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Nikonfreak · 05-19-2008

I read it earlier when I got home today.

Thom always has some good insight and good information. Though if anyone other than Thom Hogan were to say something negative about the 200-400 VR, they'd be immediately verbally assaulted on certain forums which shall remain nameless.

There is quite a bit of good information on this article that Thom wrote..

I'm also pleased to see that my suspicions and my own testing has been fairly accurate... or shall I say... In agreement with what Thom has come across.

Thom is absolutely right in what he said about the 14-24 f/2.8 ... I don't know that I could say enough good things about that lens. It's superb. There is little distortion and it has some qualities that really make it stand out against any lens that Nikon has put out there in it's focal range IMO. I can't say I miss the 12-24 f/4. I shot a yacht interior with the 14-24 last week and the D3 and I'm very impressed.

I'm in the middle of a switch to a Mac system (because frankly, there was no way on the planet I was going to run a Vista system and put myself through that pain. I've been wanting to switch to Mac for a while and since I needed a new computer, now was the time to make the jump. Vista was enough of a difference to where if I'm going to spend some time learning a different system, I might as well go Mac. Why am I mentioning this on this thread? Well, because I used the demo of Aperture 2.0 to load those images from the yacht shoot. Me like Aperture. I did buy the Mac version of CS3 because you absolutely must have it, but Aperture is, to me, a little better than lightroom. Anyway, I digress.

Ok... so I'm also glad to see that the 300 f/2.8 VR has grown on Thom. I'm quite pleased with mine. I have found it to be much more versatile than I thought and I really don't miss the zooms at all with that lens. I can't get by with f/4 so the 200-400 is pretty much out for me. The next real lens that I will purchase will be the 400 f/2.8 VR. It will be a late 2008 or early 2009 purchase for me though.

I'm glad to see Thom mention the 5T and 6T diopter lenses. If you can find them, buy them. They are super on the 200 f/4. I sold my 200 f/4 Micro Nikkor a while back to partially fund the 300 f/2.8 VR but I can honestly say that I miss having that lens. I will pick up another one, but I'm hoping that Nikon adds AF-S to it. I don't care about VR on it, but AF-S would be nice as that lens does tend to hunt a bit and is a slow focusing lens.

Even though I sold the 200 f/4, I did NOT sell the 5T or 6T filters. Those are staying with me.

I picked mine up at Adorama. Sometimes they get a few in and they'll have 'em. I bought mine about two years ago. They are awesome!!!!!

Next... My lens lineup doesn't nearly include all of those lenses Thom has on there.

I've limited myself to a narrow few... I did help a buddy and sold him my 24-70 f/2.8 but here's the current list.

Nikon 28-70 f/2.8
Nikon 70-200 f/2.8
Nikon 85mm f/1.4
Nikon 14-24 f/2.8
Nikon 300 f/2.8 VR
Nikon 35 f/2
Nikon 50 f/1.8

For my DX kit
Nikon 10.5 fisheye f/2.8

That's it anymore on DX lenses... I sold the 12-24 f/4

Macro
Sigma 105 f/2.8 (It's good...and it's inexpensive... since I don't make money on Macro shooting...it'll do)

On the list of next lenses to acquire...

1- 400 f/2.8 VR (or AF-S II)
2- 24-70 f/2.8 (again) - I will get another copy, I'm just not sure when I'll pull the trigger for another one.

Thom has some great advice on the long, exotic lenses. Pay close attention to what he's saying and what he's also not saying. He did commit the first Heresy by saying something unkind about the 200-400. He's a braver man than I am...of course, he's absolutely right...as usual.

As with all things. Some tools are better than others for certain jobs. That's just the way of things. The 200-400 f/4 is a great lens, but I am not sure about plopping a TC on it. On the 300 f/2.8 and a 400 f/2.8, I wouldn't think twice about it.

I will add that with the 1.7x TC on my 300 f/2.8 VR, the lens will suffer from hesitation and focus hunting with faster moving objects... read...birds in flight... take the TC off and the thing performs like it could lock on to a moving rocket at 10 feet away.

Maybe I'll add more later, but I have to hit the sack. Long day tomorrow.

Julio

05-19-2008	#2 (permalink)
Nikonfreak F1 Camel Location: South Florida Posts: 2,567 CamelKarma: 294 Editing OK?: Ask first Gallery \| Blog	Re: Choosing Nikkors, by Thom Hogan I read it earlier when I got home today. Thom always has some good insight and good information. Though if anyone other than Thom Hogan were to say something negative about the 200-400 VR, they'd be immediately verbally assaulted on certain forums which shall remain nameless. There is quite a bit of good information on this article that Thom wrote.. I'm also pleased to see that my suspicions and my own testing has been fairly accurate... or shall I say... In agreement with what Thom has come across. Thom is absolutely right in what he said about the 14-24 f/2.8 ... I don't know that I could say enough good things about that lens. It's superb. There is little distortion and it has some qualities that really make it stand out against any lens that Nikon has put out there in it's focal range IMO. I can't say I miss the 12-24 f/4. I shot a yacht interior with the 14-24 last week and the D3 and I'm very impressed. I'm in the middle of a switch to a Mac system (because frankly, there was no way on the planet I was going to run a Vista system and put myself through that pain. I've been wanting to switch to Mac for a while and since I needed a new computer, now was the time to make the jump. Vista was enough of a difference to where if I'm going to spend some time learning a different system, I might as well go Mac. Why am I mentioning this on this thread? Well, because I used the demo of Aperture 2.0 to load those images from the yacht shoot. Me like Aperture. I did buy the Mac version of CS3 because you absolutely must have it, but Aperture is, to me, a little better than lightroom. Anyway, I digress. Ok... so I'm also glad to see that the 300 f/2.8 VR has grown on Thom. I'm quite pleased with mine. I have found it to be much more versatile than I thought and I really don't miss the zooms at all with that lens. I can't get by with f/4 so the 200-400 is pretty much out for me. The next real lens that I will purchase will be the 400 f/2.8 VR. It will be a late 2008 or early 2009 purchase for me though. I'm glad to see Thom mention the 5T and 6T diopter lenses. If you can find them, buy them. They are super on the 200 f/4. I sold my 200 f/4 Micro Nikkor a while back to partially fund the 300 f/2.8 VR but I can honestly say that I miss having that lens. I will pick up another one, but I'm hoping that Nikon adds AF-S to it. I don't care about VR on it, but AF-S would be nice as that lens does tend to hunt a bit and is a slow focusing lens. Even though I sold the 200 f/4, I did NOT sell the 5T or 6T filters. Those are staying with me. I picked mine up at Adorama. Sometimes they get a few in and they'll have 'em. I bought mine about two years ago. They are awesome!!!!! Next... My lens lineup doesn't nearly include all of those lenses Thom has on there. I've limited myself to a narrow few... I did help a buddy and sold him my 24-70 f/2.8 but here's the current list. Nikon 28-70 f/2.8 Nikon 70-200 f/2.8 Nikon 85mm f/1.4 Nikon 14-24 f/2.8 Nikon 300 f/2.8 VR Nikon 35 f/2 Nikon 50 f/1.8 For my DX kit Nikon 10.5 fisheye f/2.8 That's it anymore on DX lenses... I sold the 12-24 f/4 Macro Sigma 105 f/2.8 (It's good...and it's inexpensive... since I don't make money on Macro shooting...it'll do) On the list of next lenses to acquire... 1- 400 f/2.8 VR (or AF-S II) 2- 24-70 f/2.8 (again) - I will get another copy, I'm just not sure when I'll pull the trigger for another one. Thom has some great advice on the long, exotic lenses. Pay close attention to what he's saying and what he's also not saying. He did commit the first Heresy by saying something unkind about the 200-400. He's a braver man than I am...of course, he's absolutely right...as usual. As with all things. Some tools are better than others for certain jobs. That's just the way of things. The 200-400 f/4 is a great lens, but I am not sure about plopping a TC on it. On the 300 f/2.8 and a 400 f/2.8, I wouldn't think twice about it. I will add that with the 1.7x TC on my 300 f/2.8 VR, the lens will suffer from hesitation and focus hunting with faster moving objects... read...birds in flight... take the TC off and the thing performs like it could lock on to a moving rocket at 10 feet away. Maybe I'll add more later, but I have to hit the sack. Long day tomorrow. Julio
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