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oldshutterhand
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Registered: Jan 24, 2012
Location: Hungary
Posts: 0
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Review Date: May 30, 2014
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Light, very sharp up to 200mm, quick and precise focus, good stabilizer, enjoyable to use
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Cons:
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soft at 300mm, little plasticy
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This is an interesting lens. Tack sharp up to 200mm, at 300mm not so sharp, but ok, but if it would be sharp who would buy the 300mm f/4 for lot more bucks? Very enjoyable to use, good for general usage, for birding or wildlife to me it is not a keeper, not just sharpness but colors and general image quality is not up there, even 200mm, even it is very sharp here, it is a consumer lens, good point can get relatively cheap, and not bad at all.
See in more detail at:
http://oldshutterhand.com/equipment-reviews/nikon-70-300-vr-review/
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 May 30, 2014
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Nozzleforward
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Registered: Jun 15, 2011
Location: United States
Posts: 903
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Review Date: Jul 21, 2012
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $350.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Fast, solid build quality, great VR performance, not too big.
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Cons:
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Nothing comes to mind.
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I owned this lens for about a year before switching to Canon gear. During that time, I probably shot 8k images with this lens. It was a great lens to carry in the car and always have available. I paired this with a 35mm 1.8 on my D90 and was set for just about everything I came across. This lens worked great for wildlife shots, action, motorsports, airshows, even did a fantastic job with some portraits. The build quality on this lens and operation with the large rubber zoom ring is all fantastic. I have nothing negative to say about this lens at all. I'd strongly suggest this lens to anyone that doesn't want to (or have) the extra cash to put on an 80-200.
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Jul 21, 2012
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NuclearRoy
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Registered: Oct 5, 2011
Location: United States
Posts: 341
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Review Date: Mar 8, 2012
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $400.00
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Versitility, sharp (through 200mm)
Bargin price
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Cons:
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Soft between 200mm-300mm
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Nice lens, especially for sub 5 bills. Actually suprisingly sharp up to around 200mm. Certianly still usable at 300.
If you are buying it for a poor man's 300, (like I did), just save up and get the 300 f4 (like I finally did).
I think I will miss the VR every once in a while, but the 300 f4 makes up for that is every other way.
Certianly worth replacing your kit lens with this one though.
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Mar 8, 2012
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Imagemaster
Offline
Buy and Sell: On
Registered: Feb 23, 2004
Location: Canada
Posts: 51221
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Review Date: Feb 28, 2012
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Good quality and bang for buck.
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Cons:
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Not being compatible with any TC is lame. Canon 100-400 works with TC's.
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Feb 28, 2012
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MrPacMan
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Registered: Jan 30, 2012
Location: Israel
Posts: 17
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Review Date: Jan 30, 2012
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 7
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Pros:
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Light, VR, nice hood.
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Cons:
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Poor build quality, not sharp results, poor image quality.
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Jan 30, 2012
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jbirdfl
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Registered: Jan 25, 2010
Location: United States
Posts: 27
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Review Date: Jan 8, 2012
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 7
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Pros:
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Light, fairly compact, useful zoom range
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Cons:
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soft at long end, cheapish construction, slow
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This lens was purchased to complete my "light" travel kit (though I'll still use my 80-200 f2.8 and 300 for serious work). Sharpness is good up until around the 200 range, after which it is noticeably soft. The seam in the plastic lens barrel is visible, so I doubt this lens is very weatherproof (and I've done my best so far not to find out!). It is light weight and fairly compact for its zoom range, so is comfortable to carry and use (though I'd be glad to give those aspects up for just a little more speed, especially at the long end). It compares well with what the rest of the manufacturers are building these days.
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Jan 8, 2012
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david_ve
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Registered: Aug 25, 2011
Location: Belgium
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Aug 25, 2011
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $599.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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great bang for bucks, sharp, fast, VR
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Cons:
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very good lens.
you can shoot everything with it!
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Aug 25, 2011
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Grognard
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Registered: Jun 11, 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 2157
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Review Date: Dec 6, 2010
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $600.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Light, fast focusing, sharp
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Cons:
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Variable aperture
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This has become my "Go To" lens for shooting my daughter's soccer games. It has been married to my D700 for the season, and has not disappointed. I have really enjoyed the lens, and am so glad that my wife allowed me to get one, and finally return the SIL's copy of this lens.
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Dec 6, 2010
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Deebo
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Registered: Dec 15, 2009
Location: United States
Posts: 185
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Review Date: Dec 3, 2010
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Great IQ up to 200-220mm. Affordability. VR. Very hand-holdable. FX compatibility.
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Cons:
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Softness from 200-220 on up to 300mm. Zoom ring is a bit stiff but livable. Not compatible with any TCs.
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This is the lens thats on my D90 95% of the time. Tack sharp images up to 200-220mm. I'll even hold onto this lens when I eventually pick up a D700 (or whatever Nikon comes out with as an upgrade) It would've been nice if it could've maintained the sharpness up to about 250mm but for what this lens is priced at, I can't really complain much at all. I'd definitley recommend this to others.
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Dec 3, 2010
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ghamden
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Registered: Aug 10, 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 181
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Review Date: Nov 12, 2010
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $465.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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This is a great lens IQ is as good as a Pro grade a definite Buy
Works FX on mT D700
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Cons:
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As stated this Lens is a must buy you get 300mm for under 500.00 IQ is excellent no issues so far.
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Nov 12, 2010
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hackmann
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Registered: Oct 19, 2010
Location: Brazil
Posts: 1
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Review Date: Oct 19, 2010
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $600.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Affordable, VR, great IQ until 200mm
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Cons:
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300mm image quality
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Oct 19, 2010
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thedruid
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Registered: Dec 1, 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 2296
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Review Date: Oct 18, 2010
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $425.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Quality, Cost, Size, Weight
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Cons:
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Some hunting in low light/contrast situations
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Bought this shortly after moving to Nikon about a year ago, looked at my options in this range in FX and it was either this or the 70-200VR 1. I like to travel light so figured I'd give it a try. Well I've been impressed, I came over from a 5D, 70-200 F4LIS set up so I'd be asking a lot from a consumer type lens to replace the L. It does not have quite the bite of the Canon but it's not very far behind. I find my copy sharp at the 300mm end and I shoot it wide open quite a bit. I shoot stock and the images are viewed by editors at 100%, if it was not up to the job I'd be using the F2.8
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Oct 18, 2010
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castmaster
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Registered: Sep 9, 2009
Location: Canada
Posts: 158
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Review Date: Aug 13, 2010
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 7
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Pros:
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Price, portability, VR, overall performance.
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Cons:
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Slow AF at 300mm. Soft from 200mm... Dust-sucker...
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It's a great piece of glass to travel light, just don't expect miracles... I mainly needed it's long end, so after getting quite disappointed by it's performance at 300mm i've unloaded the lens picked up the 300/4 instead... I'm much happier with the output of the 300/4... wide open it's waaay sharper and renders much better than the 70-300VR at f/8 (at 300mm)... But, i do miss the 70-300's VR, size and zoom range...
There's no golden middle in photography... you pull at one end - gotta give at the other one... Want the best possible IQ? Get a truck ready to haul your sh#t... For the rest, learn to leave with compromises... lot's of them...
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Aug 13, 2010
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j.liam
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Registered: Dec 13, 2009
Location: United States
Posts: 2320
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Review Date: May 15, 2010
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $450.00
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Great vibration reduction, light, surprisingly sharp, compact
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Cons:
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IQ noticeably deteriorates >200mm unless processed with DXO module; slow; not weather-sealed
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A real pleasant surprise. Great to travel with, light on the shoulders when carrying it around all day. The build quality is only fair; lots of plastic and not the heavy duty that one is used to with the pro-grade Nikkors. Dim viewfinder on account of the small maximum aperture (4.5-5.6) and AF seeks a bit in failing light. But it rewards with great resolution from 70-200mm and the VR II really does give you at least 2-extra stops to work with.
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May 15, 2010
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trenchmonkey
Offline
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Registered: Oct 21, 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 39878
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Review Date: May 1, 2010
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $400.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Great IQ/range in a compact package, really struts it's stuff on FX
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Cons:
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It's not f4 :O
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Let's cut to it....I love this lens. I'm on my third copy, no...nothing wrong
with the first two. Just sold them for lack of use. Fast forward to an FX
transition last year. Picked up another copy on the cheap and am just
blown away by the IQ it delivers. Great colors/contrast even the bokeh!
If I don't want to hump around the 70-200/300 f2.8 VRs this lil guy will
get the call. Candids, landscapes, flowers, portraits, rodeo, and even BIF
all captured SOOC with stunning clarity. Best bang for the buck, period 
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May 1, 2010
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---XR---
Offline
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Registered: Oct 30, 2008
Location: United States
Posts: 1470
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Review Date: Mar 18, 2010
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $450.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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size/weight, VR, Value
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Cons:
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not a pro build (but for the price it's just fine).
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This lens is by my account, probably the best value nikon offers. For travel i loved this lens, if i didn't need the aperture of the other lenses i'd use it more. what you get is a suprisingly sharp zoom with a VR system and a whole lot of ease of use for a very resonable sum, i've owned a few 70-300's of different makes and this is just stellar (the best), I've also owned/used nikons offerings in the 70-200 VR1 and 80-200 AFS/D models. while not as sharp i like this better. the extra 100mm+weight difference and price with good IQ was a no brainer for me. I always shot this in manual focus so i can't talk about the AF, i'll assume from my other AF-S lenses it's great. as you can imaging it doesn't have the pro feel or build, but you get what you pay for and i was fine with this.
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Mar 18, 2010
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Reviews
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Views
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Date of last review
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44
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132395
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May 30, 2014
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Recommended By
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Average Price
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95% of reviewers
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$500.60
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Build Quality Rating
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Price Rating
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Overall Rating
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8.28
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8.98
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8.9
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