Which Lens - pro v consumer test (Part 2)

In Which Lens - pro v consumer (Part 1) we looked at the physical differences between my professional Nikon ED AF-S VR Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 lens and my older 70-200mm consumer lens. Now we're going to begin taking the same photos with each lens to compare how the images look.

In part 3 we'll take to the streets and shoot some street photography .

[ldcam]

thanks for the reviews, I'm glad you make videos that. other people don't think is important., but there are. and informative , thanks

[MikeBrowne]

Thank you Abhishek. Depends what you're interested in taking pictures of. For birds and wildlife the 400mm will help you fill the frame - but the bigger zoom range (80-400 is big) the lower the image quality is likely to be. I've only used the 70-200 F.2.8 which is excellent. Never seen the 80-400. I am on Twitter but rarely have time to post unfortunately.

[runnerpsu]

Another very informative video. I want to upgrade my D60. I started looking at the D7100. I visited a local camera shop and tried a 50 mm prime on my D60. A nice improvement. The shop owner put the 50 mm on a D600.

I think I'm going with the D7100 and a 70-200 f4. If my budget were bigger I would go for the D600 and the 70-200 f4.

I appreciate you time!!!!

[MikeBrowne]

Thank you so much for your kind comments. Please help us make more by 'Liking' 'G+ing' and sharing the videos on any photo forums etc you use. You'll be making a huge difference and helping fund new films for the future. Many thanks again - Mike

[MikeBrowne]

Thank you. It's a non D lens and is about 10 years old. Focus is a bit slow but it's OK. Could cause problems when shooting fast moving action where you have to focus and shoot very quickly like children, human reactions, sports but otherwise it's OK..

[MikeBrowne]

Hi and Thank you. I take your point about using the same apertures and it might have been a good idea which i didn't think of at the time. I just went for extreme ends of the scale because that's where lenses struggle most. - Best wishes Mike

[MikeBrowne]

Thank you. I haven't done any stock photography. I'm too lazy to put in the hundreds of hours meta tagging the images - and I enjoy making these vids and teaching workshops too much. :-)

[MikeBrowne]

Hey sally. If you reduce your focal length from 300mm to 100mm you'll be 2/3rd the distance further away and have to crop even more. Lens quality will be better but because you'll have to crop more you'll lose loads of pixels. Wildlife is one of those things where you will need a long lens. If it was me I'd save the money and put it towards a 500mm lens.

[MikeBrowne]

Sorry I missed your post. There are sooo many these days it sometimes happens. Nothing personal. Please re-post and i'll see what i can do.

[MikeBrowne]

Thank you Naresh. I'm sorry i can't advise you on this one. It depends on what focal range you need. If you need a lens that includes a 55mm focal length then go for the 55-300 if you already have 55-70mm covered then go for the 70-300. Hope this helps.. Have a look at our FAQ film /watch?v=uBQkozxzVUQ

[MikeBrowne]

They all make good cameras now - but it's getting harder to know who to trust when you're looking for a good lens on a budget. Thanks for posting

[WizzRacing]

I find buying used but very good lenses the best way to go. I can cover 95% of what a pro lens does and take the savings to buy other needed items.

I even started buying some old film cameras and lenses that would have cost a fortune 15 years ago for pennies and the picture quality these old cameras put out is amazing. I also had to relearn my old darkroom skills since nobody is around to develop them, but to touch that film and paper is like music to an artist.

Great Stuff.

[DblRimShot]

This is the third video I watched of yours. The first time I thought it might have been a fluke, but I keep learning kernels of knowledge each time. And the kernels have each ended up bigger than I anticipated at the onset. I hope you keep doing what you do! I just subscribed.

[ghalibkhan]

thanx mike. you definitely made me realize that for my type of photography, i am fine with a consumer lens.

[Hanzimann]

I would say that the softness to a lens is more important when taking pictures with finer details, not so much with isolated closeups of simple items.

[MikeBrowne]

Hi. Sigma and Tamron make good stuff - but they all vary. I suggest you read some reviews about individual lenses before making a choice. Manufacturers 'name' isn't a guarantee of quality unless your buying expensive professional lenses. ePhotozine is a good place to look for real world consumer reviews. - Mike

[polmacdhomhnaill]

The really really tiny bloke in the frame, he'd be good for macro and much more life like than plastic figures.


The peg test is good idea. I've bought the 24-85G ED VR for my D800E and will give this a go. Thanks

[MikeBrowne]

Sorry I missed your post. It's hard to know what's good these days because manufacturers are buying in their branded lenses instead of making them themselves. I'm not an expert on what's on the market and face the same dilemmas as you guys and girls when buying new kit. I can only suggest looking at forums and review sites to see what people are saying about their lenses.

[mr.rawhite]

Great stuff, your examples and explanations are 1st class. Thanks for all these videos!

[joshjoshpass]

I have just stumbled onto your  website and what a revelation you are, I love the way you explain things in a very informative and interesting way. Cant wait to see the rest of your tutorials.
PS  sorry about the "  XX ",  an error