Nikon Zoom-Nikkor zoom lens - 17 mm - 55 mm F/2.8

The nikon 70-200mm F2.8 VR, top-of-the-line

Advantages: Beautiful bokeh, tack-sharp, vibration reduction, easy to use, many useful accessories
Disadvantages: heavy, expensive, slight vignetting, prone to flaring

their version, the so-called "vibration reduction", was the 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6 ED. An interesting lens to be sure, but Nikon owners really started to get excited at the announcement of the AF-S 70-200 F2.8 VR. This lens, a successor of a highly regarded line of professional lenses, turned out to be spectacular: the image stabila? sorry, the vibration reduction was possibly even more effective than Canon's and the image quality? Well, I am going to discuss that right now! ---Image quality--- The 70-200 VR is a tack-sharp lens, as you would expect of a lens in this price class. It is not even in the same ballpark as normal consumer lenses: the colours are vibrant, the details sharp, and the bokeh (the appearance of parts of the picture that our out of focus) is stunning. The lens is particularly famous for the silky smooth rendering of out ...

hetvuurtje 24.03.2009 · Read full review
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Review of Nikon Zoom-Nikkor telephoto zoom lens - 70 mm - 200 mm F/2.8

Nearly one 'L' of a lens

Advantages: Useful range. Fast f/2.8 aperture. Great IS. Superb image quality.
Disadvantages: Lens hood costs extra!

Having owned and used a Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM zoom lens for around 15 months, I feel that I have some well balanced experience with it. Being an EF-S lens (the 'S' standing for 'Short' back-focus), it is designed for use ONLY with cameras having APS-C size sensors. Do not attempt to use one on a full-frame DSLR or 35mm SLR camera. Firstly, such lenses have a reduced image circle which will produce severe vignetting on large sensor cameras and secondly, the mount of the rear lens element could be struck by the camera's mirror, causing serious damage. On a Canon APS-C size DSLR, this 3.2x zoom provides a useful range of focal lengths from 27.2mm to 88mm with a maximum aperture of f/2.8 which is consistent throughout the zoom range. This fast aperture makes the lens eminently suitable for low-light work, particularly as it ...

davecham 26.12.2008 · Read full review
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Review of Canon EF-S zoom lens - 17 mm - 55 mm F/2.8

Sigma EX DG 70-200mm f2.8 HSM Macro

Advantages: Build quality. Finish. Range. Fast maximum aperture.
Disadvantages: Image quality not as good as expected. Chromatic Aberration.

removed whenever you choose to use the lens hand-held. Being an EX DG lens, it is suitable for use on either FF (Full-Frame) or APS-C cropped sensor cameras when it effectively behaves like a 105-300mm f/2.8 (on Nikon APS-C), 112-320mm f/2.8 (on Canon APS-C) or 119-340mm f/2.8 on Sigma DSLR cameras. These make interesting options on the APS-C size sensor cameras and it can be assumed the camera has a completely different set of values when used with such cameras to those when used on full-frame. Interesting? The fast f/2.8 maximum aperture provides great fun for shallow DOF (depth-of-field) shots where particularly at the 200mm end of the zoom, depth-of-field is excitingly shallow. Whilst the lens is referred to as 'macro' within it's descriptive title, the term is used somewhat loosely. True macro lenses provide genuine 1 to 1 life ...

davecham 28.12.2008 · Read full review
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Review of Sigma EX telephoto zoom lens - 70 mm - 200 mm F/2.8