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Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED VR AF-S
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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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Zeiss 35mm f/2 Distagon T*
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Review Date: May 15, 2010
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Image truly does "pop", wonderful color
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Cons:
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Vignetting wide open, peculiar color fringing, weighty
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One can nitpick its failings and it does have them (color fringing, vignetting) but they haven't amounted to much when compared to the upside (flare-free, wondrous color, micro-contrast, out-resolves my D700's sensor, real 3D "look" I didn't believe until I saw it). I shot direct comparisons to my 24-70/2.8 and 17-35/2.8. The Zeiss just outclassed them both (so much so with regard to the 17-35 that I sold it). Fantastic at f/2, by f/4 I don't think any fast 35 holds a candle to it, even the legendary Nikkor 35/1.4.
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Zeiss 28mm f/2 Distagon T*
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Review Date: May 15, 2010
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Recommend? no |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Typical Zeiss "look"; wonderful color and 3-D
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Cons:
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Field curvature, vignetting, heavy
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I have to be the contrarian voice. Bought the ZF version on a lark when offered a great deal; I already owned the Nikkor 28/2. I was aware of the Zeiss' strong vignetting (f/2-2.8), color fringing (easily correctible PP) and field curvature but after extensive shooting, its central sharpness was just not overwhelming compared to the Nikkor 28/2. The latter is smaller, more gentle on skin tones and while probably not as sharp in the center wide-open when pixel-peeping, it is the match of the Zeiss by f/5.6. It's also considerably less expensive than the Zeiss. The singular advantage of the ZF.2 is of course the chip; Nikon bodies can then utilize 3D matrix metering.
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