Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.

Do I have your number?

Shutterbug57

This gets a bit long, but here is the whole story. My son got married last fall (2017) and they asked me to shoot their wedding. I shoot mostly sports, wildlife and nature, including macro. My lenses are pro-level at the short and long end, but between 24mm & 80mm, I had a couple of primes 50/1.4 & 60/2.8 macro and an old Tamron 28-75/2.8 zoom. The primes are great lenses and that older Tamron is marginally adequate on my D70s and has real back focus issues on the D200. (I have recently picked up the 24/2.8D & 35/2.0D.)

So, to solve my quality lens hole in the 24mm-70mm range, I went to rent the Nikkor 24-70/2.8E VR and they looked it up**. The D200 was shown as not compatible with the lens and, because of the electromagnetic aperture, it would only shoot wide open. The D300 is the earliest body that shows as compatible for the Nikkor lens.

So, because the D200 was getting a bit long in the tooth and with grandkids getting ready to play sports and the relatively poor low light performance of the D200 compared to the D500 which was available, I made the jump to the D500. While I was purchasing the D500, the Tamron rep was there and he was, of course, talking up the Tamron lenses. I relayed my issues with my older Tamron lens and he understood, but insisted the new G2 series was a real pro lens. I told him I would do some research. He mentioned that the camera store was having an open house that weekend and that they would have demo lenses available for use.

I did my research and determined that the Tamron 24-70/2.8 G2 was, indeed, comparable to the Nikkor equivalent and at about half the price. I went to the open house and used the demo lens for about an hour shooting all sorts of stuff. The Tamron rep told me they had special pricing but only for the open house that ran for the rest of the weekend. I took my camera home and looked at the images I had made with the Tamron. They were up to snuff, so I went back and bought the Tamron 24-70/2.8 G2.

While the Nikkor will not work on the D200 in any real sense, the Tamron will, however, the VR does not work on the D200. Tamron shows the D200 as not compatible with the lens, but that is probably due to just the VR as the auto focus and aperture settings will work in all modes.

While the Tamron 24-70/2.8 G2 is a great lens, if the VR won't work, I can get by with less weight and have at least as good performance (IQ) with Nikkor primes* (no surprise there). The VR works on my D500 very well. If I am shooting 2 bodies D500 & D200, I put either the 12-24/4.0 or 80-200/2.8 on the D200 as neither have VR leaving the D500 to work with the 24-70/2.8 with the VR.

The Tamron 24-70/2.8 G2 works on the D70s in the same way that it works on the D200. On the N90s, you lose not only the VR, but you cannot control the aperture in manual or aperture priority modes. Also, the lens is manual focus on the N90s. As long as you want to manually focus the lens with no focus aids on the prism, and are willing to shoot in shutter priority mode just to control the aperture, you can make images. I can't say I have had particularly good luck with this, but the primes* work great with the N90s.

*The primes are all Nikkor 24/2.8D, 35/2.0D, 50/1.4D, 60/2.8D macro & 85/1.8

**The following is from this site https://www.nikonimgsupport.com/ni/NI_article?articleNo=000004725&configured=1&lang=en_US

"Nikon D2-series, D1-series, D200, D100, D90, D80, D70-series, D60, D50, D40-series, D3000, and film SLR cameras will not communicate aperture information electronically and cannot be used. For up to date information on which cameras may be used, please view the User manual of the E lens. These new E type lenses are CPU controlled, and not to be confused with 1980's Series-E lenses, which were manually controlled."

Bill_de Loc: US

Did you check compatibility with the Nikkor 24-70 "G"

https://www.nikonusa.com/en/nikon-products/product/camera-lenses/af-s-nikkor-24-70mm-f2.8g-ed.html

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Shutterbug57

Yes, but having purchased the D500, I wanted a VR lens with the latest technology. I don’t plan on using the D200 all that much, and certainly not as my main camera. It may well see its most use as a remotely triggered camera at sports events.

ToBoldlyGo Loc: London U.K.

Thanks for this. Excuse my ignorance. I wasn't aware that the Nikkor is one of the new E lens. That's a real shame, there are amazing deals on 10 or so year old pro bodies. Shame there are now pretty large compatibility issues.

Shutterbug57

No problem. I believe Nikkor is still making the prior generation lens that will work with the older bodies. They are also available in the used market at a discount.

ToBoldlyGo Loc: London U.K.

Thanks. I like taking pics of birds in flight, and often wonder if I would find it easier to get more in focus shots with a pro body over my D7200. The 200-500 I mainly shoot with is I believe an E lens so I couldn't expect full compatibility if I were to invest in an older camera. Luckily lots of practice seems to be helping, but it won't stop me from wondering. Main issues I find are focus acquisition, and then keeping sharp focus while panning. Both can be hit and miss.

Screamin Scott Loc: Marshfield Wi, Baltimore Md, now Dallas Ga

The split image is a function of the focus screen, not the prism. I don't know about your N90s (which I have also), but the link I posted before is one I used to get a split image focus screen that I installed on my old D70s (since given to one of my sons). Nikon said the focus screen was not used interchangeable on my old D70s, but I did it.

BebuLamar

I think the D3 and D300 were the first ones that can use E lenses.

Shutterbug57

Thanks for the link. I looked through it and it did not appear to go back as far as the N90s. Also, thanks for 5he correction on focus screen versus prism.

ToBoldlyGo Loc: London U.K.

Thanks. I'll consider picking one up at some point. I can get some advice from the camera store staff before I do.