens. These are my first impressions, since I've only used it for one wedding-yesterday. The other images were shot the evening I opened the box. I also used it for a few frames while stopping by at Susan Stripling's wedding on Saturday. She's on the NPS priority purchase list as well.
All of the metadata is in tact. Feel free to see for yourselves!!I've also done a comparison by using the older version- the original 70-200VR lens in a few examples and there was considerable movement at the same slow shutter speeds with the older version.
I'd like to add that ALL of these images were hand held... NO tripod. Who needs a tripod now??? I'll post more as I shoot more images. I hope these are informative!
D3, ISO 400, AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm-f2.8G ED VRII- f2.8 @ 1/13th @200mm...yes, this is not a typo
