Nikon 80-200 f/2,8 or 180 f/2,8

[drac_gol]

which is better? i own a d70 and i found a 180 f/2,8 at a very reasonal price. i do weddings, portraits and some concert halls. to me.. the 80-200 seems more flexible..
also i own the 18-70 dx and 50 1,8.

[BernardLanguillier]

I used to have a 180 f2.8 manual focus, and the lens was just amazingly sharp, more so that the various 80-200 I have owned afterwards as far as I recall.

The zoom is a lot more flexible, but it is also heavier.

I would probably still prefer it for general usage though, especially on a digital body where the 180 becomes a really long 270.

Regards,
Bernard

[Das Bosun]

Haven't tried the 180 f/2.8 prime lens, but I have owned a AF 80-200 f/2.8D (a friend still has one).  I recently (nov05) compared a friends 80-200 f/2.8D (later two-touch model) to my prime AF 85mm f/1.8D and AF DC 135mm f/2D lenses. I found that the 80-200mm was a slightly better center resolution performer than both of my short telephoto prime lenses.  The two primes performed slightly better on the edge of the frame (A 1.5x sensor D2x was the testing camera) at wider apertures.

I was suprised by the center performance of the 80-200mm f/2.8D lens.  Either the 80-200mm (later two-touch model) is an awesome zoom lens OR my two prime lenses are not good examples... Based on my testing I can despense with any product pride and suggest that the 80-200mm is just a little bit better.

Das Bosun

[drac_gol]

at f/2.8 the 180 has a better MTF than the 70-200 vr. the 180 rocks wide open
but on d70.... i don`t know... the 180 would win on a full frame body:)