Nikkor 200mm ish comparison shoot

[Mr.Bittacy]

Since it is recommended to not be out and about as much I took out my Nikkor 200mm ish lenses to do a quick comparison, maybe it will be interesting to someone. You can see the high resolution shots at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mrbittacy/albums/72157713498337501. All were shot in RAW on a tripod with a 2 second timer and processed in Lightroom, auto correction was applied and then exported to JPG. Its not supposed to be scientific, a lot of the differences in these lenses can only be seen when you take them out and shoot with them for a day so this type of comparison is not what I would use to decide on a lens but is fun non the less.

Here are the lenses being shot, The 200/2 AI, 200/4 QC Auto 180/2.8 ED AIS and 200/4 AI.



First, here are the samples from the 200/2 AI. It is a large heavy lens and kind of a pain to carry around however the speed can be invaluable in low light and the isolation is incredible. IQ seems to lack wide open a little when compared to other super telephoto lenses (Nikkor 500/4 P and Nikkor 300/2.8 AIS) but not having to stand 100yards away from the subject is very valuable. This lens is what I would consider a keeper lens, it has intangible qualities that out weigh its downsides (Price, weight and size).



At f2


At f2.8



At f4



At f8



Next is the 180/2.8 AIS ED. Another to me keeper lens. Extremely good IQ wide open, relatively fast and small enough to carry around with other lenses. This is the lens that I use the most out of the four and is almost always with me. Not much to say about it, good all around lens and great for astrophotography.



At 2.8



At f4



At f8




Next is the 200/4 Auto QC. It has surprisingly good IQ when compared to the other lenses and can still take some good shots. Its main advantage is how cheap it is.



At f4



At f8



Finally is the 200/4 AI. It is really small and light compared to the other lenses. However the build quality leaves a little to be desired and this added to the fact that it is much more expensive than the Auto version and the f4 max speed is not very versatile it would be the first I would get rid of.



At f4



At f8

*edited- something went wrong in the process for the f8 shot, it was defiantly f4 so I removed it.

So although these pictures don't show even a small amount of the differences in these lenses, I think it is still possible to see that the 180/2.8 is the clear winner unless you really want the speed of the 200/2 or always shoot at mid day or high iso the 200/4 Auto. Just my two cents.

[Oldhand]

Thank you for taking the trouble to post these.
It is quite informative.
The not so surprising thing for me is how good all of them look .... they are all Nikkors after all.
Your least favoured of the group is actually one my more favoured lenses for its sharpness and weight.
You are right about the 180mm being quite special of course.
Tom

[Mr.Bittacy]

I guess I should have prefaced the 200/4 AI comment, it is a great lens like you said, they all are, it is just hard to find a time when I use it compared to the others.

Andrew

[Blazer0ne]

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[Sciolist]

[Mr.Bittacy]

[KEO]

I think the 180 is hard to beat. The size and weight don't bother me.

Nice seeing the old QC Auto do so well.

[gaeger]

A nice comparison. I only own a 180mm and a 200mm Ai, so can't comment about the others. But my two lenses are excellent. I lusted after a 180mm when I was in J-school in the 1970s. I got to shoot one once back then and the photo wound up in our university's course catalog! I finally got one of my own about 10 years ago. Love that lens, though it's definitely heavier than the 200mm. Can you tell which shot which?

[Oldhand]

If I could beg Mr.Bittacy's indulgence - here are some shots with the AI 4/200.
All shot on full frame - D700
Tom


#1


#2


#3


#4

[caspert79]

That last picture is an absolute piece of art!

My Nikkor 200/4 ai is ordered and on its way. I'm curious how it compares to my SMC Pentax 200/4 (k series), that is very highly rated by the Pentaxians.

[Mr.Bittacy]

I agree, great shots with the 200/4! The thing that is easy to forget is even with a relatively slow 200 like the f4 you can still get amazing separation due to Its focal length, you don’t need the ultra fast f2 to get amazing shots like yours.

[cooltouch]

I agree the 200/4 is a very capable lens, and is a real treat considering its size. But like Mr. Bittacy wrote, the 180 ED is a very hard lens to beat. I regard it as one of the best Nikkors ever. Wouldn't mind owning one of those 200/2's though

[stevemark]