Initial thoughts about the Nikkor 70-200mm f/4G ED VR Lens

Out for a Picture Shoot 

I finally got out a bit for some shooting with my new AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/4 ED VR lens. (I'm writing this on 3/29/2015 and notice that the sale on the lens is over - it's back up to $1,399.95 from the $1,199.95 I paid.)

I spent a night at the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in southern Arizona. It's about 3 hours from Phoenix (2-1/2 hours from my home).

I had just visited the park a week or so before I received my new lens and hadn't been particularly happy with the shots I got at that visit, as I mentioned in my 2/26/2015 post. A lot of that was due to the time of day I shot pictures there, but I also felt it was due to my composition.

My Composition Issues

A fellow "Stunning Digital Photography" group member (actually, more than one) suggested using a longer focal length to help isolate a subject. I had shot most, if not all, of my pictures on my previous visit using my 16-35mm wide angle. After thinking about their advice along with the books by David duChemin that I enjoy, I really wanted to return to the park and try the new lens.


One aspect of producing better images, in my opinion, and that I read someone else state and I like their vision, is creating pictures that make viewers stop and look at the image when they're leafing through tons of other pictures online or in any other fashion. With the proliferation of images now, such as on Facebook where almost every post has at least one image, you can see people just zipping past one post after another, stopping on interesting or eye-catching images.

What does it take to get an image that will make someone stop and consider it? That's been my quest (at least a quest for understanding even if the results don't meet the goals). David's books are geared towards just that, trying to MAKE interesting or compelling images, not just TAKING images.

That means paying deliberate attention to what is inside the frame and what isn't, the perspective, lighting, etc. And the aspect I'm working on the most is including/excluding items in the frame. With a wide angle lens it's hard to exclude anything. I think my problem is still NOT getting close enough to the subject. Doing that helps force other items to appear less significant compared to the subject. 

Another way to help isolate a subject is to decrease the lens "Angle of View" (check out this cool page from Nikon to see how focal length relates to the angle of view: http://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/lens/simulator/ ). That implies my new 70-200mm should help me compose better shots.

The End Results

I was not disappointed. I liked how the lens felt and the auto focus (although I do quite a bit of manual focus). I'm not going to say these are the best pictures ever, but I like these. I like the color and the reduced angle of view so it make it easier for your eye (and mine) to see a main subject. 

In the Sonoran Desert it's not easy to shoot a landscape image and NOT get a lot of cactus or other shrubbery in the image, but I think that the image at left really causes you to first focus on the Organ Pipe cactus, then perhaps look around at the other elements such as the ocotillio. And, getting this shot at sunset with the vivid sky and clouds doesn't hurt at all (which was, again, my major complaint about the shots I got in my previous visit). In fact I think there is a lot of color here that makes this image stand out on a page with other images. And yes, this is taken with the new lens.

I'm not great at capturing wildlife. There were quite a few birds around the campground but this is the only one I was able to capture (I missed a quail maybe 20 feet away but the camera was on my tripod and the quail was running fast. No, it wasn't a road runner - I didn't see any road runners this visit). This was at sunset, taken at 18mm, f/13, 1/40sec, ISO 400 (I don't often shoot at that ISO but there was wind so I was trying to get quicker shutter speeds). This was hand held with vibration reduction enabled. I think it's good especially since my hands shake uncontrollably quite a bit (which is why I'm not a surgeon).

I've included some additional shots below, all using the Nikon D610 and Nikkor 70-200mm f/4 lens. I did use my Nikon D3200 and kit 18-55mm lens a bit during the trip too, and have to say I do NOT enjoy the feel of that zoom action compared to the more expensive 16-35mm or 70-200mm zooms. Yes, they both cost over $1,000 each, so there should be some difference. I'd just never noticed it before. The expensive lenses just feel good.

In post production, in either Nikon Capture NX2 or Lightroom, I don't notice aberration but then I haven't much with even my cheap lenses. Between the D610 full frame sensor, using low ISO, and using these good lenses (along with my good but cheap 50mm f/1.8D) I don't think about quality issues. I am able to just think, and try to improve, composition issues.