70-200AF-SVRII with Kenko 2xTC pro300(with sample shots)

[StanyB]

I received my 70-200 AF-SVRII a couple of days ago. Couldn't go out for trying out because of extreme winterconditions in our region.
Yesterday I went out, still freezing -7°C but not snowing...

As I am particularly interested in the 70-200 AF-SVRII + nikon TCIII 2x TC (which is not available yet), I tried the 70-200 AF-S VRII with my kenko pro300 2x converter. The "old" 70-200 AF-SVR with this converter delivered an relative acceptable center sharpness, but a horrible bokeh, some kind of ennoying grainy look to the picture and it was sometimes hunting badly for focus.

Shooting conditions were terrible, dark grey sky, wind upto 80km/hour and just a couple of hundred meters from the sea, and freezing -7°C...

Some samples and comments with the new combo...
All samples have been taken in NEF-14bit with ADL 'on'(mistake of mine), PP in Capture NX2, ADL to "off" in PP.

Vignetting... The vignetting with this combo @ F2.8(which becomes F5.6) is quite bad, but quite repairable in Capture NX2

A sample picture taken wide open (F2.8<>F5.6) with vignetting control in default camera setting (50 on the NX2 slider)


And the above picture after PP in Capture NX2 with vignetting control slider to 200


More samples..

Stopping down to F7.1 improves vignetting significantly....
Handhold @ 400mm, iso 1250, F7.1, 1/1250sec


and a 100% crop:


Handhold @ 400mm, iso 1250, F7.1, 1/1250sec


and a 100% crop...


And some more birds...

Handhold @ 400mm, iso 360, F5.6, 1/1250sec


A crop100%




A crop100%




A crop100%


Conclusion:

The new 70-200VRII is incredible sharp wide open, which results in acceptable sharpness wide open with the Kenko TC.

The difference between the 70-200 AF-S VR with the kenko pro300 2xTC and the 70-200 AF-S VRII with this TC is very promising in relation to the upcoming nikon TCIII.
AF is now very snappy, even in this cloudy, dark weather, very little hunting now.
VR maintains working amazingly well, I tested also @ very low shutter speeds and the pictures were remarkable sharp @ "400mm" and 1/50 sec.
Significant improvement about center sharpness, corner sharpness and overall IQ.
The new 70-200 with this kenko TC still delivers an ugly bokeh and an ennoying "grainy look" to the pictures, even though much better than with the early 70-200 version.

Can't wait to get my nikon TCIII 2x converter to try out...(29th janaury according to the nikon-europe website...)

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Members of this forum have access to the original NEF files of my users reviews
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[Leen Koper]

i cannot judge the bokeh by these images, but the lens looks very promising, provided you are willing to lug this lens around. (I am not )

[StanyB]

i cannot judge the bokeh by these images, but the lens looks very promising, provided you are willing to lug this lens around. (I am not )

Once you've tasted the native sharpness and overall IQ this lens provides(including the old 70-200 VR) you don't feel the weight anymore.

A sample picture taken with the VRI version on my "soft" S5pro, handhold, straight out of the camera, no PP only resized:



and a crop



And the good news is that the new version is even sharper @ any aperture and already very sharp @ F2.8...

[Leen Koper]

Hmmmm. You won't feel the weight of 1540 grams? No, too heavy for me, although I love the lens.