Normally, there has been only a "logical" choice for Nikon, the 70-200 f2.8, whose reputation seemed actually very promising, but Nikon brought then this lens on the market, why me now presented a choice. My experience accordingly, I was naturally the more cost-effective variant rather skeptical, but I was impressed by the Tesch African data of the new Nikon 70-200mm f4, which is why I still decided to buy, after all, are the advantages of an aperture with F2.8 compared to a f4.0 at today's sensor technology not as big and the weight savings, another "weighty" advantage).
Construction:
The lens is rather made of plastic, but which counteracts in no event shall the haptics or workmanship. It is very stable and nothing rattles or jammed and on my D7100 and V2, it is very well balanced and not much heavier than the standard zoom and metal as opposed to 2.8er version, it is not as "striking,".
Autofocus:
The lens works in combination with my D7100 or the Nikon 1 V2 together perfectly. While it is a bit slower than my 500mm f4, but about the same rate as the 200-400 f4, which can not necessarily be counted among the slow lenses. The precision is also outstanding, especially with moving subjects and back- or front focus problems so far I could not find at all.
Image stabilization (VR III):
I had been to test the possibility of all the VR versions of Nikon. One might think that the Roman numeral behind the VR is just a marketing gimmick, not at all! The image stabilization is really fantastic and the best I have ever used in the area. The efficiency is much better than VRII at 500mm, although it is not 1, the focal lengths: may face 1. To succeed in an even stabilized video recordings from free hand at 200mm without a tripod.
Macro:
Another feature of this lens is the focusing distance of only one meter at 200mm. Like that even make decent macro shots without intermediate rings. In conjunction with the crop factor (2.7) of the Nikon 1 V2, the lens can really impress however.
Picture quality:
The resolution, contrast reproduction and control of chromatic aberration, and the color rendering are for this price range really excellent, probably also due to the modern lens design with ED glass and Nano-compensation. The optimum focus is achieved approximately at f5.6, but even at full aperture, the lens makes it very sharply. The chromatic aberration is present, however, extremely well controlled. Compared to the 500mm f4 a difference is hardly visible in practice, with respect to sharpness and CAs. The color reproduction is rather warm but balanced. The lens also works well with the teleconverters Nikon together (tested on TC-14eII, TC-17EII), foreign Converters, however, are not recommended, since the "Focus Hunting" is inevitable. The V2 is the 70-200er a compact 190-540mm with similar picture quality as only with equipment of several kilograms was possible a few years ago.
Conclusion:
The choice between the Nikon 70-200mm f4 Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 and clearly failed in favor of F4, primarily due to the following criteria:
* Lower weight
* VRIII
* (More or less) equivalent image quality (possibly with the exception of Bokehs)
* Cheaper
* Lower minimum focusing distance
For whom is the same decision, which should be wondering what he wants to photograph and what. Is a modern camera (D800, D3 / D4, D700, D7000, D7100) is available, which can safely dispense with the aperture advantage of 2.8, when he's not constantly photographed in dark halls or tunnels). The difference can be easily compensated with an ISO level.
