10-14-2010, 09:43 PM
well i hate to see a question go unanswered, and as i'm the wrong person to ask anything, this answer may or may not be useless - and you've put so much in the above that my mind went blank - so i'll ignore it if i may and here goes -
i've heard from a friend of a friend that i met on the internet that size matters, so a 70-200 + a 2X will really attract a lot of friendly comments from all your new best friends, but for me i'd never put a TC on any lens especially a 2X, whether it's a version 1, 2, or 3 - surely you'd buy the super 70-200 for it's quality pictures, why spoil it with more bits of magnifying glass -
so yep, buy the 70-200, can't go wrong, no worries -
now the 28-300 - i don't have one or even anything very much nikon now (and i do miss some of the nikkors), but i do know someone who posts excellent quality pictures who has tried this lens - his opinion is that it lacks the crystal sharpness of the 70-300, is similar to the 18-200 and that it misses some of the fine details in the picture and is a tad soft around the edges - having said that, he goes for super quality pictures and it's hard to keep up -
so buy the 70-300 and a 16-85 = two lenses + a camera - can't weigh too much on a hike (well, compared to my weighty bag) and you should have lovely pictures - it's only money -
and if you want really really light (and maybe or maybe not soft corners) ask klaus, but he's away in some place in the deep south and is unfortunately possibly enjoying some rain or mountain snow :-( but i hope not too chilly
it's more than likely that all the above doesn't answer any of your specific questions but i hope that it's something interesting to read
i've heard from a friend of a friend that i met on the internet that size matters, so a 70-200 + a 2X will really attract a lot of friendly comments from all your new best friends, but for me i'd never put a TC on any lens especially a 2X, whether it's a version 1, 2, or 3 - surely you'd buy the super 70-200 for it's quality pictures, why spoil it with more bits of magnifying glass -
so yep, buy the 70-200, can't go wrong, no worries -
now the 28-300 - i don't have one or even anything very much nikon now (and i do miss some of the nikkors), but i do know someone who posts excellent quality pictures who has tried this lens - his opinion is that it lacks the crystal sharpness of the 70-300, is similar to the 18-200 and that it misses some of the fine details in the picture and is a tad soft around the edges - having said that, he goes for super quality pictures and it's hard to keep up -
so buy the 70-300 and a 16-85 = two lenses + a camera - can't weigh too much on a hike (well, compared to my weighty bag) and you should have lovely pictures - it's only money -
and if you want really really light (and maybe or maybe not soft corners) ask klaus, but he's away in some place in the deep south and is unfortunately possibly enjoying some rain or mountain snow :-( but i hope not too chilly
it's more than likely that all the above doesn't answer any of your specific questions but i hope that it's something interesting to read