Ever since the early days starting off on a Nikon F65 with 28-100mm FX, glass has progressively become more important in my mind. Along came a new D70s and I used the 18-70mm kit lens (and other glass) for a while but ditched it in favour of the 18-200mm f3.5-5.6 VR DX which was released in 2005 and this became my sole walkabout workhorse. Instead of swapping multiple lenses, I had pretty much the whole focal range I wanted. The 2 or 3 extra stops from the VR was a dream. And a few years on, I still love this lens.

But for what and how I want to shoot now, pro glass is required. I need faster apertures, super-sharp optical precision and tough durability.

I’ve been looking to get the Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 VR for quite a while.

OK it’s USD 1700 but what a piece of kit - about 1.5kg, solid metal, fixed aperture across the focal range, 21 glass elements (with 5 ED) in 15 groups. This is going to kill it on safari. Well, and also on weddings and reportage. It’ll be able to take a proper beating in the field.

Anyone really interested should check out the modulation transfer function (MTF) curves just for fun.

Next on the list would be the 24-70mm f/2.8 and 50mm and 85mm f/1.4 primes for portraits. I’ve seen some amazing liquid bokeh on the primes.

Anyway, let’s hope the 70-200mm f/2.8 is in stock somewhere!