f/2.8 70-200mm Camera Lenses for Nikon

Choosing the Right 70-200mm F/2.8 Lens

A fast 70-200 millimeter zoom can be a real workhorse lens for professional and amateur photographers alike. When you are likely to use a lens so much, it makes sense to find exactly the right one for your needs. Even with the same length and aperture, there are still some important differences between models.

Why Use a 70-200mm F/2.8 Lens?

• Zoom lenses are convenient and versatile. Being able to zoom in on your subject without moving your feet makes it easy to cut distracting elements out of your frame, and quickly adjust to fast-moving action. It is also easier to carry around a single zoom than a set of prime lenses.
• A zoom lens with a wide range of focal lengths is a very versatile photographic tool. At the shorter end, one of these lenses is an ideal length for portraits because you can zoom all the way in. On the other hand, and you have enough reach for sports or wildlife photography.
• While prime lenses can be even faster because an maximum aperture of F/2.8 is very fast for a zoom. A big aperture takes in more light, making it easier to take pictures in dim lighting. It also provides a short depth of field, especially at the long end of the lens, allowing you to have a very sharp subject set against a blurred-out background.
• A lot of less advanced zooms have a variable aperture that gets smaller as you zoom in, but not these ones. A constant aperture lens lets you enjoy all the benefits of that large aperture even when you are using the lens' maximum focal length.

How Can I Choose Between Lenses?

• Make sure that the lens is designed to fit the right mount. This is quite easy with Nikon cameras as they have used the F-mount for decades and a lot of third-party manufacturers make lenses for it.
• Different lenses will be capable of autofocusing at different speeds. How much this matters to you may depend on the type of photography that you do, but it makes it easier to get sharp pictures of fast-moving subjects. Some lenses may also have noisier autofocus systems than others.
• Image stabilization is a common feature in lenses this long. It helps to reduce any blur in the image caused by your hands shaking, something that is especially noticeable at long focal lengths. Stabilization is often measured in stops, which is the number of stops by which you can slow down shutter speed compared to a non-stabilized lens without making the picture blurrier. Some stabilization systems can also allow for camera panning, while others will interpret it as camera shake and try to fight it.
• Different lenses will render images slightly differently in terms of color, center and edge sharpness, and contrast. Choosing a lens based on its character is quite subjective, so it often helps to look at pictures shot using those lenses to make a decision.

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