VR on 24-70mm F/2.8

BBrown

Senior Member
I wonder why Nikon chose to leave out the VR on their 24-70mm F/2.8 FX lens. I'm hesitant to purchase any zoom lens without it.
 

DW_

Senior Member
Re: Nikon D800 vs Canon 5d Mark III

I wonder why Nikon chose to leave out the VR on their 24-70mm F/2.8 FX lens. I'm hesitant to purchase any zoom lens without it.

VR is a bit of a liability, IMO. It's very susceptible to damage and is horrible for fast action photos due to the painfully slow focus and fast focus with the IF is an important feature of this lens. That said, separating this line into a VR vs. IF would make a lot of sense.
 

bluenoser

Banned
It's not really needed IMHO. Why? This focal length range is fairly short, the lens is already very fast at a constant 2.8 and adding VR would only push the price of this lens even further out of reach of most consumers.

Don't forget that VR is only useful for operator motion not subject motion. Therefore I would humbly suggest that with today's high ISO capable cameras that someone should be able to find a decent enough shutter speed to handhold a shot at f/2.8 with an ISO up to say 3200 - no VR needed. Frankly what most people who think that VR is necessary, in reality simply need to put more time into proper hand holding technique.

VR is a nice feature to have in some instances but it is far from necessary on most lenses. Give me a fast constant aperture lens with any of the newer, high ISO capable cameras and I'm a happy guy! :)
 

miknoypinoy

Senior Member
Frankly what most people who think that VR is necessary, in reality simply need to put more time into proper hand holding technique.

:)

I agree with this. when I got my first dslr, I got too dependent on vr lenses. I'll admit that I had trouble at first with the 24-70. images weren't as sharp. but after a few months, I became more conscious of my hand holding and stability. like bluenoser said, it would also bring the price up. (and it's up there already lol). good question though. the answers bring us back to the basics. thanks for asking
 

BBrown

Senior Member
Great feedback! So here's my solution. My favorite lens (rarely off the camera), is the 35mm f/1.4G. When I shot film it was the Canon 35mm f/1.2 on my F-1 that I bought in 1974. I've been looking to add a secondary zoom. I'm gonna go with the AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II on my pre-ordered D800.
 

bobmielke

New member
Having just gotten my 24-70 last week I'm still running my own series of tests to see what it can do. I have an 18-200mm F/3.5-5.6 VRII that I dearly love as well as an 85mm F/3.5 VRII for close work & portraits. I find both VR lenses very useable as I choose to shot only available light photographs. Since I've been a camera addict for 42 years and used to be a pro I've developed my holding techniques long before VR/IS was invented. The same can be said for Auto-focus & exposure. VR is a useful too but not a replacement for good habits.
 
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