Optics are pin sharp even at f2.8: as good as the Nikon 300mm f2.8 AF-S in my opinion.
Lens is lightweight given its aperture and focal length range.
Build quality is awesome: as good as the 70-200mm VR version and far better than Sigma's equivalent.
Focus speed is very good with cheap camera bodies and doubtless amazing with professional bodies.
Focus limiter is very useful.
At current prices of £300 to £450 secondhand in mint condition it's a real bargain.
Internal focussing, like all lenses of this type, is far faster and less obtrusive than non-internal focussing.

The lack of tripod collar is a bad design flaw. With a tripod collar this would make an exceptional lens for telephoto landscape shots and ambient light portraiture. Buy the more recent version with the tripod collar and you're fine though.
There is no VR which is very useful at night and indoors.
The switch from AF to manual is very clunky.
Nikon's AF-S only teleconverters are not compatible. They're very expensive though anyway.

I owned the one-touch version of this lens where the large collar is moved forward and back to zoom in and out and turned to focus. I bought it second hand from Jessops' Used Equipment department for £470 (UK pounds sterling.) There are two versions of this particular format: mine was the most recent of the two. The "2 touch" model is more recent still.

Build quality is excellent, and it survived a 1 metre drop onto concrete with no damage. The focusing was fast and positive, although quite loud, on an F80 and D70. Although this is a fairly large and heavy lens it is not prohibitively so and it felt well-balanced in the hand even with these two non-professional camera bodies. It's weight would be much better balanced with the F100, F5, F6, or any of the D1 or D2 series I'm sure. The two extra stops (f2.8 over the f5.6 of consumer telephoto zoom lenses) is even more useful than I expected, and results at f2.8 are pin sharp although depth of field is, obviously, wafer-thin. Results at f8 and above were simply incredible: the prints from slide film blow up to 13 inches by 19 inches and look absolutely impeccable. I'm sure they'd blow up much further but that's the limit of my printer.

On a sturdy tripod or at a very fast shutter speed handheld (1/500s or so) the lens really brings out every single pixel on the D70 and every nuance of good film stock on the F80. Wide open at f2.8 you can get an exceptioonal out of focus background especially if the subject is close to the camera.

The hood is sturdy, locks on firmly, detaches easily when you want to remove it, and is long enough to keep out the rain and the sun. The shaped hood of the 70-200 VR version would be better though: there's no reason why a hood should be round, it should be as large as possible without encroaching on the images.

I only sold this lens to buy the 70-200mm f2.8 VR version and although the focussing and VR capability are better than in my old 80-200 lens, the 80-200 served me excellently for 2 1/2 years.

My only gripe is that a tripod collar is not present on my version fo the 80-200, and there is nowhere on the lens where one could be retro-fitted. This is a problem as no tripod I've ever used (although I admit I used a lightweight Benbo Trekker) can hold the lens still when the body is mounted to the tripod, and having the lens 'hanging off' in this way strains the lens mount too (not that any real damage was ever done.)

Other than that: a stellar lens. Buy the latest version: the "2 touch" with the tripod collar and you'll not go wrong.

Customer Service

I have used Nikon Service in Kingston, London for other products, not this lens which performed faultlessly. They seem generally good though their turnaround times are slow. Once you've had 7 working days for a quote and 10 for the actual work you've lost your kit for nearly a month!

Similar Products Used:

Nikon 70-300mm f4-f5.6 G (nasty); Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 G-VR (very nice); Nikon 300mm f2.8 AF-S (amazing but expensive); TC-20E I and TC14E II telkeconverters; Nikon F80; Nikon D70.

Amazingly sharp wide open Awesome optics Bright Clear Fast

Big and heavy, but then it's a professional quality lens. If you want lighter, get another lens. If you want top quality optics, it won't disappoint you.

This is a fantastic lens! Talk about a dream come true, this lens is it. I'd wanted one of these for years, and when I got mine, I was not disappointed. It is bright, clear, and fast. I've shot this lens wide open (f2.8) quite a bit, and I'm amazed at how clear the images are. Having such a shallow DOF wide open is really nice to help highlight your subject. It is now my most used lens.

Customer Service

Not needed

Similar Products Used:

Sigma 70-300mm Sigma 28-70mm Pentax 80-200mm

Good build quality. Extremely fast autofocus. Silent autofocus. Smooth operation of controls. Image quality excellent at f5.6 Image quality good at f4 Image quality above average at f2.8

Sharpness reduced at f2.8 Contrast reduced at f2.8 Serious light falloff at f2.8 Terrible tripod collar >collar is vibration prone >collar is not smooth when changing from horiz to vert

This is one of Nikon's better-built lenses in the last 10 years. It's heavy, focuses quickly, and offers a large 2.8 aperture. Images are generally sharp throughout the range, but contrast and sharpness do suffer at 200mm at the 2.8 setting. There is serious light falloff toward the corners at 2.8 that isn't gone until the lens is stopped down to f8 even on a reduced-frame DX digital body. Stopping down one stop to f4 is a big improvement in sharpness and contrast, though. Flare and ghosting is evident in major doses with this lens. So, shoot with the hood, and not directly into a light source. Its performance is extremely close to the 70-200 VR G 2.8, which also loses a bit of contrast and sharpness wideopen. The VR version beats it, however, when it comes to light falloff in the corners. The two lenses have similar performance. However, this version lacks the VR which may or may not be important, depending upon your subject. I have found no advantage of one lens over the other, except for the VR function. The lens is compatible with TC-14/17/20e teleconverters models I and II. Be advised that the lens must be stopped down or the results are less than steller. At 200mm with the TC-14e, the user must use a max aperture setting of f4 (resulting in a 5.6 actual aperture) or images lose sharpness and contrast. Stopping down is even more of a necessity with the tc-17/20e teleconverters. This lens cannot match the 300mm f4 AF-S sharpness/contrast when used with a teleconverter. So, don't think you will be able to replace your 300mm. The tripod collar on the 80-200mm is garbage. It is too flexible for use in the 1/2-1/60 range. For use on a monopod while shooting sports, the tripod collar catches when switching from horizontal to vertical shots. This makes it a pain to move the camera smoothly in an action situation. Therefore, figure in the cost of a replacement collar from a third-party vender for smoother, vibration free operation.

Customer Service

Nikon customer service.... >wait on hold for an hour >wait a few weeks for a response >open your mail and hope that your lens is fixed

Similar Products Used:

70-200 VR G 2.8

durable, great clarity, wonderful in low light

heavy

I am in love with this lens. I am addicted. It's my favorite lens in the whole wide world. Amazing for wildlife and nature photography. See some samples here: http://www.pbase.com/ccraft/nikkor_80200mm_af_f28d_edif_

Similar Products Used:

Sigma 70-300mm, Tamron 200-400mm

Sharp pictures even when handholding. great colors. Fast autofocus.

HEAVY. Needs a tripod though.

WOW. This lens ROCKS. I sold my 75-300 ED Nikon lens so I can buy this bazooka. Literally, it`s quite heavy and I really need to use the tripod and heavy, in the sense that it produces sharp pictures and great colors. Oh, I`m happy I did not shift to the contax G2 system, because I`m really tempted to change because of the Carl Zeiss lenses and weight. But because of the unfortunate demise of my sister`s contax TVS III after a year of use, I changed my mind and stick to my first love, NIKON. It has given me years of satisfaction and reliability while others are trying hard to emulate by charging so much in the guise of craftmanship.

Customer Service

hope not

Similar Products Used:

NIKON 75-300 ED AF. Canon 75-300 IS

Fast Focus, Sharp

Heavy

I love this lens. It focuses FAST! It is sharp great to work with. It is a little enwielding, but learn to handle it after a while. I would becommend this lens to anyone who shoots sports. As mentioned in other reviews, take off(but keep) the tripod collar.

Similar Products Used:

80-200 AF-D, 180 ED-I AF, 70-200 AF- VR....

bargain, excellent perfoamance, well build, convenent......

heavy, not as fast as the AFS

this is one of the best lens I have. In fact I sell the first one as it's too heavy and the AF is not fast enough. after that I used Nikkor AF 85mm f1.8 + Nikkor AF 180mm f2.8 instead. Even though these two lens give me excellent performance, I still couldn't resist owning a Nikkor AF80-200mm f2.8 again. then I buy a new version again and find that it's much faster than the old version and the sharpness and color is as good as the pervious one.

Optics, built, optics, built, sharpness, fast autofocus, very quiet, little focus jolt & feedback.

Heavy and off balance feel when attached to smaller F-100. Large tripod collar is in the way when not shooting with tripod - for Pete's sake; TAKE THAT THING OFF (collar) AND KEEP IT IN YOUR BAG!!!

This is the second time around that I have purchased this lens and for what reason? Well, I have been using the 80-200 AF-D Prior to ths and th AF- is just simply faster - smoother and quieter, there is less lag and focussing jolt thus the images are sharper. For my photo-journalsitic wedding weddings this is a bread & butter lens and I won't even start to compare its charectaristics and proprites to a prime lens as the latter would never suffice unless it is a AF 85/1.4 or 14mm/16mm prime. So there you have it...however, could this be the end of my reviwe woithout any critique, afterall, of course not ! This lens is heavy and is not as well balanced on my F100 as the AF-D. It actually feels twice as heavy and way off balance compared to the prior 80-200 AF-D...but considering performance and optics, its worth the sacrifice. Still, this is the prime lens which should be permanently attached to one of your Nikon bodies!

Customer Service

none needed

Similar Products Used:

80-200 /2.8 Nikkor AF-D

Sharpness fast

one word ! =========================== WOW !! bigger then I expected i was hoping for something a little smaller then my 80-400 Nikon VR..... but after seeing the quality of prints.... who cares ! The lens rocks !

Similar Products Used:

nikon 50mm 1.8 nikon 80-400 vr Tokina 28-70 2.6-2.8

- Sharpness

- quite heavy

A great lens. Never had a lens with such a sharpness!! I use this lens for aircraft in action (kodachrome 64)Although the lens is quite heavy, with a good body, like F90-F100, it is a good combination. I recommend not to use it with for example the F50 or 60 since you will get the feeling that your body will break into pieces

Similar Products Used:

Before this lens I used nikon 70-210. Also a good lens but sharpness is better on the 2,8