Do 200mm lenses need VR?

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adamandbean

Senior Member
Hello,
Adam here in Japan. I was wondering if 200mm lenses need VR? I am thinking of buying an 80-200mm 2.8 but was worried about VR.

Many thanks,

Adam
 
A

aroy

Senior Member
480sparky said:
NO lens 'needs' VR. With proper technique, 200mm can provide sharp results without it.
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On the other hand the longer the focal length the more it magnifies small shakes. So VR is a definite advantage with long lenses, but only if you are hand holding them and shooting at low speeds. VR has to be switched off when on tripod and at high shooting speeds.

Till VR came people were shooting with long lenses and getting equally good results.
 
L

LensWork

Senior Member
LensWork said:
The general rule-of-thumb for minimum hand-holdable shutter speed is 1/effective focal length. Example: a 20mm lens on a DX body has an effective focal length of 30mm (20mm X 1.5 DX crop factor = 30mm), therefore the minimum shutter speed would be 1/30 second.
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Given the above formula, the minimum shutter speed for a 200mm lens on a DX body would be 1/300 (1/320). As long as you can shoot at 1/320 or faster there is no need for VR.
 
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TedG954

Senior Member
For the best results, use a tripod for any shots at a distance.

(I owned the Nikon 80-200/2.8 and it is a very sharp lens. But, I had to use a tripod to get its full potential. A millimeter at the barrel becomes inches (or feet) at 100 yds or beyond.)
 
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B

Blacktop

Senior Member
adamandbean said:
Hello,
Adam here in Japan. I was wondering if 200mm lenses need VR? I am thinking of buying an 80-200mm 2.8 but was worried about VR.

Many thanks,

Adam
Click to expand...

Without a tripod I would suggest an optical stabelized lens. (VR, OS, VC) unless you're always going to shoot on a sunny day.
 
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Geoffc

Senior Member
I have the 70-200 VRII 2.8 lens. If light is on your side and you can get fast shutter speeds you don't need it, in fact I often turn VR off at greater than 1/500 sec. However, when the light is lower I can get very slow handheld shots with VR on that I couldn't without. So I guess it depends what you want to use it for.
 
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