To give you a sense of the focal lengths involved in this test, I’ll start by showing the uncropped images of the same scene at 400mm, 500mm, 560mm, 600mm, 700mm, 800mm, and 860mm. This will give you a sense of how the various focal lengths differ, so that you know which lenses are worth your consideration in the first place.
400mm:
![400mm f2,8_01_MFL6513](https://photographylife.com/cdn-cgi/imagedelivery/GrQZt6ZFhE4jsKqjDEtqRA/photographylife.com/2023/10/400mm-f28_01_MFL6513.jpg/w=960)
500mm:
![180-600mm_01_DSC6129_01](https://photographylife.com/cdn-cgi/imagedelivery/GrQZt6ZFhE4jsKqjDEtqRA/photographylife.com/2023/10/180-600mm_01_DSC6129_01.jpg/w=960)
560mm:
![400mm f4,5 +1,4TC_01_MFL6201](https://photographylife.com/cdn-cgi/imagedelivery/GrQZt6ZFhE4jsKqjDEtqRA/photographylife.com/2023/10/400mm-f45-14TC_01_MFL6201-1.jpg/w=960)
600mm:
![180-600mm_01_DSC6124](https://photographylife.com/cdn-cgi/imagedelivery/GrQZt6ZFhE4jsKqjDEtqRA/photographylife.com/2023/10/180-600mm_01_DSC6124-1.jpg/w=960)
700mm:
![500mm f5,6+1,4TC_01_DSC6477](https://photographylife.com/cdn-cgi/imagedelivery/GrQZt6ZFhE4jsKqjDEtqRA/photographylife.com/2023/10/500mm-f5614TC_01_DSC6477-1.jpg/w=960)
800mm:
![800mm f6,3_01_MFL6224](https://photographylife.com/cdn-cgi/imagedelivery/GrQZt6ZFhE4jsKqjDEtqRA/photographylife.com/2023/10/800mm-f63_01_MFL6224-1.jpg/w=960)
840mm:
![600mm f4 +1,4TC_01_MFL6285](https://photographylife.com/cdn-cgi/imagedelivery/GrQZt6ZFhE4jsKqjDEtqRA/photographylife.com/2023/10/600mm-f4-14TC_01_MFL6285-1.jpg/w=960)
Although the right lens depends on the size and distance of your subject, this should at least give you an idea of the relative fields of view at each focal length. Personally, I like to have a lens that reaches at least the 560mm mark in my bag as a wildlife photographer, whether natively or with teleconverters.
The next page of this comparison will cover the sharpness tests of each lens at a variety of focal lengths.
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