Nikon AF Nikkor 70-210mm f/4-5.6D Test Review © 2002 Ken Rockwell.com

Introduction

This is an exceptionally great lens at a very, very low price. It has been recently discontinued in the US. Try getting a used one at Adorama.com.

Don't confuse this AF-D lens with the 70-210 f/4.5-5.6 manual focus lens now resold by Nikon that appears to be made by Cosina. The manual focus lens sells for about $120 and is a completely different lens. Actually, don't confuse this lens with any other lens. There are many, many different lenses in this range. Look at the pictures and pay very close attention to every digit of the lens' name to make sure we are thinking of the same lens.

This AF-D lens is a better performer for me than the more popular and more expensive 70-300/4-5.6D AF. If you are considering a tele-zoom lens and don't need an f/2.8 then go get one of these 70-210s NOW.

It is extremely well made for it's price. It's from the same family as the 35-70/2.8 zoom. It has a great solid metal filter thread, metal jacket over one half of the lens barrel, and assembled with screws, not mushed together plastic.

Specifications

It has twelve elements in nine groups.

This is a very compact lens taking a 62mm filter. Vignetting is no problem with this lens, feel free to stack on a couple of filters, too, at the same time. The threads rotate only during focussing.

It takes the HN-24 screw-in metal hood.

It is a push-pull zoom.

It weighs 21 oz (590g). It is 2.9" (74mm) around by 4.3" (109mm) long at the 70mm setting. It's 6.1" (154mm) long at the 210mm setting.

It has a seven-bladed diaphragm stopping down to f/32 at 70mm and f/45 at 210mm.

It is the closest focussing non-micro zoom recently made by Nikon in this range. It focusses directly down to four feet at all focal lengths, unlike the far more expensive 80-200 AF-S that only makes it to five feet. Only the 15 year old 70-210 f/4 AF (constant aperture) and 70-180 f/4.5-5.6 micro ($800) focus closer.

Performance

This is a very sharp lens under almost all conditions. This is unusually good performance for any zoom lens.

It has only fair bokeh for backgrounds 210mm.

It has a very, very slightly cool color rendition. You can ignore this. I do.

On my F100 it autofocuses 80% as fast as my 80-200 AF-S. This is exceptional.

The only lenses of this focal range at any price that focus as fast are the 80-200/2.8 AF-S and the very newest 80-200/2.8D ED with the tripod collar and separate zoom ring. All other lenses are slower, which means that, yes, the popular 70-300/4-5.6ED and 70-300/4-5.6G and big 75-300/4.5-5.6. Yes, all the other 80-200/2.8 ED lenses are much slower.

One full turn of the AF screw focusses the lens from infinity to just 17.' That's why this lens focusses to fast.

Here are its distortion characteristics.

70mm: almost no barrel
85mm: no distortion
105mm: pincushion
135mm: strong pincushion
210mm: pincushion

It has no ghosts, superior to the 80-200 AF-S

The variable f/4-5.6 aperture is generous: it is still f/4.5 at 135mm. Therefore you really only start losing light at the very longest end of the range.

For you polar bears out there, this lens works great after sitting in my freezer at 0 degrees F. overnight.

Some ask why Photodo, whose results I almost always agree with, doesn't think so much about this lens while I love it. Possibly it's because photodo ONLY tests sharpness with an MTF test. There are many other aspects to lens performance in addition to just sharpness. The performance of the 70-210 is UNIFORM across the field with no fall off in sharpness. An obvious change in sharpness is more visible than a lens which may be less sharp, but uniform, and again this is why a lens can test only so-so but give great images.

Recommendations

If a slow f/5.6 maximum aperture is OK for you, then this is your telephoto zoom. I have played with a great many lenses in this focal range, and this one is clearly superior. I'm unsure how much of this is due to my luck at getting a good sample, or if they all are good. I bought mine brand-new for $240 in 1999. I don't know how well used ones hold up. The cams can wear and this can make used zooms less sharp than when they were new.

Again, don't get suckered into the 70-210mm f/4.5 - 5.6 manual focus lens that Nikon sells today. It's an OK lens, but is a completely different lens than this AF-D lens. If you want a $100 lens then you also may want to try the plasticy made-in-China 80-200 AF-D f/4.5-5.6 sold by Nikon.

I've never played with the non-D AF version. The D feature is meaningless. The non-D, older version is probably a bargain used. From what one reader tells me, the AF speed is slower on the non-D lens since one turn of the AF screw only brings one into 40', not 17' as in the D version. This would make the non-D version as slow as the new 70-300s and the original 70-210 f/4.

This 70-210 AF-D is as sharp as my 80-200 AF-S, better built, focusses almost as fast and focusses closer, and has fewer ghosts. The AF-S lens is handier if you need to go quickly between AF and manual focussing, and of course if you need f/2.8. Also having tested the actual focal lengths, the 70-210 AF-D also goes longer AND shorter than the 80-200, just as the specs suggest.

The 70-210 AF-D lens focusses faster than any of the 80-200 f/2.8 lenses without the factory tripod collar, and faster than any other telephoto zoom lens.

Skip the current popular plastic 70-300/4-5.6 that many people love (the one apparently made by Tamron for Nikon). This 70-210 is better at everything and less expensive, although you lose is a little bit of "reach" at 300mm. I prefer this tradeoff: sharp photos at every setting instead of less sharp images over a slightly broader zoom range. There isn't that much difference between 210mm and the almost 300mm the other lens tries to make. I also prefer the ruggedness and faster autofocussing of the 70-210. If you are only shooting one-hour prints you'll never see any of the sharpness differences I mention, probably ought to get the 70-300 instead if you want it and the AF is fast enough for you..

I use my 80-200/2.8 AF-S lens more often because, with the slow 50 speed Velvia film I use, I need the f/2.8 aperture.

Used on a tripod with an amateur camera like my F100 without mirror lock up I get the following results with the 70-210:

No blur at 1/60 and above or at 1/2 second and below.
The results are blurry at 1/30 through 1/4 second. Adjust your aperture to stay out of this range on a tripod with an F100.

Hand held on my F100 I get OK results at 210mm at 1/80 and faster.

As if you haven't gathered, this is a lens to get if you need small, sharp, close focussing, inexpensive and don't need the f/2.8 aperture.