First Time Out With The New 70-200 VRII

Bryce Wilson

Got one of my seniors from earlier in the year to come out and help me test out the new 70-200mm VRII. I'll say one thing, you sure can sure throw a background out of focus with this beast. I think I might like the colors a tad better than my 105mm 2.8 too. One thing though, when using it at the close focusing distance of around 4 and a half feet, you only get about 135mm on the long end. Didn't buy it as a macro lens, so no biggie.

Looking forward to using it some more!
1.


2.


3.


4.


Thanks for taking a peek!

Hackbone

Way to go, spending money on glass is such a joy!!!!??????????###############

Bryce Wilson

You just can't imagine how long I struggled with this purchase before I took the leap Charles.

I forgot, I wanted to put this image with a new post action on the first post and get opinions...

5.


What cha think? Yea or Nea?

digidrone

Soo jelous....
nice series Bryce!
And i do like the action, might be a tad hot on the skin, that could be the monitor i'm using right now though
Congrats!

novicesnapper

Stellar choice Bryce. With the holidays coming up, I see some great work ahead. I think with some tuning, that preset will work. Face and hands are a little hot, a little contrasty for my taste as is.

michaelglenn

Killin it man! Love all of them. The post action on 5 is a little too contrasty for my taste. Losing too much color detail. Other than that, a beautiful series.

anonymouscuban

Bryce, I too struggle with purchasing this lens. I went back and forth with trying to figure out if it was worth it. Would I use it enough to justify the cost? Would it be a versatile lens. Once I decided to pull the trigger, then it was a decision of getting the new VRII or buying a clean, used copy of the VRI. I went with the latter which saved me about $1000. In the end, I couldn't be happier. The 70-200 is almost always on my camera. Only times it comes off is to slap my wide angle on.

Bilsen

Good to see your total lack of buyers' remorse Bryce.

Also good to see you already use it superbly on such a pretty kid. I like the whole set.

zoomer

Aren't expensive toys fun. Love the 200 at F4 and 200mm...money.

VayCayMom

Now you look like the pro that we know you are.

Yaflyyadie

I knew it was going to make a big mark on:
1.- Your pocket (Recoverable in the short run).
2.- On the way you could use this valuable tool at your already professional hands.
Enjoy it, is well worth the price and the endless possibilities it brings.
By the way, great set of pictures, # 5 is as described above, a li'l hot on hands and face, but, if she likes it, the end recipient, then is a winner.
Cheers,
Carlos

Bryce Wilson

digidrone wrote: »

Soo jelous....
nice series Bryce!
And i do like the action, might be a tad hot on the skin, that could be the monitor i'm using right now though
Congrats!

Thanks... and you're right, the skin/face is too hot! Think I tweaked it and have that issue taken care of now. Thanks for weighing in!

novicesnapper wrote: »

Stellar choice Bryce. With the holidays coming up, I see some great work ahead. I think with some tuning, that preset will work. Face and hands are a little hot, a little contrasty for my taste as is.

Thanks for letting me know! I think I have that fixed in the rework...See below.

michaelglenn wrote: »

Killin it man! Love all of them. The post action on 5 is a little too contrasty for my taste. Losing too much color detail. Other than that, a beautiful series.

Thanks for the kudo's! Your's seems to be the general consensus on the action. Think I have it corrected.

anonymouscuban wrote: »

Bryce, I too struggle with purchasing this lens. I went back and forth with trying to figure out if it was worth it. Would I use it enough to justify the cost? Would it be a versatile lens. Once I decided to pull the trigger, then it was a decision of getting the new VRII or buying a clean, used copy of the VRI. I went with the latter which saved me about $1000. In the end, I couldn't be happier. The 70-200 is almost always on my camera. Only times it comes off is to slap my wide angle on.

After using it for a day, I can certainly see it's value. If I were to start over today, I think I could buy four lenses and never need another. The 70-200, 16-35 vr and a 50mm 1.4. Most likely never need anything else. But, I would probably have a micro/macro because of some of the close stuff I like to do.

Thanks for helping me confirm my purchase in my mind!

Bilsen wrote: »

Good to see your total lack of buyers' remorse Bryce.

Also good to see you already use it superbly on such a pretty kid. I like the whole set.

Thanks Steve! Thanks a lot. Not a TOTAL lack of remorse, I'm still thinking about the vacation I'm going to forgo because of it.

zoomer wrote: »

Aren't expensive toys fun. Love the 200 at F4 and 200mm...money.

Indeed!

VayCayMom wrote: »

Now you look like the pro that we know you are.

See, that's why nagging works...Do it enough, it gets a guy to do things! Thanks mom!:D

Yaflyyadie wrote: »

I knew it was going to make a big mark on:
1.- Your pocket (Recoverable in the short run).
2.- On the way you could use this valuable tool at your already professional hands.
Enjoy it, is well worth the price and the endless possibilities it brings.
By the way, great set of pictures, # 5 is as described above, a li'l hot on hands and face, but, if she likes it, the end recipient, then is a winner.
Cheers,
Carlos

Thanks for the encouragement as always Carlos.

I tweaked that action and think I have the "bugs" worked out and it presents a much better image. Not sure if it's better than the original color version with no action applied, but it is indeed different and could appeal to some...

Let me know if you think I have it down pat without any of the prior issues.

Thanks Folks!

6.

coolpinsky

nice images !

Agnieszka

Super pretty! Gosh, I should take out my 70-200 and shoot with it more often ....

lilmomma

absolutely beautiful! i have GOT to get me one of those. I like the rework of the different processing but still prefer your clean color editing overall

divamum

lilmomma wrote: »

I like the rework of the different processing but still prefer your clean color editing overall

You're gonna LOVE that thing, Bryce! (And am I right in guessing that a certain young star cheerleader's success pushed you over the edge into getting it for some shoots? ) Lovely, lovely shots - particularly like #2.

I will admit that every time I lust after the Canon version BUT... I then pick up my F4 70-200L and enjoy how light it is... One of the beauties of jumping to FF is that I now have the best of both worlds: lightweight zoom which if I stand close enough and shoot it wide open (where it's cracking sharp) gives me plenty of bokeh (as you saw in those pix I posted over the weekend), and if I REALLY want to go creamy (or need extra lumens) I have the 135L to use instead. I still wonder if the convenience of those portrait-perfect focal lengths at 2.8 will seduce me in due course, but my back sure appreciates the minimalist F4 version!!!

novicesnapper

Much better on the rework imo. I think I see what you're hunting for, a "pop", on top of falls colors? I do love the originals, ALOT lol, that's just me, but I think this action will work great on fall foliage and pumping the image somewhat. Her face looks good and the hands looks great. I think if the next shoot is someone in a brighter or lighter color combo, not wearing gray on black, this action will really come alive. I would be willing to bet, you'll end up dropping the black level in the action a little more yet. But anyway, awesome work with top of the line tools!

Icebear

Please, please, please do a few tight headshots of your vintage kids with this lens at 200mm. Same setup, just 30 seconds to swap the lens. I promise it'll blow you away.

Zerodog

I shoot almost everything with the 70-200 VRII. I am just always happy with shots I get from that lens. Congrats on the purchase!

sweet caroline

Love the set! The action is nice, but the colors in the original are so great that I'd keep it classic.

Yaflyyadie

Bryce:
I have my old ways:
I download both, the original and the reworked one with the rest of the album, proof CD, DVD or whatever we want to call it.
I show it to the interested party, where the finger points, that's the one.
You see, it is a win & win situation.
Now, I personally like the reworked one, not discarding the original by any means.

My respect,.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Carlos

Bryce Wilson

coolpinsky wrote: »

nice images !

Thank you!

Agnieszka wrote: »

Super pretty! Gosh, I should take out my 70-200 and shoot with it more often ....

The fact that I didn't have to change lens's out in the field certainly made the weight/size issue less of a factor for me. I am very happy with the image quality. Much better than any other zoom lens I've used.

lilmomma wrote: »

absolutely beautiful! i have GOT to get me one of those. I like the rework of the different processing but still prefer your clean color editing overall

Thanks, I like the colors too, but as I'm reminded often by my wife when we pack for vacation, a woman wants to have "choices"

divamum wrote: »

You're gonna LOVE that thing, Bryce! (And am I right in guessing that a certain young star cheerleader's success pushed you over the edge into getting it for some shoots? ) Lovely, lovely shots - particularly like #2.

Thank you Diva. Yup, that was indeed a factor. I also justified it by thinking to myself, Gee, I'm going to be attending these sporting events anyway as a supportive dad, might as well do spec shots and make them available via smugmug! Multitasking!:D

novicesnapper wrote: »

Much better on the rework imo. I think I see what you're hunting for, a "pop", on top of falls colors? I do love the originals, ALOT lol, that's just me, but I think this action will work great on fall foliage and pumping the image somewhat. Her face looks good and the hands looks great. I think if the next shoot is someone in a brighter or lighter color combo, not wearing gray on black, this action will really come alive. I would be willing to bet, you'll end up dropping the black level in the action a little more yet. But anyway, awesome work with top of the line tools!

Hit the nail on the head there Novice Snapper!

Icebear wrote: »

Please, please, please do a few tight headshots of your vintage kids with this lens at 200mm. Same setup, just 30 seconds to swap the lens. I promise it'll blow you away.

I know you're right. But, several conditions make it impossible to do. The biggest issue is the space I do the vintage kids thing in. I only have enough room from the subject spot to the wall to be able to use 105mm on a tight head shot. There are also distance from camera to subject issues to be considered.

Zerodog wrote: »

I shoot almost everything with the 70-200 VRII. I am just always happy with shots I get from that lens. Congrats on the purchase!

Thanks dog.

sweet caroline wrote: »

Love the set! The action is nice, but the colors in the original are so great that I'd keep it classic.

Going to take the advice from Carlos and show em both. Back to the women like choices thing!

PhilD41

Yep, I am jealous too. Some day I may get there. :-) Until then, I will enjoy seeing everyone else's amazing photos with this lens. Love yours!! I like the action on #6, that does much more for me that #5. Not sure I could pick one between it and the original though. Great job!

Bryce Wilson

I want to thank everyone that took the time to comment and chime in. As well as those that helped share my enthusiasm over my new toy.

Here are a couple more images for the "First Time Out" session that I liked.

1. Wish those fingers and back of the hand wasn't like they are, but I sure love the light on her face. (It's almost Zoomer quality in my mind) White shirt aside...



2. I blurred the name on her jacket in post on purpose.

novicesnapper

Dang, look at that creamy bokeh and those eyes, wowser!!!