Nikon D70 Telephoto Zoom Lens Recommendation

"Jim" writes:
Choosing B&H Photo as a possible vendor, I have located the following
lenses:

A couple are manual focus, so cross those off. Also, she won't need
a USA warranty in Brazil, so cross those off. And I'll skip over
the backordered ones. That leaves:

Zoom Telephoto AF VR Zoom Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8D G-AFS ED-IF
Autofocus Lens, Imported, $1,449.95

This is a great lens, but huge and bulky.

Zoom Telephoto AF VR Zoom Nikkor 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6D ED Autofocus
Lens, Imported, $1,229.95

Also a great lens but huge and bulky. Slower than the 70-200 but
longer telephoto. I'd go for the 70-200 unless you know she needs
extra-long.

Zoom Telephoto AF VR Zoom Nikkor 70-300mm f/4-5.6G Autofocus Lens,
black, Imported, out of stock, $99.95

This lens isn't very good. The G means no aperture control on the
lens (use the control on the camera instead) and there's nothing wrong
with that as long as you're only using AF cameras which have that
control. It's just this particular lens is not very good.

Zoom Telephoto AF Zoom Nikkor 70-300mm f/4-5.6D ED Autofocus Lens,
Imported, $279.95

Better version of the above lens, reasonably compact and not too
expensive. This might be your best choice. The 70-200/2.8 etc. are
professional lenses and hard to take anywhere because of their size.

Zoom Telephoto AF Zoom Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D ED Autofocus Lens,
Imported, $799.95

Older version of 70-200/2.8 but still excellent. Big and bulky though.

You could also consider the non-zoom 180/2.8 EDIF AF which is fantastic,
and much smaller than the big zooms.

"Paul Rubin" wrote in message
...

Paul, this is very good advice. I will take it in but wait for others to
respond.

I thank you very much for your expert opinion on this. The 180mm might be
the lens to get, since it is not so bulky, yet fantastic! In the end, I
will run all this by her so that she weighs in, too.

I still want to hear others, so I'll wait patiently.

Clyde Torres

"Paul Rubin" wrote in message
...

Paul, this is very good advice. I will take it in but wait for others to
respond.

I thank you very much for your expert opinion on this. The 180mm might be
the lens to get, since it is not so bulky, yet fantastic! In the end, I
will run all this by her so that she weighs in, too.

I still want to hear others, so I'll wait patiently.

Clyde Torres

Clyde Torres wrote:
"Oliver Costich" wrote in message
...

How about at least giving a price range. $115 to $1600 is a bit broad.


I hear you, Oliver. How about the price range of $115 to $1600? My
sister-in-law is worth every penny of whatever it is that I buy her. I will
go the extra kilometer for this lady, so $1600 is no biggee to me. However,
I want to hear from the experts as to what lenses are good and what they
would want me to buy if they were my relative. Sometimes higher prices is
not better. For example, some lenses may look great but weigh a lot.

By the way, she has the standard 18-70mm lens that came with the D70 kit.
She's looking to extend her range above this lens.

Thank you for responding so quickly.

Clyde Torres


I'll go WAY out on a limb here and suggest that the $1600 lens is
probably of better quality than the $115 one. However, maybe a little
information on what kind of photography she does would help people make
a recommendation.

Clyde Torres wrote:
"Oliver Costich" wrote in message
...

How about at least giving a price range. $115 to $1600 is a bit broad.


I hear you, Oliver. How about the price range of $115 to $1600? My
sister-in-law is worth every penny of whatever it is that I buy her. I will
go the extra kilometer for this lady, so $1600 is no biggee to me. However,
I want to hear from the experts as to what lenses are good and what they
would want me to buy if they were my relative. Sometimes higher prices is
not better. For example, some lenses may look great but weigh a lot.

By the way, she has the standard 18-70mm lens that came with the D70 kit.
She's looking to extend her range above this lens.

Thank you for responding so quickly.

Clyde Torres


I'll go WAY out on a limb here and suggest that the $1600 lens is
probably of better quality than the $115 one. However, maybe a little
information on what kind of photography she does would help people make
a recommendation.

"Ron Hunter" wrote in message
...
I'll go WAY out on a limb here and suggest that the $1600 lens is probably
of better quality than the $115 one. However, maybe a little information
on what kind of photography she does would help people make a
recommendation.

Ron,

I would classify her photography as "general." I'm sure that with the
longer focal length lens, she would switch to people pictures and other such
stuff.

Clyde Torres

"Ron Hunter" wrote in message
...
I'll go WAY out on a limb here and suggest that the $1600 lens is probably
of better quality than the $115 one. However, maybe a little information
on what kind of photography she does would help people make a
recommendation.

Ron,

I would classify her photography as "general." I'm sure that with the
longer focal length lens, she would switch to people pictures and other such
stuff.

Clyde Torres

Clyde Torres wrote:

"Paul Rubin" wrote
Paul, this is very good advice. I will take it in but wait for others to
respond.

I agree with his analysis.

You'd probably need to ask her whether she wants zoom or non-zoom.

You'd also need to find out how she feels about bulk & weight.
If she's not bothered about working with a huge lens, then the
VR 70-200 f2.8 AF-S would be the star. If she's doing general
shooting while walking around, I expect it might be a bit unweildy
and attract attention (Brazil could have some unsavoury parts),
but then again the VR is extremely good for hand-held shooting.

If she wants a zoom and not so bulky, then you are really a bit
stuck in the Nikon range. I'm happy with my used AF 70-210 f4-5.6
(nice and solid, good sharpness) but that's not an option for you.
Don't get MF, for certain. The D70's focussing screen is not good
enough to support MF.

On a big zoom, AF - AF-S is worth at least 1.5* the price in
value terms (IMO). For my level of shooting, ED probably isn't
worth any more, VR worth 2* the price.

As far as warranty goes, "grey market" is no good for her, since
it only refers to bringing it into B&H for service/swap. She'd
be better off with US legit, which can be serviced anywhere for
5 years. That's probably worth the around 10% more you'll pay,
depending on how complex a lens it is. (I wouldn't get the
VR 70-200 without it).

--
Ken Tough

Clyde Torres wrote:

"Paul Rubin" wrote
Paul, this is very good advice. I will take it in but wait for others to
respond.

I agree with his analysis.

You'd probably need to ask her whether she wants zoom or non-zoom.

You'd also need to find out how she feels about bulk & weight.
If she's not bothered about working with a huge lens, then the
VR 70-200 f2.8 AF-S would be the star. If she's doing general
shooting while walking around, I expect it might be a bit unweildy
and attract attention (Brazil could have some unsavoury parts),
but then again the VR is extremely good for hand-held shooting.

If she wants a zoom and not so bulky, then you are really a bit
stuck in the Nikon range. I'm happy with my used AF 70-210 f4-5.6
(nice and solid, good sharpness) but that's not an option for you.
Don't get MF, for certain. The D70's focussing screen is not good
enough to support MF.

On a big zoom, AF - AF-S is worth at least 1.5* the price in
value terms (IMO). For my level of shooting, ED probably isn't
worth any more, VR worth 2* the price.

As far as warranty goes, "grey market" is no good for her, since
it only refers to bringing it into B&H for service/swap. She'd
be better off with US legit, which can be serviced anywhere for
5 years. That's probably worth the around 10% more you'll pay,
depending on how complex a lens it is. (I wouldn't get the
VR 70-200 without it).

--
Ken Tough

"Andrew Koenig" wrote in message
...
"Clyde Torres" wrote in message
. ..

Okay, folks, my sister-in-law has politely asked me to ship her a zoom
lens in the range of 70-200 for the Nikon D70 that she currently has in
Brazil. Choosing B&H Photo as a possible vendor, I have located the
following lenses:

Zoom Telephoto 70-210 f/4.5-5.6 AIS Manual Focus Lens, Imported,
$114.95
Zoom Telephoto 70-210 f/4.5-5.6 AIS Manual Focus Lens, USA, $139.95

If you mount a manual-focus lens on a D70, in addition to losing
autofocus, the meter will not work.

These two lenses are the same except that the second one has a USA
warranty. That may not be an issue in Brazil :-)

Zoom Telephoto AF VR Zoom Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8D G-AFS ED-IF
Autofocus Lens, Imported, $1,449.95
Zoom Telephoto AF VR Zoom Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8D G-AFS ED-IF
Autofocus Lens, USA, $1,599.95, after rebate $1,449.95
Zoom Telephoto AF VR Zoom Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8D G-AFS ED-IF
Autofocus Lens, Light Grey, Imported $1,469.95 (back ordered)
Zoom Telephoto AF VR Zoom Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8D G-AFS ED-IF
Autofocus Lens, Light Grey, USA $1,649.95 (back ordered)

These four listings are all the same lens, except for USA vs. gray market
and color.
It is a gorgeous lens: Extremely sharp, fast focus, built-in vibration
reduction. f/2.8 makes
it usable in lower light conditions than other lenses. It is also big and
heavy.

Zoom Telephoto AF VR Zoom Nikkor 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6D ED Autofocus
Lens, Imported, $1,229.95
Zoom Telephoto AF VR Zoom Nikkor 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6D ED Atofocus
Lens, USA, $1,429.95, after rebate $1,329.95

These two listings are the same lens. It's quite good, though it doesn't
have the reputation of
the 70-200. It also doesn't focus as fast. On the other hand, it's
slightly smaller, and
goes to 400mm instead of 200mm. 400mm is *very* long on a D70. You can
see a
picture taken with this lens at
http://www.acceleratedcpp.com/author...tures/bird.jpg

Zoom Telephoto AF VR Zoom Nikkor 70-300mm f/4-5.6G Autofocus Lens,
black, Imported, out of stock, $99.95
Zoom Telephoto AF VR Zoom Nikkor 70-300mm f/4-5.6G Autofocus Lens,
black, USA, $129.95

Basic all-round telephoto lens. Inexpensive for a reason :-) It is not a
VR lens;
you must have made a typographical error.

Zoom Telephoto AF Zoom Nikkor 70-300mm f/4-5.6D ED Autofocus Lens,
Imported, $279.95
Zoom Telephoto AF Zoom Nikkor 70-300mm f/4-5.6D ED Autofocus Lens,
USA, $299.95, after rebate $249.95

Basically the same specs as the lens above, but with a better optical
design. It is not
a G lens (see my comments below).

Zoom Telephoto AF Zoom Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D ED Autofocus Lens,
Imported, $799.95
Zoom Telephoto AF Zoom Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D ED Autofocus Lens, USA,
$899.95, after rebate $799.95

Superb. Also big and heavy, like the 70-200. The big difference between
this lens and
the 70-200 is that it has no vibration reduction and focusing will be
slower.

Can a Nikon expert please tell me the relative merits of these lenses as
compared to one another? I am doing my own research, but I'd like to
hear some real world opinions on these lenses. In particular, I would
like to know why a light grey lens commands more money and is back
ordered than the same lens in black, or is it really the same lens? What
are the G lenses?

The light grey lenses are more expensive because people are willing to pay
more for them.
There is no difference other than color.

A G lens has no separate aperture ring--the aperture must be controlled
from the camera.
This means that you cannot set the aperture manually on older cameras such
as F90 or F70.
It makes no difference on the D70 or any of the Nikon digital SLRs; so
it's only a question
if you intend to use the lens on an older camera.

When I first talked to her about this, she wanted the Telephoto AF Micro
Nikkor 105mm f/2.8D lens, but after I mentioned the 70-200mm f/2.8D G-AFS
ED IF black lens, she decided that it would be a more versatile lens and
agreed with me.

It is indeed more versatile. It is also *much* bigger and heavier. The
80-200 f/2.8,
70-200 f/2.8, and 80-400 f/4-5.6 lenses are all substantial pieces of
equipment,
which you will think twice before wanting to carry. The 70-300 lenses are
much
smaller and lighter, and the ED version is pretty good. Some people will
protest that
you should go for all the quality you can get, but if you leave the lens
at home it doesn't
matter how good it is.

One more alternative you might consider is the 70-180mm f/4-f/5.6 lens.
It is fairly
slow, but it is also quite compact. 180mm is plenty long for the D70 for
most purposes,
and the lens can focus *very* close, almost as close as the 105 macro
lens.

Thank you, Andrew, for a superb write up on these lenses, their functions,
and their merits. I am going to forward this email to her so that she can
weigh in and help decide.

I truly appreciate it.

Clyde Torres