Hey PL Team! Have you ever encountered frame skipping with the Z 70-200? My new Z8 with Z 70-200 appears to skip frames when taking a photo. So far I’ve isolated it to VR Normal only. VR Sport appears to resolve this isue.
I use BBF and everything appears fine in the EVF and LV until I actually depress the shutter button. The EVF and LV never shows a black screen or turns off – it just “jumps”. I suspect it might be something to do with VR as this is the only lens I can reproduce this for. My other Z lenses (no VR) and F lenses with FTZ ii don’t have this issue in any VR mode. I have no other Z VR lenses to run this test on.
I did find some threads on the internet that may be similar to what I’m seeing but there is no conclusive answer. Search Google for “z8 frame skipping”.
I’ve reached out to Nikon Support and am awaiting their response. I’ve followed you guys for literally forever and as my photography quants – I pose this question on to you!
Thanks in advance!
Gabrielius
July 2, 2024 9:52 am
Sveiki , ar nikon z 70-200mm tinkantis renginiams fotografuoti? Ačiū.
PicTricks
December 4, 2023 10:50 am
Hi Nasim, First, thx for all your help and reviews over the years, real inspiration! Looking for advice or opinions! I’m shooting a Z9 with a Z70-200 2.8S. Is it better in terms of IQ to use this camera n DX mode with a 1.4 teleconverter to get approx. 420mm @ f4 or leave the Z9 in FX mode and get the 100-400 f4.5-5.6????? Thx for any help! Happy Holidays! Chet
Randy B
April 18, 2023 10:21 am
Nikon advertised this lens on sale, with a $300 price break. I came here first, to decide if it is worth the price. I basically made my decision when I read the subtitle, “The Sharpest Zoom Lens We’ve Ever Tested, Period.” Now I have to wait two days for my B&H order to arrive, to find out for sure.
Jay
August 28, 2022 11:19 pm
I have a Z 70-200 2.8 that I just bought and the lens seems to be underexposing at F2.8. Is this normal or is this lens defective? At 2.8 the image is noticeably darker, perhaps by a 1/3 to 1/2 of a stop. Stopping down to F4 seems to clear up the problem, and there is consistency in exposure from F4 to F11.
Its because of vignetting at wide open apertures, image looks under exposed
Richard Rosen
April 13, 2022 2:10 pm
Completed my Z trinity, with the purchase of the Z 70-200 f2.8 VR S, today. Actually I have a quartet with the 14-30, 24-70 f2.8S, 70-200 f2.8 VR S, and the 100-400 f4.5-5.6 VR S.
Jon Middleton
December 25, 2021 2:16 pm
Hi Spencer,
I asked a question regarding the Imatest scores of this lens vs the FL version below. Scanning through these comments I see that it’s the second time I asked. The first time was in November, but maybe you didn’t see it as it was buried down the page. Here is the question copied and pasted from my comment below:
Am I to understand that you tested the FL again for this review? The Imatest numbers for the FL are slightly different between your original review and this one. You also said in your original FL review that the first two samples of the lens had “all kinds of problems”. So, if you did retest the FL, was it a good copy? Thank you very much in advance.
Tyson Hennings
November 20, 2021 10:29 pm
Thank you for the review. I am an amateur with aspirations of taking better photos, dreaming of medium format quality. I am upgrading from a D7200 to a Z9 (when released) and shopping for a zoom lens… knowing I am going to have to pay up to get to that quality level. Your review really inspired confidence in my future purchase of this lens, specifically using a 2x converter, and it will be my next step now. Thank you again.
shoreline view
October 25, 2021 9:50 am
I use the E which I’ve found to be a major improvement over the VR II. It’s more reliable, the VR is much better, it doesn’t seem to struggle in any way with very cold weather, the controls are smoother and nicer, and it is much sharper at the 200mm end while improving slightly on other focal lengths too. It is, in short, the first time with a 70-200/70-210/80-200 type of lens that I’ve just been able to put it on the camera and forget about it and shoot.
But there are still a couple of deficiencies in the E design which are obviously cleared up with the S given this review. There’s some field curvature at the 70mm end; there is some focus breathing, opposite to the VR II in that it gets somewhat more telephoto as you focus closer instead of much wider; and the close-up performance beyond 150mm isn’t great.
What’s interesting is that optically, the front approximately eight elements in both lenses — the entry oculus and the zooming group, basically — are identical in form and spacing. But the back end — the focusing and VR groups — is significantly changed in the S.
You are looking st two lenses with different mounts and sensor distance from lens and are surprised about a difference close to the mount?
Bjorn Vink
October 7, 2021 10:47 am
Dear Spencer, great review, I use this lens since Nov 2020 with a Z7 and full spectrum converted Z6. This lens also excels in astro even wide open and this says a lot about sharpness and contrast. There are virtually no blue or purple halo’s around stars, lacking coma / astigmatism, /LOCA it earns the APO mark. It is (close to) perfectly corrected for multiple abberations. This also shows off in daylight subjects. Next challenge for Nikon is to make a perfect 180 mm f2.8 optic while trying to use less than 10 glass elements.
Hey PL Team! Have you ever encountered frame skipping with the Z 70-200? My new Z8 with Z 70-200 appears to skip frames when taking a photo. So far I’ve isolated it to VR Normal only. VR Sport appears to resolve this isue.
I use BBF and everything appears fine in the EVF and LV until I actually depress the shutter button. The EVF and LV never shows a black screen or turns off – it just “jumps”. I suspect it might be something to do with VR as this is the only lens I can reproduce this for. My other Z lenses (no VR) and F lenses with FTZ ii don’t have this issue in any VR mode. I have no other Z VR lenses to run this test on.
I did find some threads on the internet that may be similar to what I’m seeing but there is no conclusive answer. Search Google for “z8 frame skipping”.
I’ve reached out to Nikon Support and am awaiting their response. I’ve followed you guys for literally forever and as my photography quants – I pose this question on to you!
Thanks in advance!
Sveiki , ar nikon z 70-200mm tinkantis renginiams fotografuoti? Ačiū.
Hi Nasim, First, thx for all your help and reviews over the years, real inspiration!
Looking for advice or opinions! I’m shooting a Z9 with a Z70-200 2.8S. Is it better in terms of IQ to use this camera n DX mode with a 1.4 teleconverter to get approx. 420mm @ f4 or leave the Z9 in FX mode and get the 100-400 f4.5-5.6????? Thx for any help! Happy Holidays! Chet
Nikon advertised this lens on sale, with a $300 price break. I came here first, to decide if it is worth the price. I basically made my decision when I read the subtitle, “The Sharpest Zoom Lens We’ve Ever Tested, Period.” Now I have to wait two days for my B&H order to arrive, to find out for sure.
I have a Z 70-200 2.8 that I just bought and the lens seems to be underexposing at F2.8. Is this normal or is this lens defective? At 2.8 the image is noticeably darker, perhaps by a 1/3 to 1/2 of a stop. Stopping down to F4 seems to clear up the problem, and there is consistency in exposure from F4 to F11.
Its because of vignetting at wide open apertures, image looks under exposed
Completed my Z trinity, with the purchase of the Z 70-200 f2.8 VR S, today. Actually I have a quartet with the 14-30, 24-70 f2.8S, 70-200 f2.8 VR S, and the 100-400 f4.5-5.6 VR S.
Hi Spencer,
I asked a question regarding the Imatest scores of this lens vs the FL version below. Scanning through these comments I see that it’s the second time I asked. The first time was in November, but maybe you didn’t see it as it was buried down the page. Here is the question copied and pasted from my comment below:
Am I to understand that you tested the FL again for this review? The Imatest numbers for the FL are slightly different between your original review and this one. You also said in your original FL review that the first two samples of the lens had “all kinds of problems”. So, if you did retest the FL, was it a good copy? Thank you very much in advance.
Thank you for the review. I am an amateur with aspirations of taking better photos, dreaming of medium format quality. I am upgrading from a D7200 to a Z9 (when released) and shopping for a zoom lens… knowing I am going to have to pay up to get to that quality level. Your review really inspired confidence in my future purchase of this lens, specifically using a 2x converter, and it will be my next step now. Thank you again.
I use the E which I’ve found to be a major improvement over the VR II. It’s more reliable, the VR is much better, it doesn’t seem to struggle in any way with very cold weather, the controls are smoother and nicer, and it is much sharper at the 200mm end while improving slightly on other focal lengths too. It is, in short, the first time with a 70-200/70-210/80-200 type of lens that I’ve just been able to put it on the camera and forget about it and shoot.
But there are still a couple of deficiencies in the E design which are obviously cleared up with the S given this review. There’s some field curvature at the 70mm end; there is some focus breathing, opposite to the VR II in that it gets somewhat more telephoto as you focus closer instead of much wider; and the close-up performance beyond 150mm isn’t great.
What’s interesting is that optically, the front approximately eight elements in both lenses — the entry oculus and the zooming group, basically — are identical in form and spacing. But the back end — the focusing and VR groups — is significantly changed in the S.
You are looking st two lenses with different mounts and sensor distance from lens and are surprised about a difference close to the mount?
Dear Spencer, great review, I use this lens since Nov 2020 with a Z7 and full spectrum converted Z6. This lens also excels in astro even wide open and this says a lot about sharpness and contrast. There are virtually no blue or purple halo’s around stars, lacking coma / astigmatism, /LOCA it earns the APO mark. It is (close to) perfectly corrected for multiple abberations. This also shows off in daylight subjects. Next challenge for Nikon is to make a perfect 180 mm f2.8 optic while trying to use less than 10 glass elements.