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FMthejnal
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Registered: Aug 31, 2012
Location: Czech Republic
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Mar 14, 2013
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $400.00
| Rating: 7
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Pros:
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Really nice bokeh, cheaper than 105 DC or 135 DC
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Cons:
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Soft wide open. Tried 2 versions, new one and older (plastic) one. Both same sharpness, needs to be stopped down.
Autofocus is slow, i was not able to photograph people walking to me if they were close to me (face portrait). Chromatic aberation.
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could have round blades, but you can make a circle from paper and put it inside the lens so you can get perfect circles.
some photos using this lens:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/50566490@N08/5854258766/in/photostream
(bottom corner is info about the lens)
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 Mar 14, 2013
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James Markus
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Registered: Jul 19, 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 3840
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Review Date: Sep 20, 2012
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Incredibly sharp with wonderful bokeh. Built in lens hood. A good value.
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Cons:
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manual focus is not smooth
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I got a used one of these to replace my 70-200mm afs vr version I. The bokeh is identical, and it is actually much sharper. Beyond that - the Nikkor 180mm f2.8 AF is smaller, lighter, and less expensive...a win-win-win. I sold off the 70-200
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Sep 20, 2012
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fotojev
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Registered: Feb 14, 2010
Location: Netherlands
Posts: 18
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Review Date: Nov 13, 2011
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Fast, very sharp, robust.
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Cons:
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No weather seal, a bit heavy and long.
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I love this lens for outdoor use. Very nice to picture people.
It is somewhat long when carrying around. Also people will notice you! Definitely a lens I recommend.
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Nov 13, 2011
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jessi74
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Registered: Aug 22, 2008
Location: United States
Posts: 3
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Review Date: Nov 5, 2011
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $400.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Razor sharp. Smaller than a zoom. Great manual focus feel.
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Cons:
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Slow AF. MF clutch is annoying.
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Buy the older versions; they're all the same optically.
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Nov 5, 2011
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ljdart
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Registered: Jan 9, 2010
Location: Netherlands
Posts: 17
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Review Date: Jan 30, 2010
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $375.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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excellent image quality, good manual focussing, well balanced when handheld
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Cons:
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no tripod mount.
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I bought this lens second hand. I love to work with it. The autofocus is noisy, but generally speaking is very accurate on the d200. When on manual focus the lens works like a dream, even on the small focus-screen of the d200.
When on tripod the combination is out of balance and there is need for a tripodmount on the lens.
Optically I love the sharpness and the bokeh.
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Jan 30, 2010
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Richard GT
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Registered: Feb 18, 2009
Location: United States
Posts: 145
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Review Date: Nov 4, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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sharp, fast, beautiful bokeh, well built.
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Cons:
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Nothing I can think of other than I should use it more.
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So what's not to like? I've heard stories about a rather slow AF but this is not the case on my D200. I find AF to be fast enough to capture running dogs at 20-30 mph. That's fast enough for me. I like this lens very much. It makes magic happen. I always bring home a prize when this lens is chosen.
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Nov 4, 2009
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Bubble
Offline
Buy and Sell: On
Registered: Jul 20, 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 1530
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Review Date: Jun 4, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $400.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Sharp, good contrast,excellent Bokeh.
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Cons:
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none
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another great lens at low price.
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Jun 4, 2009
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HomeyD5
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Registered: Dec 12, 2008
Location: United States
Posts: 1
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Review Date: Dec 12, 2008
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Beautiful results even wide open, stunning between f/5.6 and f/8
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Cons:
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Screwdriver focusing is a bit slow; that, combined with its tendency to hunt across the entire focus range makes it not a good choice for moving subjects or action in low light.
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If your subject is suited to the 180mm perspective (270mm equivalent on DX), and will sit still for you while you focus and compose, you can rely on this lens to produce professional results. Crisp and contrasty edge-to-edge, even wide open, with pure colors and good bokeh. The build is solid metal with a bakelite crinkle finish; it would be at home in a hardwood box lined with red velvet! Good examples can be found at a very reasonable price on the used market. My sample is a non-D version, which handicaps it for iTTL flash use.
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Dec 12, 2008
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digiman69
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Registered: Jan 21, 2005
Location: Italy
Posts: 4
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Review Date: Aug 7, 2008
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Sharp from center to corners wide open even on FF. Solid built while still a compact tele, great even with pro 1,4x converters.
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Cons:
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None!
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For those still loving primes...
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Aug 7, 2008
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condyk
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Registered: Mar 14, 2005
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 300
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Review Date: Aug 3, 2008
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Great colour, contrast and sharpness with superior bokeh that really makes shots pop. Great build that feel hard wearing and everything works crisply as it should. I'm very pleased with this lens and even like the hood design ;-)
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Cons:
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Impossible to fault. Very compact and sharp lens - pocket sized even!
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Aug 3, 2008
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September
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Registered: May 14, 2008
Location: Netherlands
Posts: 15
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Review Date: Jul 8, 2008
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Sharp, good contrast, lightweight, beautifull Bokeh.
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Cons:
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Lenshood
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This lens is one of my favorites. Even wide open at f2.8. The bokeh is very nice and color rendition is excellent. The lens is very sharp.
Good portrait lens.
The lenshood design is mediocre.
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Jul 8, 2008
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dennisvillegas
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Registered: Jan 21, 2008
Location: Philippines
Posts: 0
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Review Date: May 21, 2008
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $200.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Sharp, Bokeh, Light, Price, Fantastic Headhunter
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Cons:
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Blades are exposed at the rear which can be prone to dust and dirt. Hard to find lens even in Ebay.com.
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I own the "D" version of this lens which is the latest generation of the 180mm 2.8. Bought it used for a real cheapo price (the seller stupidly switched to Sony for whatever reason). Anyway his lost was my gain as I found this lens to be one of my sharpest primes. I own the 80-200 2.8 AF-D and this 180 is even sharper.
Anyway, this is one razor sharp lens and gives outstanding colors and creamy creamy bokeh. At 2.8, the lens is sharp enough and even becoming sharpest from f4 to f8. The length of this lens makes it a perfect headhunter and can be a great ambush lens. This lens is also light enough to make tripod-less shooting.
On the negative side, I found the exposed back of the lens prone to dirt. Also this lens is becoming hard to find even in Adorama and Ebay, achieving a legendary status reserved for the outstanding Nikkor lenses of all time.
I highly recommend this lens to anyone who wants the sharpest mid-tele at an affordable cost---that is, if you can find one.
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May 21, 2008
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jdos2
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Registered: Aug 31, 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 4
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Review Date: May 12, 2008
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $450.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Fast long-focus lens. Small for the maximum aperture
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Cons:
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None!
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I bought this lens on what was almost a whim. I was looking for a decent mid-range zoom for me and my D3 and came upon this lens in the bottom of the pile. The shop let me try out the lens and I was immediately captivated by several things that it does very well:
Sharpness: From wide-open to as far down as I could test (and it seems to near-peak at just one stop down from full aperture!) the lens is sharper than my camera is capable of recording. That says a LOT!
The lens is nice too in that it is a wonderful full face portrait lens. After years of rangefinder photography where it's very difficult to fill a frame with a face, this is the lens to do it. It does so at a reasonable distance (minimum focus is only just under five feet, but it's enough).
Chromatic aberration seems minimal- I've not had to remove the signs of it in post processing.
This is NOT a dim-light lens. The AF does tend to hunt a bit in the muck, and the lens is long enough that shutter speed becomes very important. I'll not generalize to the point of "tripod only," but a good flash helps keep things under control if one has had a bit too much espresso for the day.
The out of focus rendition of the lens is smooth and quite abrupt. At near focus, one knows if they nailed the focus point right away- there'll be no question. The individual hairs, bricks, or whatever teeny detail will snap to sharpness, down to the level of pixels and the limit of the AA filter.
Inexpensive and sharp optic.
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May 12, 2008
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panos.v
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Registered: Dec 15, 2005
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 3934
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Review Date: Dec 8, 2006
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Size, weight, price, sharp, fast AF even on lesser bodies. Great color and contrast. Great build.
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Cons:
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Small hood. AF/MF switch.
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This is an excellent lens. It is small and light for a f/2.8 tele. My copy is very sharp even at f/2.8 from corner to corner. I think it is the sharpest lens I have owned so far (and I've got quite a few primes). The AF is very fast, even on my D70s. Colour rendition, contrast and bokeh is excellent. The build quality is excellent.
The only real annoyance is the AF/MF switch, as you have to use the switch on the body AND the lens. And the hood is a bit too short. Not so much a problem for flare but for protection, say in the rain.
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Dec 8, 2006
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RBohacs
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Registered: Jan 16, 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 3
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Review Date: Aug 13, 2006
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Very compact for its speed, very sharp, fantastic colors and great contrast, price!!!!
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Cons:
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none
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I recently made a change from an outdated Canon 10D to a Fujifilm S3 Pro, therefore I needed to change out my lenses (the few that I had). I first acquired the Nikkor 50mm f1.8, a rather standard walk around lens and one that I am familiar with, as I frequently shot the Canon 50mm f1.8. I must say that the build quality and image quality of the Nikon lens is far greater then the Canon, even through they both run about a $100 bucks.
My next lens was the Nikkor ED AF 180mm F2.8 which I purchased off EBay for $300 bucks and is in mint condition. The build quality is superior, while the overall lens size is rather compact for such a fast lens. The optical quality is excellent, as the lens produces razor sharp images that are contrasty and have vivid colors. Yes, the AF is slightly slow, but who cares, you’re getting one of the sharpest lenses made for $300 bucks, there must be a flaw somewhere. On the S3 Pro body the AF works fine and speed is adequate.
I honestly wasn’t too sure about getting a 180mm prime since it’s not really long enough for average wildlife, and its too long for portraits, however, it seems to work in many of my situations. It seems to have a rather large magnification for a 180mm lens, which is great to have for large wildlife and taking pictures of my kids as the play in the yards, etc.
I am in the process of buying a Kenko Pro 2x teleconverter. From what I have read, the glass within the teleconverter is great and will produce sharp images with this prime, while giving me a 360mm F5.6 lens that still has AF. No Nikon brand AF TC will work without modification.
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Aug 13, 2006
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brianli
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Registered: Feb 22, 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Jul 29, 2006
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $350.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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sharp and nice brokeh
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Cons:
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slow focus
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I bought a used one. It has several versions. You should watch out and don't get the oldest version if you plan to buy a used one. The build qualities are different. The lens is small and sharp. For the full price as new, it should come with VR.
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Jul 29, 2006
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Reviews
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Views
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Date of last review
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25
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84157
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Mar 14, 2013
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Recommended By
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Average Price
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100% of reviewers
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$372.83
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Build Quality Rating
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Price Rating
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Overall Rating
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9.40
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9.30
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9.5
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