I recently picked up a used Nikon 70-200 f/2.8 zoom from our friends at LensRentals.com. ; Back in the film days, I had a couple of lenses with a similar focal length, so I decided to dig them out and line them up for a comparison. From left to right: Nikon AF-S VR-Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G Tokina AT-X 80-200mm f/2.8 Minolta RF Rokkor-X 250mm f/5.6 "solid cat" mirror lens. It's interesting how similar the Tokina and Nikon are. ; Obviously, the older lens has no vibration reduction and is all manual, but it's still about the same size as the more modern lens. ; Zooming was done by moving the focus ring fore and aft. The 250 was an interesting lens. ; The description "solid cat" refers to the catadioptric design, which means it uses a combination of lenses and mirrors, with no air gaps between the lens elements. ; It was a cool toy, but not a great lens. ; The aperture rating of f/5.6 was fixed and a bit optimistic; it was really 1/2 to 1 stop slower than that. ; Since I shot mostly Kodachrome 25, I could only use it on bright, sunny days; otherwise the necessary shutter speeds would require a tripod. ; For the people who shot faster films like Tri-X (ASA 400), they provided a 4x ND filter that screwed on to the back of the lens, providing a second "aperture". ; It wasn't terribly sharp, either. Here's another view from a higher angle, showing the relative sizes of the lenses. ; The 250 is smaller even than my Nikon 18-200. It's amazing how beat up the Minolta bodies are. ; There's no damage, but the paint has been worn off the pentaprism housing due to years of intensive use. ; I can't imagine a modern dSLR standing up to that, or even being used for nearly 30 years like those were. Anyone else have any unique pieces of equipment in their archives?
Ah, the good old days. ; But the Nikon you now have is one of the best lenses they have ever produced. ; It's long and heavy but it is the best piece of glass I have ever used.
Scott, ; Are you seeing any of the "problems" people were harping on with that lens on the D700 when the new current 70-200 came out? I can't imagine the new one being that much better, given how good the older one is. Erich
I have not really looked as I am not much of a pixel peeper. ; Since I mostly use it for sports, I am shooting wide open most of the time. ; It it was real bad, you'd hear the Pros complain and Nikon would have had to do something to fix it. ; Since that has not happened, I'd say some people have too much time on their hands. ;
