Nikon Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D ED-IF Lens

This lens is ultra sharp and extremely fast. I am a professional portrait photographer and for use on film cameras, this lens works great for a wide variety of uses, but at 80 mm there are constraints there. Biggest plus on this lens is that it holds its value very well. I bought my 80-200 used on Ebay several years ago and I can still sell it for exactly what I paid for it. With things heading quickly toward digital this lens is the equivalent of a 120 to 300 mm lens however so its usefulness is greatly diminished for the digital portrait photographer.

This is a great lens and very fast. It is great for portraits and landscape. I take it every where. Best to use with on tripod.

This is an awesome lens in quality and sharpness.

My complaint with this one is that it can't focus any closer than around 6 feet , which is a proble when used in studio. It is not that fast either.

Spent the $ and get the AF-S version or the VR Version. That's what I'm gonna do.

Great lens. Smaller than the 70-200mm VR version but every bit as capable. Sharp and fast. Highly recommended.

Most of the reviews I read rate this lens very high so no need to take you down memory lane, but instead let me tell you the other lenses I considered, and why this one was the winner over:
70-200VR, Fast and with VR, I could not see spending the extra money to buy a fast lens that can shoot slow too. I wanted a fast lens for just that reason, and I already had the 18-200VR for that type of slow telephoto shot.
80-400VR, A big power lens, but too slow. My thought, was buy a fast lens @ 200mm and have the 1.7 teleconverter, which would take me to 360mm and I would still have a fairly fast lens throughout the whole range. Faster than the 80-400VR, and almost as powerful.
And finally, the 80-200 (AF-D), it was a fast lens that focused slow (sounded counterintuitive). But, mainly I bought the AF-S becasue it works with the 1.7 teleconverter, where the AF-D will not.
Hope this helps…

I've tested the Sigma 70-200mm HSM Macro II at a local store and liked it a lot. It focused fast and close up, and had a solid feel to it. However I decided on the Nikon because it was much more rugged ("built like a tank"), could also focus close up, and felt it was a better value since they both cost nearly the same. I'm sure you're well aware that Nikon lenses hold their value over time as well.


I've owned the nikon 70-300mm VR once before and it was perfect for a compact telephoto travel lens. However it's no where near the 80-200mm in terms of build quality. The VR feature was really nice to have, but it did not help me when I was photographing anything that moved, like my two-year old son. And the small aperture (4.5-5.6) was its biggest hinderance.


I've used this lens for one wedding reception and it was my primary lens. I'd say 65% of the shots I took were with this lens, 25% with the Sigma 30mm 1.4, and 10% with my Sigma 10-20mm. The long focal distance was perfect for capturing candid moments without being a distraction to the guests. It allowed me to be a "fly on the wall" so to speak. When there is lots of space to work with, this lens shines. And the bokeh is nice and smooth. You can check out the photo gallery here: http://elijahdesign.com/dannajim/


It is my favorite lens and I feel it could last me for the next 20 years or more. However I do wish it had VR, AFS and most importantly... f/1.4. There is big difference between 2.8 and 1.4. Obviously the addition of any or all of those features would double its price. I've asked the same questions you're asking to other photographers, and they've all seem to say to get the the Nikon 70-200mm VR if you can afford it. If you're on a budget, then the 80-200mm is the best option. I'd say that its biggest fault is that its AF is not silent and a step slow from AFS. But the focus ring is smooth and large, and it excels in manual focusing.

This lens is amazing. Very fast auto focus, aperture and super sharp. No VR but for those of us on a budget a monopod works great and you get everything at less than half the price. I highly recommend this lens to any serious photographers out there. It works great on my d80 and d70s.

I love this lens for detail shots and portraits when shooting weddings. If you are shooting portraits or weddings get this lens and never look back. Your control over depth of field and proportion will be well worth the investment.

Overall great lens if you don't want to pay for VR, don't waste your time with off brand glass for almost the same price as this lens. It is built like a tank which means it is heavy and will last forever.

First of all, I love this lens. It produces incredibles clear and sharp pictures. The lens is very fast to focus and very accurate. I like the two rings feature and the switch bottom to change from auto focus to manual focus.
I highly recommend this lens!

Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8D ED AF Zoom Nikkor Lens is a very good quality lens. It's fast (fixed f/2.8), solid (built like a tank), produce great quality image, and priced very reasonably for a professional grade telephoto lens.

Having said that, there are some additional features that would be nice to have for this lens such as image stabilization, more silent autofocus (AF-S), and shorter minimum focus distance but those features will make this lens a lot more expensive (as those feature is included in the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 AF-S VR lens). If budget is not an issue, then I would recommend the 70-200mm f/2.8 AF-S VR (the Vibration Reduction technology and faster and more silent focus are very useful) or the 80-200mm f/2.8 AF-S (which has faster and more silent focus). If large aperture (fast lens)is not your main requirement, then you can get the 70-300mm VR (at a lower price)

There are several version of 80-200mm f/2.8 lens, and the latest one (non AF-S model and that Nikon still produce as of 2009) is the two ring model. The one ring push pull model is also good quality lens (solidly built and produce great image quality) but autofocus is much slower. If budget is an issue, the older push pull model would still be a good choice too.

FYI: This lens will not autofocus with Nikon D40, D40x, D60 or D5000.

Pros
1. Great quality lens (very sharp pictures. 3 of the glasses made/coated with ED technology)
2. Very fast (fixed f/2.8 throughout the zoom range)
3. Very reasonably priced (compared to 70-200mm f/2.8 AF-S VR and 80-200mm f/2.8 AF-S)
4. Built to last. Very solid
5. Great for sport, action, wedding and low-light photography
6. Uses standard 77mm lens filter
7. Bokeh is very nice at f/2.8
8. Autofocus much faster than the older 80-200mm f/2.8 model (the push pull version)
9. The price is very stable (I bought mine several years ago and I could still sell it at the same price today)
10. With non full frame Nikon DSLR, the focal length becomes 120-300mm equivalent (nice reach). you can get Nikon 80-400mm for more reach but that lens is not fixed f/2.8).

Cons
1. Heavy at 2 lbs 14 oz or 1.3kg. (Good arm exercise :), or using tripod or monopod would be nice)
2. Autofocus not as fast and silence as the AF-S model (70-200mm f/2.8 AF-S and 80-200mm f/2.8 AF-S), but the autofocus limiter switch improves autofocus time
3. Tripod collar is too close to the zoom ring (you can remove or adjust the tripod collar though)
4. Thread for the filter can be better (it's made of plastic)
5. Lens hood is sold separately (highly recommended to reduce flare and internal reflection)
6. More expensive than Non-Nikon (sigma, tamron etc) brand alternative (some comparable price but they have faster and silence focus)
7. Lens could jump around a bit during autofocusing if you are not strong enough (due to the glass moving fast as the lens autofocus)
8. No Manual focus override mode on Autofocus mode
9. No Macro mode (can't be use for macro shot). closest focusing distance is quite far
10. No VR (Vibration Reduction), which will help a lot for this type of lens (heavy and telephoto)

In conculsion, if you are looking for a Nikon professional grade telephoto lens that is reasonably prices, you can't really beat this Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8D ED AF Zoom Nikkor lens. This lens is really good choice for sport, action, wedding, low-light, indoor photography.

This is an extremely sharp lens, but not for the tripod user. This lens is for the protrait/action photographer who loves candid results. The best results are acheived with the lens wide open or one click down (f/4). Just remember this handy rule when shooting with a long and heavy lens. Take the length in mm or the maximum focal length of a zoom lens; i.e. with the 80-200 you would use 200 as your guide, and match that to a shutter speed of an equal or higher number: thus 1/250 a second. Happy shooting.
Kenn Hare has been a professional photographer for over 38 years, his black and white fine art photographs and Native American portraits have been sold world-wide.

This is a great lens. It is very fast to focus compared to other Nikon AF lenses and takes very sharp photos and is very well built. However, it is not a small lens and is heavy. I use this lens for sports action shots with great results. The zoom from 80-200mm is very handy, however I wish it would zoom to 300mm. A teleconverter could be used but with a loss in autofocus function and a loss in f-stop.

Unfortunately, it's resale value was surprisingly high as compared to the cost of a new lens. Probably indicating the high demand for this lens. But even so, I am happy with this purchase of this used lens. I am hoping that the motor drive works problem free for a long time. I would recommend this lens to anyone taking photos under low lighting conditions and fast action and if you can't find a good value on eBay then buy a new lens.

This lens is a workhorse amoung sports photographers...I have used it on virtually every sport except poorly lighted gymnasiums, and now that I have a D300 it is useful there as well. On a pro Nikon body (D1,2,3) series it is incredibly fast to focus, almost as fast as the af-s versions. On the D300 and D200 semi-pro bodies it is also usefully fast for sports. On the lesser amateur bodies, whether due to the focus system or the internal motors, it sometimes lags enough to be problematic.

The lens is exceptionall sharp wide open, and a well-aligned lens is so at both 80mm and 200mm. It's only real flaw is that it tends to backfocus when focused close to its minimum focusing distance.

Unlike some zoom lenses, this one works extremely well with telextenders. I use Kenko Pro 300 1.4x and 2.0x teles with it, for sharp 280 f/4 and 400 f/5.6 work. Does it match a dedicated 300 2.8? No, but it comes closer than the Kenkos than you might image. For journeyman sports work, such as covering a football or soccer game, such an arrangement works very well.

When used at the short end, at 80mm f/4-5.6 or so, this lens makes an excellent portrait lens such that it requires a Nikon prime to better.

Once you've used one of these, it tends to spoil you for using a lighter, more consumer-friendly medium telezoom...it is just that much better.

Ask yourself, do i need VR?...if not buy this lens. you will not be disappointed. you have read all the reviews you have done all the research like i have. i own the Nikkor 70-200mm 2.8 VR and now this Gem. Lens works as advertised and if you are disappointed with this lens you are disappointed with yourself. you will not regret this purchase.

Nothing is news about this lens it is one of Nikons beauties , the one I purchased is sharp and was only a few months old ( like new ) seller moved over to Canon's
system .

Shipped item super fast and was very carefully packed! I would feel very comfortable buying from this person again!

This lens is excellent in every way but once you try to autofocus around from between 135 to 200mm at the minimum focus distance you may encounter back focus. But then again that has not really deterred from making beautiful pics with this lens. Very solid and amazing color rendition and bokeh and very sharp to boot at f5.6-f8. God bless you all!

Süpper profosyonaly the 80-200mm lens f/2,8 Excellent a lens everyone recommendation I do,The lens süpper portre photography and artistic studyo photography

Very very sharp and much faster (focusing) than I had anticipated.
Built like a tank and weighs like one too.
Definitely recommend a monopod for this lens.
Overall a must have for Nikon shooters.

The condition of the lens was exactly like the ad stated. It was hard to tell it had ever been used. Clean, like new condition. The price was very reasonable. I would recommend this seller to everyone. Great product, good to work with.

I got a great lens, in good shape, at a great price. There was a language barrier with the seller at first---(my french is lousy), but it was quickly solved and delivered fast! Any significant purchase I make, across a wide spectrum, I will always check ebay first, to see if what I'm looking for might be on the market. I've bought other items on ebay, and in fact, I am tracking some items as I type this review.