Nikon Nikkor 200mm f/2 G VR Sample Photos + Review

It took about 20 years but I finally got one of the lenses that I’ve wanted for so long, the AF-S Nikon 200mm f/2G VR. It’s a heavy relic from the early days of DSLR imaging, announced in May of 2004, long before Nikon had a full frame digital (that wouldn’t come until 2007). I still love my 105mm 1.4E (link here) and the images are somewhat similar, but there’s really enough of a difference for me and what I create.

The day before Thanksgiving last week, I got up, checked my email and saw the Black Friday coupon from KEH. Searched for “200mm f2” and would have been fine with either the Canon or Nikon variety. Saw an Excellent condition Nikon one, added to cart, and the “Pickup at Store” option. I live in metro Atlanta and braving pre holiday traffic is worth it to pick up camera gear. The KEH store is pretty cool if anyone hasn’t been yet. They have lots of film and cameras on display. Anything you see on the website can be pulled from the back and you take it home right away and not have to deal with delivery times.

On the way home from Smyrna and sitting in somewhat thick traffic I thought about this large purchase, and my life 20 years ago.

Back in the day in 2004 I remember my old best friend (since 1st grade!) and I would dreamingly talk about this lens and other camera gear as we drove around the metro area photographing things for fun with our new D70’s (and 50mm’s) with nary a care about whatever everyone was doing on the internet in that era. What would it be like to own an exotic telephoto–which at that time would have cost the same as a used Honda or Nissan ($5000 in 2004 money!). Nope we never dared pull the credit card out for this one, as what little money was saved for movies at the mall, music CD’s, and Asian food or Checker’s hamburgers. He would always get giddy about the potential to shoot a lens like this on film in golden hour or somehow adapted to a movie camera, just to see what the images looked like. Yeah, it was a giddiness that probably only cinema folks, camera nerds, and artists could relate to.

My good friend passed away several years ago, around this time of year, so this lens “review” goes out to him. He never upgraded from his Nikon D70 as he never really got a chance to shoot much due to work and life in general. Always helping out others was his thing, and hardly ever in photos himself.

Photography can be such an irrational and silly passion, but life is short, and the humble photograph of a person is still so meaningful. It might not get as much hypnotizing “engagement” as a youtube video these days, but when was the last time you looked wistfully at the feed on your phone like you would a simple wall photo of a pet, parent, or friend?

I know the world of telephotos doesn’t stop here, as they go upwards in length and cost, and I’m sure you need them on the sidelines of Sanford Stadium in Athens or MB dome down in Atlanta, but for me this 200mm is where I stop. I wanted it back then, not for sports, but for portraits, which is the main thing that got me into photography, and what I’ve been into and never tire of ever. Not mainly portraits that show off technical skill to random strangers on the web, no, portraits of the people in my life and shared journey.

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Here’s what I’ve managed to create in my first week of owning this lens, and my random thoughts.  (The photo layouts show the exact combo and resulting example image.)  Thank you for reading!

The lens came with the big Nikon softcase and hood, but no end cap. You know for something that cost over $2,000 you’d think someone could’ve run back to the parts bin. Even I have about 20 spare Nikon caps lying around. C’mon KEH, you’re better than this. 😉

After grabbing an “official” OEM Nikon rear lens cap from my closet, the lens was ready for its photo shoot.  This fall has been odd but luckily the Japanese maples in the front yard were still nice.

For Thanksgiving I still stuck with the good old D600 as the first trial run.  Again, this original D600 of mine has almost a half million clicks and a broken aperture lever, so it can only shoot lenses at maximum aperture.  No problem since the 200mm f/2 is really crazy sharp wide open and meant to be shot this way.  It’s good enough for the sidelines of NFL and NBA games and on the space station too if I recall.

This D600 isn’t the best at focusing either, as you can see some backfocusing.

These family portraits were shot in my brother’s back yard.  The 200mm and 105mm 1.4 would be great on a shoot if you’re going for that specific look.

This lens does flare shooting into sunlight, but I still like the look.  On BnW conversion you can put contrast U points in NX2 to knock that all down anyway.

After a lovely Thanksgiving lunch we attempted to play volleyball at the new Suwanee Park.  It was a bit chilly and windy.  D600 + 200mm f/2 on a monopod (which I know is necessary to save stamina, but I really don’t like tripods or monopods)

The pedestrian walkway and netting just melts away with this lens.  200mm is a bit too close, but nothing that outrageous since the 70-200mm pretty much lives at 200mm for lots of people.

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Imagine having this combo back in the day.  It’s still so viable right now!  I’ll have to write up a longer and different post, but the image quality of the older cameras like the Nikon D40 and D50 really are something else.  They recall the color and contrast of that day.  Really translated well to colorful prints back then too.  Yes these are CCD sensors that were in many different cameras back then, and the Nikon ones had limited picture settings, but with minimal tweaking you could get results like above.

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Yes this is a viable combo as well, especially with the R8’s silent shutter.  I could see this being quite helpful for stage and quiet theater photography.

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Out of all the combos I tried this week, this might be 1 or 1A, the humble Nikon D50 and 200mm f/2!  The lens does most of the work, and similar to the 105 macro lens, is quite happy with a crop sensor.  I know this camera only supports 2GB cards, but that can be remedied with a cheap SD to Lightning adapter.  Plug that into your phone and download the raws, which are an amazing 6MB usually.  Much smaller than a .HEIC on the latest phones.  These D50 photos are pretty much straight out of camera with my settings. (Also, why is my D4 not going on the 200mm? That camera’s lens mount is somewhat broken and unreliable.)

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The camera I settled on being mounted to the 200mm f/2 is the Nikon D700.  Another legendary camera with image quality that is pretty close to the D50.  This camera of course is the baby D3 and can be equipped with the grip and big battery, but this combo is already borderline handholdable.

All the gingko leaves had already fallen and I forgot to visit this spot last week.  Would have been perfect for a nice dress shoot, but oh well, people are too busy these days.

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For a real work level gig I did bring the massive 200mm f2, R8 and 85mm 1.2L, and D4 and 35mm.  With a side bag, and I pretty much cradled the 200mm like a baby since I don’t think you should carry it on a strap like a normal camera.  This is probably about as much as I can work with, but it was good to know and see the results that can be had with this lens.  The D700 is still a champ, as is all Nikon RAW files and their ultimate color grading ability.  The Canon files look good in their own way, but they’ve never had the color latitude in my opinion and years of shooting and editing.

I think the true strength of this lens is that it can take such a small selection and “clean it up” or make something look like we are shooting on a street in Neo Tokyo.  In real life there’s a cluttered stage area behind the models, but turns into pretty washes of color with the 200mm.

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The other day was a fun hangout and catch up time with friends.  Since I don’t own a D750 (a camera I honestly still haven’t cracked the code on in editing and color grading) I asked Phalatda to bring his.

Too bad this random yellow Supra at the Wal-Mart parking lot couldn’t have been at the gingko trees earlier.  The 200mm f/2 is an optical marvel in that it’s really hard to find chromatic aberration in many random photos.  They really did put all their engineering in this one, even 20+ years ago.

I think the D750 probably needs to be edited like Fuji files.  Low contrast, low saturation, soft and dreamy look.  If you’ve been scrolling this far, you’ve pretty much seen a 20 year evolution of what can be done with Nikon tuned image sensors.

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This morning I thought about the drawings and art I used to create when this lens was announced in 2004.  What pictures could I have taken back then with this thing? Who knows.  But this lens being so crazy sharp and clear is good for photos of art too.  I had to stand on a chair for some of the details, so the dof is so shallow due to the angle.

Again, in Dark Souls/Elden Ring video game parlance, this is the photo game equivalent of a colossal weapon. It takes up all the room in the inventory slot (literally in the real world too) and it is so heavy and cumbersome it weighs down both your movement and hacks/swings that you can get. It really does drain the stamina meter quickly, but the look is so nice. There are many new lenses being released for the mirrorless systems, but there are still old legends from back in the day worth owning for sure. Hopefully more adventures, quests, and opportunities to use this lens going forward. Thanks again everyone for reading and following along.

Bonus 200mm f/2 Portraits and Photos: