Nikon AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/4G ED VR review: An enlightened 70-200mm lens choice

By David Newton - Monday, January 07, 2013

Lens Review
Introduction | Measurement | Comparisons | Conclusion

The Nikon AF-S 70-200mm f/4G ED VR shows itself to be a remarkably good performer. If you are a Nikon user and are in the market for a 70-200mm focal range lens, it makes a great case for serious consideration with high scores in all lens test metrics and a price that is much lower than expected for the performance on offer. It does seem hard to suggest a lens costing over $1000USD can show value for money, but in the case of this lens, it really does. In the battle of 70-200mm lenses, it is only out-scored by the Canon EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM that is almost double the price.

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/4G ED VR

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Comments
Added by Nikonian |  March 05

Comparison with Nikon 70-200 f/2.8G VR II

Hello,

Do you have any news on the Nikon 70-200 f/2.8G VR II dxo mark test?


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Added by HNEPLEX |  January 11

Fair resource on gear in the Internet

@bargello:

Check this out. Consistent and reliable measurements:

http://www.slrgear.com/reviews/index.php

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Added by shieldwulf |  January 08

Quite useless without comparison with Nikon 70-200 f/2.8G VR II

It's quite useless without comparison with Nikon 70-200 f/2.8G VR II which, surprisingly, has yet to be reviewed/rated by DxO. What's with the long wait, or worse, DxO do not intend to rate it at all? The Nikon 70-200 f/2.8G VR II is one of the most important lens used by professionals and others, so why no rating? Very, very strange.

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First replies for this comment
Added by Nicolas |  January 08

Re: Quite useless without comparison with Nikon 70-200 f/2.8G VR II

Good remark, we knew that the 70-200 VR II was missing but we did not want to postponed the publication of the 70-200 f/4.
The 70-200mm VR II is already planed and is currently measured in our labs, measurement should be able in few weeks.

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Added by ageha |  February 10

Re: Quite useless without comparison with Nikon 70-200 f/2.8G VR II

Quote:

Good remark, we knew that the 70-200 VR II was missing but we did not want to postponed the publication of the 70-200 f/4.
The 70-200mm VR II is already planed and is currently measured in our labs, measurement should be able in few weeks.


Any update on that?

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Added by Emilie_DxOMark |  February 11

Re: Quite useless without comparison with Nikon 70-200 f/2.8G VR II

Hello!

Any update yet you mean?

Best regards,

Emilie

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Added by fayard |  January 08

Sharpness as a function of camera

If you look at the sharpness of this lens for various cameras, you get:

D600: 18P-Mpix
D3X: 19P-Mpix
D800: 20P-MPix
D800E: 30P-MPix

I think that these results prove that there is something seriously wrong with the way you define sharpness. There is no way that D600/D3X and D800 are so close and D800E is so above.

For the D800/D800E comparison, I know that you compare the sharpness of the image without any sharpness applied to the picture. It is obvious that a camera with anti-aliasing filter needs (and can handle) more sharpening than a camera without one. Therefore, the comparison is not fair.

I stil don't understand why the D600 and D800 results are so close. It just does not match what you get when you compare a crop of a D800 and a crop of a D600 picture upscaled to 36MP.

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First replies for this comment
Added by Nicolas |  January 08

Re: Sharpness as a function of camera

Hello!

Scores for these camera are not validated and should not have been published on our website. We should be able to publish these cameras very soon, stay tuned.

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Added by ag08025 |  November 09, 2012

It will be great

.....simply because it is Nikon

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First replies for this comment
Added by bargello |  November 09, 2012

Re: It will be great

Is there any fair resource on gear in the internet? This website isn't.

Reply
Added by q-co-foto |  November 07, 2012

Nikon 1,2,3 stop !!!

Hi I have the 70-200 2.8 VRII course! assumptions and four steps is unmatched by other nikon lens, but does magic on their four steps must add good arm and photographic technique. is that I read the comments in various forums and it seems we buy a wand, if the same thing again, is not better photographer with better equipment, remember that the picture comes in our head and then goes to the sensor.

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Added by fishnose |  November 06, 2012

70-200 f/4 - incorrect detail

"Like its big brother, the 70-200mm f/4 is equipped with the latest generation of optical image stabilization for which Nikon announces a huge gain of 5 stops."

No, the f/4 does not have the same VR as the f/2.8. It has 'VR III' which Nikon claims gives 5 stops. The f/2.8 has VR II, claimed to give 4 stops (in other words, previous generation)

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Further readings for the Nikon AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/4G ED VR review: An enlightened 70-200mm lens choice

To provide photographers with a broader perspective about mobiles, lenses and cameras, here are links to articles, reviews, and analyses of photographic equipment produced by DxOMark, renown websites, magazines or blogs.

Tests and reviews for Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/4G ED VR