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Nikon 70-180mm
Micro-NIKKOR (1997-
2004)

How to Shoot Macro   Best Macro Lenses Compared

Intro   Specifications   Performance   Recommendations

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Nikon 70-180mm

Nikon 70-180mm f/4.5-5.6 AF-D Micro-NIKKOR (FX, DX and 35mm coverage, 62mm filters, 35 oz./990 g, 1.2'/0.37m close focus, about $330 used). enlarge. I'd get it at this link directly to them at eBay (see How to Win at eBay).

This all-content, junk-free website's biggest source of support is when you use those or any of these links to approved sources when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live. Thanks for helping me help you! Ken.

 

June 2023   Nikon Reviews   Nikon Lenses    All Reviews

NEW: Nikon Z 70-180mm f/2.8.

 

Introduction       top

Intro   Specifications   Performance   Recommendations

Adorama pays top dollar for your used gear.

B&H Photo - Video - Pro Audio
I use these stores. I can't vouch for ads below.

This lens is a sleeper. No one ever bought it when it was available new, and like the AF 28mm f/1.4, for ten years after it was discontinued in 2004 people paid more for it used than they could have paid new.

It's much smaller than the 80-200 f/2.8, even though it's made with the same quality.

You may want to consider this to use both as a macro lens and medium tele zoom, saving room in your bag.

I used this now for all my product shots around 2008. It is handier than the 105mm Micro AF because I can zoom to frame, instead of having to move back and forth and then refocus to frame.

 

Specifications         top

Intro   Specifications   Performance   Recommendations

 

Name

Nikon calls this the Nikon AF Zoom-Micro Nikkor 70-180mm f/4.5-5.6D ED.

 

Optics

18 elements in 14 groups, which is an awful lot. One ED element.

 

Diaphragm

Nine circular blades stopping down to f/32-40.

 

Close Focus

14 inches (0.37m) from the image plane; which is the back of the camera.

 

Maximum Reproduction Ratio

1:1.32 at 180mm (Use a 6T close-up lens for 1:1)

1:3.20 at 70mm.

 

Filter Thread

62mm.

 

Size

6.9" (175mm) long by 3.0" (75mm) diameter.

 

Weight

35 oz (990g).

It's small compared to f/2.8 zooms.

 

Tripod Collar

Fixed.

Rotates 300 degrees.

 

Hood

HB-14 plastic bayonet, included.

 

AF System

Old-style mechanical AF linkage, requiring you to unlock and rotate a ring on the lens to switch from AF to MF action, just like the AF 28/1.4 and AF 20-35/2.8.

 

Nikon Product Number

1983.

 

Announced

27 August 1997.

 

Production

Made through about 2004.

Nikon made less than 20,000 of these.

 

Price

2023: About $330 used if you know How to Win at eBay.

2008-2013: About $1,400 used if you know How to Win at eBay.

 

Nikon 70-180mm

Nikon 70-180mm Focus and Zoom Rings

 

Performance       top

Intro   Specifications   Performance   Recommendations

 

Overall

Great!

There is no lateral color fringing on my D300 or D3, so product lettering never grows rainbows as it does with the 200mm f/4 Micro manual focus lens.

 

Autofocus

AF speed is slow, but remember that it focuses a lot closer than any other 80-200 zoom. I use this for macro, and I usually focus manually in macro.

It focuses almost to life-size at 180mm, but only a third life size at 70mm.

 

Diaphragm

The nine-bladed diaphragm gives round out-of-focus highlights, unlike the septagonal 7-bladed diaphragm of the 105mm AF.

 

Distortion       performance     top

The Nikon 70-180mm Micro-NIKKOR has some pincushion distortion, and it goes away at 70mm.

This can be corrected for critical use by plugging these figures into Photoshop's lens distortion filter. These aren't facts or specifications, they are the results of my research that requires hours of photography and calculations on the resulting data.

 
FX and Film at 3m (10')
70mm
0.0
85mm
-1.0
105mm
-1.8
135mm
-2.0
180mm
-2.0

© 2010 KenRockwell.com. All rights reserved.

 

Ergonomics       performance     top

Nikon 70-180mm macro

Nikon 70-180mm macro. bigger.

It's a screw-focus lens.

The front moves in and out as focused

 

Teleconverters

I doubt this f/5.6 lens would work very well with a TC, since it would get too dark to view. I use my TC-200 teleconverter with my AF 105mm F/2.8D all the time for easy 2x magnification. I focus manually and get great results, but that lens is two stops faster.

Nikon 70-180mm

Nikon 70-180mm Identity Plate (on tripod collar). bigger.

 

Recommendations       top

Intro   Specifications   Performance   Recommendations

Nikon 70-180mm

Nikon AF 70-180mm Micro. bigger.

This lens exists to allow you to change macro image size without moving your camera. This is very, very handy, especially for anyone chasing little animals around or any kind of macro work.

Consider this little lens if you need both a 105 macro and an 80-200 zoom. It's much smaller than you think from looking at the catalog.

This one lens can replace both these lenses in your bag. It's not fast in AF or aperture, but it is as small as either one of the others. This way you'd effectively have the function of both lenses while only carrying one.

I use a clear (UV) protective filter instead of a cap (exactly like an iPhone) so I'm always ready to shoot instantly. I only use a cap when I throw this in a bag with other gear without padding — which is never. The UV filter never gets in the way, and never gets lost, either.

The very best protective filter is the Hoya multicoated HD3 62mm UV which uses hardened glass and repels dirt and fingerprints.

For less money, Olympus makes an RF-ZD62 PRO Protection Filter which is also optically superb, and the Nikon 62mm NC (No Color) protective filter is also an excellent choice, especially if you don't expect to abuse your filter and keep your fingers off the glass, but the Hoya HD3 is the toughest and the best.

Filters last a lifetime, so you may as well get the best today. The Hoya HD3 stays cleaner than the others since it repels oil and dirt. I use my classic Nikon 62mm L37c (multicoated 370 nanometer UV) filters because I bought them back in the 1980s when they were the best, and they never wear out. Putting a 1980s 62mm L37c on this new lens gives a tip of the hat to when Nikon ruled the photography world.

If I was working in nasty, dirty areas, I'd use an uncoated 62mm Tiffen UV filter instead. Uncoated filters are much easier to clean, but more prone to ghosting.

For color slides like Fuji Velvia 50, I use a 62mm 81A outdoors.

For B&W film outdoors to make clouds look natural in the sky I use a 62mm Hoya HMC K2 Yellow, or usually a 62mm Orange for a stronger effect, or a 62mm Hoya HMC Red for the most dramatic skies or to hide pimples on skin.

All these filters are just as sharp and take the same pictures, the difference is how much abuse they'll take and stay clean and stay in one piece. Since filters last a lifetime or more, there's no reason not to buy the best as it will last you for the next 40 years. Filters aren't throwaways like digital cameras which we replace every few years, like it or not. I'm still using filters I bought back in the 1970s!

 

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23 June 2023, 2013, 2008