70-210mm or the 55-200mm?

[turtlez86]

70-210mm or the 55-200mm?
I still remember a few weeks ago when I was a noob at lens, I got a 70-210mm from a fellow CSer, then I realised that a 55-200mm with VR is just about the same price (slightly higher) compared to the lens I've got as well!!

Now feel a bit cheated... for getting such an old lens.
But now I saw that a fellow CSer is actually looking for this 70-210mm lens for him/her old friend. So just want to ask if I am making the right decision in giving up this lens to him/her? I still dunno why someone is actually looking for this lens....

So what I meant is... is this "old" lens (70-210mm) good better in some "hidden" ways or something? (eg: fast optics or clarity or what not..) The 10mm more zoom doesn't makes much difference to me, my main concern is that it still don't have VR, which I thought is very important.

Give me some opinions!!
Thanks thanks

 

[ksong]

I heard from the technician that that 70-210mm is a very good lens. Not sure how good is it, but I was told to take very good care of it. Belongs to my friend btw. I used it only once.

 

[turtlez86]

ya, I also don't know how "good" is good... from all the stuff I read, the only thing I realised is that kenrockwell wrote that the 70-210mm is "fast" and the 55-200mm is "slow. But dunno if it's both written near the same period of time or not so cannot really compare....

 

[lamergod]

Sorry to OT.Is the 70-210 af speed faster than the 55-200 vr? I am thinking of switching over to the 70-210 if it's faster

 

[rabbitbug]

There are two versions of 70-210mm, one is fixed aperture f/4 AF, the other is f/4-f/5.6 AF-D. I assume the lens you have now is the f/4 version. I have this lens also because the following reasons
1) weight: it's lighter than the 80-200 AF-D or AF-S, or even the tank 70-200 AFS, which is suitable for travel purpose;
2) quite decent bokeh: because of the F/4 aperture;
3) Full-frame ready
But the disadvantage is obvious: no VR!!!!!! It's really hard to get clear photo even at f/4 under cloudy by handheld, which forced me to bring the tripod all along.......

For 55-200VR, it's light, and it has VR, but it's specifically designed for DX DSLR body.

Both lens can produce decent photos. I suggest you to keep the lens and try to shoot with it for a while to find its pros and cons, and then make your decision to keep it or switch to a 55-200VR lens.

that's my 2 cents.

 

[narofx]

turtlez86, if you have the constant f/4 lens, fret not!!

I recently got myself a used AF 70-210 f/4 lens and used it yesterday and I quite like it!!!

Reasons being:
- its light for a tele-zoom lens
- no vignetting wide open at f/4
- decent bokeh

though at abt 150mm and above on my DX format D90, handshake is quite bad. But what i lack in skill, high ISO and f/4 helped a bit.

 

[zac08]

Personally... I have a copy of the 70-210mm f4-5.6 and it's a favourite when the light condition is good.

The zoom is almost un-noticeable. Until you pull it out to the max. :bsmilie:

As for image quality, I've shot plenty of street portraits and it's quite a performer. It's solid and not plasticky like the newer lenses.

 

[mervin2610]

just wanna check with u guys out there with tthis piece of lens, AF 70-210mm F4 Series E,
isit a good lens for night shoot? since it is consider a 'fast' lens in terms of it aperture size.

 

[zac08]

just wanna check with u guys out there with tthis piece of lens, AF 70-210mm F4 Series E,
isit a good lens for night shoot? since it is consider a 'fast' lens in terms of it aperture size.

Series E? This is a lower end version.

As for aperture, it's more of a slower lens and would not be a good idea for night shooting.