70-200 VR question

[cawdor]

Today I received my new Nikkor 70-200 VR and I love this lens already after having a quick play outside. The focusing is fast and very quiet, I love the detachable tripod mount and the manual focus override is handy. VR also seems to work very well.

My question is how much more battery juice is consumed by the VR compared to non-VR operation? I have the grip for the D200 already but after a whole day of shooting I usually run low on both batteries. So for comparison purposes, say I get 10 hours of operation without VR, how many (approx) would I get with VR on all the time? Half? Less than half?

Cheers.

[Onyx]

Unless you have a habit of constantly holding down the shutter release halfway (and not taking a pic, but just holding it down for shits and giggles), you won't notice too much difference in battery life due to VR - I'd say ~20% hit.

[MCWB]

Tim, it will make a bit of difference but if you're shooting during the day with decent light you can turn VR off, indeed sometimes it's better to do so. I only turn VR on when I'd otherwise need to use a tripod.

[cawdor]

Cheers guys. MCWB, can you elaborate on "it's better to turn VR off"?
I had a chat with a salesguy not too long ago about the Nikkor 105 macro vs Tamron 90 macro, and another guy said "well the Nikkor has VR". After I said that VR would actually not really be beneficial at 1:1 macro work, the salesguy mentioned that it can be argued that VR will actually lead to slightly less sharp images due to how it works (vibrating the glass or something?).

Anyway, I think VR will come in handy when the sun starts to go away towards the end of the day and I still need to take action shots. My new baby will get a workout on the weekend, looking forward to it

[gstark]

Tim,

Basically, what the salesguy said is true.


Think of how active noise reduction headphones work - it's not a dissimilar concept.

VR/IS uses a microprocessor and sensors in the lens to try to assess any physical movement that the lens might be experiencing, and it tries to move one (I believe) of the glass elements to compensate for that movement.

I would think that at the macro end of the food chain, more movement within the optical path is probably not what should be on the menu. Understand that it's purpose is to counter any movement of the lens that it's sensing, and for macro work, the lens will probably be bolted to a tripod or on a macro rail.

That said, we need to remember that it's nothing more than a tool to add to our toolbox. Admittedly, it's a great, and a very useful, tool, but it's that, and nothing more.

[Killakoala]

The Tamron 90 is fantastic value for money anyway, much more so than the Nikon.