In a message dated 8/7/01 11:17:03 AM Pacific Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: << 1. Both systems are good and worth the investment. >> Well, I have to disagree. This is a typical phrase for the Pop Photo. ( I only buy it to keep up with current prices in mail order houses) Unfortunately, many other magazines are the same advertising "whores" when it comes to comparing products by the big companies like Canon and Nikon. In August issue of Shutterbug magazine, they review Nikon VR 80-400 ED lens. And what do you think - it's a great lens, great this, great that... AF - great, optical quality - great. But if you think about it - this lens is very slow - no silent wave motor that can compete with USM. So, how it can be Fast focusing? They say it does focus fast on F100 - well, so if you don't own it - tough, no fast AF. Furthermore - now Nikon is getting same thing, Canon did, after switching from FD system, to EF (EOS). What do I mean? VR - the only reason to buy this lens - only works on F5, F100, N80 and D1. So, if you own older body, like their famous N90 (F90) - which is a great camera, btw, - no luck with the new system. So, there goes their "backward" lens compatibility. Not so With EOS - IS will work on every EOS - there are some limitations when it's used with TCs, but lens itself will function fully, with ALL features. Optics. VR lens has Nikon's ED glass - good, but according to this review in Shutterbug - from f/8 to f/16 all images were of professional caliber. But with today's lenses - that's true for many less expensive lenses as well. I'm not saying that it a bad lens - no, it's OK - if I was a Nikon user - I'm not so sure if I'd buy it though, especially if I had to get a newer, more expensive body for it to work. The point I'm trying to make is - this lens can NOT even be compared to Canon IS 100-400 lens - Canon is that much better. And by no means am I trying to say that Nikon is crap - they have lots of products, I wish Canon had, but when it comes to IS vs VR lenses (not the technology, as it's very similar but how they are executed in practice - final lens product) there is no comparison, not yet anyway. George My web page: http://members.nbci.com/_XMCM/Yegey/EntrancePage.html * **** ******* *********************************************************** * For list instructions, including unsubscribe, see: * http://www.a1.nl/phomepag/markerink/eos_list.htm ***********************************************************
