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Archive 2016 · Nikon 70-200 v1 or Tamron 70-200 VC?

  
 
GC5
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Nikon 70-200 v1 or Tamron 70-200 VC?


I'm a longtime Canon shooter but recently picked up a D4 to try for basketball and other indoor sports. I'm going to give it a try for a few weeks before deciding whether to switch to Nikon altogether or suck it up and spring for a 1DX (and thus sell whatever Nikon gear I've picked up). I usually shoot with the Canon 70-200 II, but at the moment, the Nikon 70-200 v.2 is out of the picture. As between the v.1 and Tamron's new version, which is generally regarded as better? I'm really only concerned with sharpness and focusing speed. If there is another option that I should consider, please chime in.

Thanks for you input...

Edited on Jan 20, 2016 at 05:24 PM · View previous versions



Jan 20, 2016 at 05:02 PM
AMaji
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Nikon 70-200 v1 or Tamron 70-200 VC?


I use the Nikon 70-200 VRI and it vignettes on FX. However, the vignetting is easily corrected in Camera Raw and I don't think that it is an issue for me. I never used this particular Tammy, but in general I have found that for the same category of lens, the Nikon has faster AF.

Hope this helps.
Maji



Jan 20, 2016 at 05:23 PM
Kyyo24
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Nikon 70-200 v1 or Tamron 70-200 VC?


As AMaji said, the nikon will have some vignetting. for sports you should be fine but it can be easily corrected if you need to.


Jan 20, 2016 at 09:01 PM
CritterRacing
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Nikon 70-200 v1 or Tamron 70-200 VC?


Had them both. Forget the tamron it will not focus track like the nikon.


Jan 21, 2016 at 07:20 AM
Uzay
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Nikon 70-200 v1 or Tamron 70-200 VC?


CritterRacing wrote:
Had them both. Forget the tamron it will not focus track like the nikon.



I disagree, mine focuses (track) identical to Nikon's, even at low light.







Jan 21, 2016 at 12:03 PM
johnctharp
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Nikon 70-200 v1 or Tamron 70-200 VC?


Uzay wrote:
I disagree, mine focuses (track) identical to Nikon's, even at low light.


Keep in mind that people differ in how demanding they are of their equipment. Many people find the Tamron's tracking to be acceptable, or even exceptional- and plenty do not, relative to first-party solutions. The price delta is not so great that it is worth a professional missing shots.



Jan 21, 2016 at 12:17 PM
chip_master
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Nikon 70-200 v1 or Tamron 70-200 VC?


I can't comment on the Tamron but shot many tens of thousands of indoor gymnastics with my nikon 70-200 VR1 never did the lens let me down. On the higher pixel camera's I think the edges will be disappointing soft and will also have vignette as but I'd take it over the Tamron VC for sports actions, but for pure IC/stabilization not so sure that the Tamron isn't a pretty compelling value.

Tamron has upped their game with their newest offerings so if I was in a pinch I'd likely think hard about the value of the latest generation tamron's, but be careful you can buy and sell a used VRI or VRII pretty easily but the Tamron is likely a much harder lens to sell off.



Jan 21, 2016 at 12:25 PM
milkod2001
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Nikon 70-200 v1 or Tamron 70-200 VC?


GC5 wrote:
I'm a longtime Canon shooter but recently picked up a D4 to try for basketball and other indoor sports. I'm going to give it a try for a few weeks before deciding whether to switch to Nikon altogether or suck it up and spring for a 1DX (and thus sell whatever Nikon gear I've picked up). I usually shoot with the Canon 70-200 II, but at the moment, the Nikon 70-200 v.2 is out of the picture. As between the v.1 and Tamron's new version, which is generally regarded as better? I'm really only concerned with sharpness and focusing speed.
...Show more

If you only are concerned with sharpness and focusing speed Nikon 70-200/4 might be worth to consider.



Jan 21, 2016 at 12:46 PM
GC5
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Nikon 70-200 v1 or Tamron 70-200 VC?


Well that was between the 2.8 lenses. I don't want to give up another stop for indoor action as I have to push ISO pretty hard as it is...


Jan 21, 2016 at 01:07 PM
johnctharp
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Nikon 70-200 v1 or Tamron 70-200 VC?


GC5 wrote:
Well that was between the 2.8 lenses. I don't want to give up another stop for indoor action as I have to push ISO pretty hard as it is...


The D4 can handle the ISO, as good or better than the 1D X. The real question is whether the narrower aperture will affect AF, which was a big upgrade on the D4s to get it competitive with the Canon body, and included more sensitive AF points. If the D4 can keep up at f/4, you're likely better off with Nikon's class-leading 70-200/4G than an older Nikon f/2.8 lens or a third-party option.

(if it can't, then yeah, the f/2.8 VR1 lens is it)



Jan 21, 2016 at 01:19 PM
Frogfish
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Nikon 70-200 v1 or Tamron 70-200 VC?


There's an excellent 4 part comparison on Youtube by Matt Granger (Tamron VC vs Canon and Nikon's latest). *spoiler - the Tamron holds it's own or better in almost every category (n.b. focus tracking isn't covered).

Based on that one, and other reviews, I bought the Tamron (the 5 year vs. Nikon 1 year helped sway me a bit too). It is ultra sharp and I'm just back from a 4 day mountain trip with the two Tamrons (15-30 & 70-200) that performed brilliantly. Two superb lenses.

I wouldn't worry about buying the Tamron from a sharpness standpoint at all (I chose mine from 3 samples in a retail shop - however sharpness in any in-shop testing may be more based on individual camera+lens compatibility and lack of fine-tune required (still eventually needed -2) than commentary on an entire specific lens design, or manufacturing run, as a whole.

I'd say dig deep to check out the performance of the features most relevant to you - focus tracking for example if the best available is one of your prime requirements.



Jan 21, 2016 at 02:26 PM
Gregg Heckler
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Nikon 70-200 v1 or Tamron 70-200 VC?


It's always nicer to have a brighter viewfinder with a 2.8 lens. My VR1 has thousands and thousands of images on it and never let me down.


Jan 21, 2016 at 05:13 PM
eSchwab
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Nikon 70-200 v1 or Tamron 70-200 VC?


The Nikon 70-200mm VR1 is spectacularly sharp with excellent bokeh. In the extreme corners the resolution drops and it does vignette. I absolutely loved this lens. In my opinion the only real fault of this lens is the VR. It's really only good for 1.5-2 stops.


Jan 24, 2016 at 04:00 PM
elkhornsun
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Nikon 70-200 v1 or Tamron 70-200 VC?


The V II version of the Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 would be a waste of money for sports photography. I would buy a used 70-200mm VR I lens from a private party selling on this website or Nikonians. The added edge sharpness of the VR II lens is not terribly important nor is the theoretical gain in VR performance and having owned both lenses the difference is very little.

There are 3 current Nikon cameras that provide excellent fast accurate autofocus for sports photography, the D4/D4s, D750, and D7200. There are decided advantages to use a APS-C crop camera that turns the 70-200mm f2.8 into effectively a 105-300mm f2.8 lens that is easily shot hand held.

My first choice would be the new D500 which will be available to purchase sometime in March. It has the latest autofocus system which is a big improvement over the current ones and it is a APS-C camera so the same crop advantage with telephoto lenses. It also provides a 10 frames per second capture to RAW which all in all makes for a great buy at its $2000 price tag.



Jan 24, 2016 at 04:37 PM
leewoolery
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Nikon 70-200 v1 or Tamron 70-200 VC?


The Nikon 70-200 f/2.8 G lens has served me well for years as a sports, event and portrait lens.

I've used mine for football, basketball, figure skating, gymnastics, hockey, wrestling, rodeo and horse shows and the VR and zoom capability makes it an excellent portrait lens.

It also performs well with a Nikon 1.4 teleconverter.

Even on a D700, the AF is fast and the lens tracks incredibly well on a D3/3s/4.

The version II is even sharper, the extra VR stops are great when you need them and the AF faster but you stated that was out of your price range.

I shoot both Nikon and Canon and the D4 and 1Dx are fantastic, low-light, high ISO, all-around sports cameras with the 70-200's attached.

Here are few examples:

Lee



© Lee Woolery Speedshot Photo





© Lee Woolery Speedshot Photo





© Lee Woolery Speedshot Photo





© Lee Woolery Speedshot Photo





© Lee Woolery Speedshot Photo




Jan 24, 2016 at 10:24 PM





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