Bummed Out - Nikon 70-200 VRII Problems

I am pretty upset about the possible QC issues with the new Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 VRII. ; I was all set to pull the trigger on one this week with my gear remixing (I did order the 14-24/2.8 today) but with all this going on I guess I should hold off. ; Or maybe just get one from B&H but be prepared to send it back if it has the problem? ; I'm torn at the moment. ; :-\

http://nikonrumors.com/2010/01/11/nikon-70-200mm-f2-8-vrii-problem-seems-to-be-wide-spread.aspx

 

Yeah- that issue does not concern me all that much. ; If the trade-off was a larger/heavier lens I think I would keep it the way it is- I don't usually shoot from a fixed position. ; The 1:8ish max ratio works fine for me- I understand it's not a macro lens but for what I intend to use it for I don't expect a problem. ; I like that it focuses a little closer even though the field of view is wider- if anything with the old one I would miss the shot because the kids were just too close to me to focus on. ;

Right now the only thing that is stopping me from buying it is the potential quality problem. ; Which is a bummer since I sold my 180mm 2.8 prime in anticipation of this purchase- now my longest lens is 50mm!

 

Jeff,

Order it. At worst case, it's a bit of a headache once you get it, at best, you have a lens that is perfectly fine for 99.999% of the things you want to do with it. If you have a larger shop near you, go in, and examine everything they have before you buy.

Regardless, you get a year free pass with any Nikkor lens! Something goes wrong, back it goes and you get, in most cases, a new one.

Cheers,

Mark

 

Five years actually- if you are talking about the warranty. ; I figure people are a lot more vocal about having a problem than not- so I will probably pull the trigger the end of this week from B&H. ; If it shows up a worst case example of the issue I can send it right back- if it looks like not a big deal I can just keep an eye on it and handle with the warranty if needed.

 

I was actually thinking about this...I have a couple decent independant camera stores nearby. ; One has an online invantory sheet that says they have one in stock- the other store probably has a few too. ; Normally I don't shop for lenses at those places because of price- you pay sales tax plus they have flat-out refused to price match items with B&H or Adorama when I have asked. ; But nobody is discounting this lens yet anyway- so I am wondering if paying the sales tax on the msrp (about $150) is worth it for a chance at examining the lens to see if it has the 'issue' before buying. ;

 

Glad to read that Craig- my one experience with Nikon Service was with my D70s and also very positive.

 

I'm sure- especially on forums like DPR ; ; :

 

Jeff,

; From your comments it sounds like you had the old 70-200mm f2.8 VR and sold it to buy the new one? Were you noticing problems with the old one on the full frame D700 that the new version fixed?

Erich

 

Yes I had the old one when I was shooting a D300- it was a great combo.

http://www.themagicinpixels.com/forum/http://wdw360.com/smf20_convertor/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=3

But when I went to the D700 it was nowhere near as good- so I sold it a while ago. ;

Since then I have been using the 180mm f/2.8 prime- but I committed that to Ebay last week.

 

Now Nikon in Beijing is reporting this is 'Normal'- Hmmmmm-

http://nikonrumors.com/2010/01/12/nikon-70-200mm-f2-8-vrii-thread-issue-normal.aspx

Also saw some threads claiming the same specs exist in a lot of other lenses including the last version.

 

Yup, your old lens is the same kind I have now. I just checked, and I don't see any specs or thread peeling, so I don't know if it really was a problem with the old version too. However, I haven't used it a lot yet, so it may be something that shows up with use.

When you do get the new version, let me know, and if you're interested, we can hook up when you bring it to Disney to try each out taking the exact same pic on both your full frame D700 and my crop D90. I'd be real interested to see the differences.

Erich

 

What were you seeing that you didn't like with the old 70-200 2.8 in FX? Can you post some examples?

 

Pretty much just softness and vignetting in the corners. ; You can see the fall off- which was pretty typical at f2.8.

 

Funny too- because I'm kind of a vignetting junkie anyway and I add it to a lot of my pictures in post processing. ; Just bothered me more with this lens for some reason.

 

Does the D700 have the 'vignette control' setting that the D3 has?