Nikon at MacWorld

© 2006 PhotoSensei and Paul McGavin. All rights reserved.

Both Nikon and Canon were prominent exhibitors at MacWorld. I took this photo of Nikon's 400mm f/2.8 lens with my 105mm f/2 DC lens with ambient light (no flash)

Nikon brought every lens in its line, so I was able to test the coveted $3,500 200mm f/2 VR and $4,000 300mm f/2.8 VR lenses. I had already put the $5,000 200-400mm VR lens through its paces in October at Keeble & Shucat in Palo Alto. Here are my conclusions.

1. Nikon's 105mm f/2 DC ($750 used) is the best value in the line (equals the 200mm f/2 VR).
2. Nikon's 300mm f/2.8 VR is probably the best lens in the line, but the 300mm f/4 ($600 used) is just one stop slower, 1/2 the weight and optically identical, when there is enough light.
3. The Tamron SP AF teleconverters (1.4x and 2x) work great with all of these lenses.
4. I will wait until Nikon updates to its 400mm f/2.8 lens, before buying my one exotic Nikon lens. Nikon should add VR and nano-crystal coating (to match its 300mm little brother) and shave a bit more weight off this behemoth.

View the rest of the gallery here.