Is it really worth it?

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zutty

Senior Member
Hi Chris, I'm just a little confused as to what the "full to infinity switch really does. KR says it limits the autofocus range, but to what?....I'm just gonna leave it in the full I guess..also the lens is the first I've had with an active VR switch..It's self-explanatory but I was curious if it really works in the active position..Seems pretty cool. I have not used it yet...I wonder how this lens will do on a dx body..Boy...It is really solid!! Built like a tank! Good thing I have big mitts...grin
 
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sonicbuffalo_RIP

Senior Member
A lot of folks use the 70-200 on their cropped sensor cameras. It fools them into thinking they are a lot closer to the subject than they are! I wouldn't hesitate using it on my D7100, but haven't yet. Backdoor Hippie just bought a D7100 for shooting wildlife....so that goes to show you there are reasons for using a cropped sensor camera. In truth, my wife wants me to sell my D7100 but I really want to keep it and my D610. They may not be the 810, but as close as I can afford...they compliment each other well. I like them both! Now if I could just find more stuff to shoot around here...pretty boring area here around Durham, and it's been in the mi 90's lately.
 
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PaulPosition

Senior Member
zutty said:
Hi Chris, I'm just a little confused as to what the "full to infinity switch really does. KR says it limits the autofocus range, but to what?....I'm just gonna leave it in the full I guess..also the lens is the first I've had with an active VR switch..It's self-explanatory but I was curious if it really works in the active position..Seems pretty cool. I have not used it yet...I wonder how this lens will do on a dx body..Boy...It is really solid!! Built like a tank! Good thing I have big mitts...grin
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This switch is to limit the auto-focus range so that it doesn't even try to focus on stuff closer than, say, 10m (totally made up number, check your manual for the real deal).

Two small advantages go with it : camera is able to acquire focus faster because it hunts in a smaller range, and it saves you from those shots where you've got perfect focus on the fence or the head of a spectator and complete blurry subject doing the most amazing thing (still) never caught on camera.
 
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zutty

Senior Member
sonicbuffalo said:
A lot of folks use the 70-200 on their cropped sensor cameras. It fools them into thinking they are a lot closer to the subject than they are! I wouldn't hesitate using it on my D7100, but haven't yet. Backdoor Hippie just bought a D7100 for shooting wildlife....so that goes to show you there are reasons for using a cropped sensor camera. In truth, my wife wants me to sell my D7100 but I really want to keep it and my D610. They may not be the 810, but as close as I can afford...they compliment each other well. I like them both! Now if I could just find more stuff to shoot around here...pretty boring area here around Durham, and it's been in the mi 90's lately.
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Chris, I too love having both an fx and dx bodies. They each have their purpose and strengths. The 7100 is just an awesome camera! I'm fortunate being up here in Maine as there is much natural beauty, but during the winter it can get dicey. My health issues do prevent me from going out on a lot of shoots, so when I'm not feeling great, I do some still life stuff around the house and use the micro lens and try and create that way. Sometimes there is beauty in the most mundane things. Thanks for your support here Chris, I do appreciate it very much!
 
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zutty

Senior Member
PaulPosition said:
This switch is to limit the auto-focus range so that it doesn't even try to focus on stuff closer than, say, 10m (totally made up number, check your manual for the real deal).

Two small advantages go with it : camera is able to acquire focus faster because it hunts in a smaller range, and it saves you from those shots where you've got perfect focus on the fence or the head of a spectator and complete blurry subject doing the most amazing thing (still) never caught on camera.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info Paul!
 
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Vincent

Senior Member
zutty said:
Hi Chris, I'm just a little confused as to what the "full to infinity switch really does. KR says it limits the autofocus range, but to what?....I'm just gonna leave it in the full I guess..also the lens is the first I've had with an active VR switch. .It's self-explanatory but I was curious if it really works in the active position..Seems pretty cool. I have not used it yet...I wonder how this lens will do on a dx body...
Click to expand...

So I use it on the D7000, it is great on any body anyway. On DX, 70mm gives an FOV equivalent of 105mm, which is quite long, so it is mainly for smaller subjects or quite a distance away.
With me the focus limiter is on infinity to 5m standard, since I want to be ready for birds in flight or cars in motion. When I have trouble with subjects nearby, I put it on full. The difference is not big I believe, but for fast moving subjects every gain in AF can make or break the picture.

The active VR I had on when I was taking pictures on a boat (not knowing what the setting was), the pictures came out well, but I did not compare to without.
Since I know what the active VR is, I always have had it on normal (not shooting a lot from platforms with movement).
 
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