70-200 f/2.8 vs 55-300. Did anyone try both?

Rasmus

Senior Member
I have the nikkor 55-300 lens, and it's quite ok. However it's not terribly sharp on the long end. So I'm considering upgrading to the 70-200, which should be ultra sharp.

I know the 70-200 is an fx lens, so it'll be something like 105-300 on my d7000. The loss of the 55-105 area isn't a problem.

But does any of you have any actual experience with both lenses; maybe from doing the same upgrade.

How big does the size difference feel? Is the lack of vr on the 70-200 an issue? Is the improved IQ very noticeable, or minor?

any other comments or recommendations(like third party lenses) is greatly appreciated as well :)

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Disorderly

Senior Member
First, the current 70-200mm does have VR. Second, as you might expect from a lens that costs 10x the 55-300mm, the quality is dramatically better in every respect. This is a fantastic lens. (I have the previous version, which also has VR.) Be aware that it's also a heavy lens; you'll feel the extra mass after shooting a little while.

And one final point: you're mixing up the angle of view calculations of your crop sensor. A 70-200mm lens on a crop sensor camera has the angle of view equivalent of a 105-300mm lens on a full frame camera like the D800. Similarly, the 55-300mm would require the equivalent of 82-450mm on full frame. So what you're losing in zoom range is 55-70mm (not a huge loss) and 200-300mm (might be huge, might not; it depends on whether the cheaper lens gives you anything worth writing home about). If that's an issue, consider buying a TC-14 teleconverter. Adding that to the 70-200mm gives you 100-280mm, the equivalent of 150-420mm on your crop sensor. You lose a stop of light (max aperture of f/2.8 becomes f/4) but won't lose much quality.

Just to clarify, lens focal lengths don't change between crop sensors and full frame (or smaller sensors like the J1 for that matter). All that changes is the angle of view, so the same focal length feels longer. The only difference between a DX lens and an FX lens is whether it's able to provide light to the whole sensor. So a 50mm DX lens (if one existed) would look exactly the same as a 50mm FX lens on a crop sensor camera, and the only difference on full frame is that the DX lens wouldn't fill the whole image area; you'd get a circle of image with a big black ring around it.
 
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pedroj

Senior Member
Rasmus Said

[I have the nikkor 55-300 lens, and it's quite ok. However it's not terribly sharp on the long end. So I'm considering upgrading to the 70-200, which should be ultra sharp.

I know the 70-200 is an fx lens, so it'll be something like 105-300 on my d7000. The loss of the 55-105 area isn't a problem.]

The crop factor [1.5] has to do with the camera...The 55-300mm is 55-300mm as the 70-200mm is 70-200mm

If you want a very good 300mm lens get the 300mm F4 AF-S or it's older brother 300mm F4 AF IF ED


Another option is the 80-200mm F2.8 it doesn't have VR but is About $1200 cheaper then the 70-200mm F2.8
 
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Rasmus

Senior Member
Sv: 70-200 f/2.8 vs 55-300. Did anyone try both?

Sorry for digging out my old thread.

I'm still considering the 70-200. And will try and find a store that let's me try it soon.

Until then, would it, in your opinion, be a safe bet, that shooting a pic with the 70-200 f/2.8, and then cropping to a similar pic as one taken at 300 mm with the 55-300, would be a better and more sharp image? Despite the cropping.

I'm guessing yes, but I guess the question is whether the improvement is big enough, when cropping a fair bit.

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gqtuazon

Gear Head
Re: Sv: 70-200 f/2.8 vs 55-300. Did anyone try both?

Sorry for digging out my old thread.

I'm still considering the 70-200. And will try and find a store that let's me try it soon.

Would you consider the new Nikon 70-200mm f4 VRIII since money seems to be an issue?

Nikon NIKKOR AF-S 70-200mm f/4G ED VR Telephoto Zoom Lens 2202

Most super zooms gets softer on the long end so, my guess and most likely answer is "No", it won't be the same.
 

Rasmus

Senior Member
Sv: 70-200 f/2.8 vs 55-300. Did anyone try both?

Would you consider the new Nikon 70-200mm f4 VRIII since money seems to be an issue?

Nikon NIKKOR AF-S 70-200mm f/4G ED VR Telephoto Zoom Lens 2202

Most super zooms gets softer on the long end so, my guess and most likely answer is "No", it won't be the same.

I thought about it. But price isn't really a big concern, I'll just wait a bit longer.

However I'd hate paying half a months wages, if I'll lose a lot of quality on the far end, whole cropping (to get equal degree of "zoom" with the 200 mm, as opposed to the 300 mm)

I'm sure it'll be much better and faster up to 200 mm... The question is whether I'll lose a lot of the ability to get really close... I use the 200-300 area quite a bit

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Geoffc

Senior Member
Sorry for digging out my old thread.

I'm still considering the 70-200. And will try and find a store that let's me try it soon.

Until then, would it, in your opinion, be a safe bet, that shooting a pic with the 70-200 f/2.8, and then cropping to a similar pic as one taken at 300 mm with the 55-300, would be a better and more sharp image? Despite the cropping.

I'm guessing yes, but I guess the question is whether the improvement is big enough, when cropping a fair bit.

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I have the 70-200 VR II and recently did exactly this comparing it to the arguable better 70-300 VR. I was considering getting the latter as my wife has one. After cropping the 70-200 images to the same size as the 70-300 (at 300mm) I concluded that it wasn't worth me having the 70-300 as well. The two lots of images where comparable.

When the D800 arrives the cropping will make this even better.

I suppose from your perspective you will be lucky to see something that justifies the huge price of the 70-200, unless you use it for other things in which case it's awesome.
 

agaston

New member
Did you end up buying it? I'm considering the same thing (currently have the 55-300 but would like more sharpness).

I'm wondering what you found

Anca
 
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