Nikon Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm F/2.8 ED VR II Skin Mod
Text by Editor AL Lee

Image: The Skin.

09th June 2025, Singapore – Recently I managed to buy a Nikon Nikkor AF-s 70-200mm F/2.8 ED VR II from our Authorised Service Centre. As most of you may already realised that Nikon AF-S lenses price are dropping and people are snapping up the used lenses like hot cakes. Especially the gem lenses from the Nikon lineup. Like everyone, I was in the market buying up Nikon lenses.

The Nikon Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm F/2.8 ED VR II was one of the lenses that I wanted so badly and I am in luck! However, as a previous owner of Canon EF 70-200mm F2.8 IS USM II and Sony 70-200mm F2.8 G – both lenses are white in color while the Nikon only come in Black except the special edition Mark 1 which had a limited run in white. (see image below from Jeffrey’s site.)

Sadly Nikon did not released any more white lenses for 70-200mm after the Mark I. I like the VR II over the Mark 1 for its improvements so I decided to get creative.

I was searching on Online shops and I chance upon an online shop that sells pre-cut skins for various lenses. The shop on Shopee “bestechkd.sg” offers lots of pre-cut skins for various lenses and I decided to take a leap of faith and ordered a set for my Nikon 70-200mm.

The skin pack came with 2 printed skins, 1 tweezer, 1 wet wipe and 1 dry wipe along with a printed instructions that was easy to understand. (See cover photo)

So my project starts. I started with the easiest – the hood. Check out the images below.

Before:

And After:

Ok while the hood was a breeze to paste, there are parts that needed a hairdryer to heat up especially the corners to allow the skin to be properly pasted and sealed. Not much of an effort really.

And one by one, I completed the whole lens in under 1 hour.

Before I show you the result, let’s take another look at the before.

and the end result!

I may have done a fairly well job but the lens is completely facelifted!

I dunno about you but I like the end result. It feeds my vanity of having another white 70-200mm while bringing back memories of my old Canon & Sony 70-200mm.

There are several parts that need hairdryer to properly sit the skin but it is really easy and no sweat at all.
If you are looking to refresh your Nikon 70-200mm, the skin is the way to go. It is also removable and will not mess up your lenses of you decide to go back to the original look some day.

Looking at the result, I decided to order another set of skins for my Nikon AF-S 200-500mm.
Will be back with the update once I get the 200-500mm pasted!

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Reviewer: Chief Editor AL Lee

Chief Editor & Founder of Ourshutterjourney.com Worldwide and Principal Trainer at Ourshutterjourney Photography Academy. AL is a commercial photographer as well as an educator who believes in the art of digital memories. An ambassador of several photography brands, AL is well versed in many camera systems. Someone once told us AL’s man cave looks more like a camera store than a bedroom.

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