Nikon 80-200Mm F2.8Ed Af Zoom Nikkor D

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The only issue on my sample is that it's *extremely* soft when used at its closest focusing distance at 200mm. The Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8 AF-D (new) is pretty good at the wider settings, and has some pincushion distortion at the 200mm end. (Both earlier 80-200mm f/2.8 AF lenses share the same optics as this AF-D "New" version.) It is never annoying. Unfortunately it did not perform well at 2.8 on that camera. The lens is (as is well known) soft wide open, and the D800 was quite unforgiving to show that in that respect. So I sold it and upgraded to a 2.8/70-200 VRII.

There can be some green ghosts, even with the sun outside your image. Use your hand to shield the lens, and watch your finder if the sun is in the image. Unlike most of Nikon's lenses today, almost everything you see is solid metal. Not only is it all metal, it also is so smoothly and precisely machined that it it a pleasure just to hold it and work the controls. The left side of the lens barrel carries two control switches. The upper one switches between AF (with manual override) and purely manual focus modes. The second switch is a focus limiter. Between the zoom and focus rings the lens carries a set of buttons distributed around the barrel. Unlike on higher end prime lenses, those buttons are not configurable and only provide AF stop functionality. Nikon specifies 7.4" (187mm) extension from flange (7.7" or 195mm overall) and 3 .4" (87mm) diameter. See Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8 History for explanations and photos of all the various models of these lenses made from 1978 through today.I think this lens is still being produced by Nikon and is made only in Japan. Talk about legendary. Unlike most of Nikon's lenses today, this jewel is made almost entirely of metal, and is precision made in Japan, not offshored to the lowest bidder. This solid professional lens is built to take a beating, and keep on cranking out brilliant images at ten frames per second for years and years to come. There are no delicate VR or AF-S mechanisms to break 10 or 20 years from now. Unlike earlier model 80-200/2.8 lenses, the autofocus is fast! It is significantly faster than all earlier models of 80-200/2.8. Does anyone have experience with the 1st (or 2nd since they are optically the same) gen push/pull 80-200s? Specifically, I was wondering how it would perform on a D7100 or similar high density crop sensor, especially wide open.

I don't know if they are the same, but I don't think the newer one will be any worse. ALL of the 80-200's were/are good. All of them were designed as workhorse lenses for pros, and they are more similar than dissimilar in terms of optical quality. This Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8 AF-D (new) is the world's best buy in professional telephoto zooms. It is inexpensive because it's been in Nikon's catalog unchanged since the 1990s. This fully professional lens is a treat at any price. Its superior optical and mechanical quality makes one wonder why amateurs rush to throw even more money at Nikon's latest plastic wonder zooms.The tripod collar is very useful - you don't want to shoot this lens mounted on a plastic camera like D70 when the camrea sits on a tripod. Note that the older Push-Pull version didn't have it (and had a really slow A/F). Which 80-200 f/2.8 D is yours? The older 'single ring' or the newer 'two rings'? I have the former, however optical formula and image quality look like to be the same. The AF-D one touch is a good lens but reportedly slow to focus. Unlike the other two, I've never owned this version so I'll let someone else expound on its virtues. When you used the 80-200 on your D800, were the corners soft and center sharp wide open or was the whole frame soft wide open? B/c if it was just corners it wouldn't matter on dx.

Your hands naturally wrap around the manual focus ring. Your thumb can move easily between the A/M ring and the focus limiter switches, while your expression (middle) finger works the focus ring. The other challenge is nailing focus if you're using wider apertures. Sometimes I get better results without focus peaking enabled.Nikon gelded (removed) the aperture ring to save money, which renders this lens useless with manual-focus cameras. That's the " G" in the model name, and it's a handicap, not a feature. If you turn on the focus limiter all the time (i.e. disable close focus), AF speed is no longer an issue in real shoots, even with version 1, because switching focus from infinity to 10m is fast on every lens. The focus is fast and sure even on my D70. In good light it was as fast as myfriend's Canon 70-200/2.8 USM on his 20D. In dim places though it would take twice as long to focus as the USM one.