I’ve been mostly shooting birds and wildlife the past few years, and mostly with Sony. But we wanted to take the kids to the Civil War reenactment in Huntington Beach. So I decided to dust off my 200/2, pair it with my Z9, and take a few non-wildlife frames for a change .
This lens still remains my all-time favorite lens for portraits... I am surprised Nikon has not yet produced a native Z mount version of it...
With all of the great shots you guys have taken with the plena and 85mm 1.2S, I've had a few times where I mulled over selling my sigma 135mm, sigma 85mm and Nikon 200mm f2 to fund the Z lenses (don't think I'd ever sell the 105mm 1.4E). With that said, there would be a net loss with the 200mm f2 which right now seems unacceptable! It's pretty sweet to have, but I just don't use it enough. I love the photos below but safe to say only the last image benefitted from the 200mm f2 vs something like the plena. Some more depth to the other images may have improved the images to my eye now that I'm slightly less fixed on bokeh!
I'm still using the VR1, but when I bought it the 200/2 was my dream lens, and it continues to deliver. Here are some recent images taken with it. The ability to obliterate the background and subject isolate still makes this a go-to, though admittedly I think in advance about whether for any given outing it is worth schlepping the weight. That said, when I make the decision to do so, it doesn't disappoint!
Subj: University of Maryland Marching Band/"Mighty Sound of Maryland"
Krubin wrote:
I'm still using the VR1, but when I bought it the 200/2 was my dream lens, and it continues to deliver. Here are some recent images taken with it. The ability to obliterate the background and subject isolate still makes this a go-to, though admittedly I think in advance about whether for any given outing it is worth schlepping the weight. That said, when I make the decision to do so, it doesn't disappoint!
Subj: University of Maryland Marching Band/"Mighty Sound of Maryland"
It's a phenomenal lens. I had the VR1 for about 12 years, but finally sold it recently. I don't typically worry too much about lens weight, but the 200/2 was the only lens in my bag that surpassed my threshold of comfort, which caused me to increasingly leave it at home over the last 4-5 years. Not sure how many times I convinced myself to hold onto it, but it was time.
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