If you own or have used this lens, let us know what you think! Leave your comments and thoughts below.
Photo Zone
The Micro-Nikkor AF 70-180mm f/4.5-5.6D ED delivered very good although no exceptional results (at conventional focus distances). The resolution is excellent at 70mm but the quality decrease towards the long end of the zoom range – a single ED element is obviously not enough to match the mid to long Micro-Nikkor fix-focals at their respective focal length. However, we are talking about an ambitious zoom lens here and flexibility simply comes with compromises. Vignetting and distortions are basically negligible and CAs are only an issue at 70mm. The build quality of the lens is exceptional with only the tiny tripod mount to complain about. … At around 1500€/US$ the lens is fairly pricey, more so regarding its rather slow max. apertures … for the same price you may also get a Nikkor AF 80-200mm f/2.8D ED plus a 100mm macro lens which would make more sense for the majority of users. READ FULL REVIEW
Other Nikon 70-180mm f/4.5-5.6D ED Micro AF Reviews
Thom Hogan
Autofocus Speed is slowish and tends to hunt in low light situations. The limiter switch helps improve speed, but this lens isn’t fast by any stretch of the word. No 1:1 magnification. At 70mm, the lens barely qualifies as “macro,” though at 180mm the 1:1.33 is respectable. Still, if you want 1:1, you need to use one of the fixed focal length Micro-Nikkors or supplement this lens with a close-up lens or extension tube. Macro work is sharp and high in contrast. Normal distances produce excellent images, with only a bit of corner falloff wide open. … No Aperture Change with Focus. As the focus is extended on the fixed focal length Micro-Nikkors, the effective aperture changes; not so with this zoom lens, which retains aperture through the entire focus range. Out of focus details render very nicely with this lens. READ FULL REVIEW
Ken Rockwell
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. READ FULL REVIEW
Franck T Avril
4 Sep 2020I own this lens, and love it. I use it in two additional ways: 1) to shoot close-up videos (on a tripod, since it comes with a tripod collar/foot — another thing I love). The zoom feature makes the video a lot more attractive to view rather than using of course just one static framing (I use the 70-200mm and 200-400mm zooms accordingly the same way, for video work); and 2) coupled with the 5T and/or 6T diopters for wonderful close-up work (6T gives you 1:1 at 180mm). And I also love putting it on a Dx sensor-camera, with its equivalency of 105-270mm.