Hi Nasir…great article! Question….I am not a pro nor a newby…somewhere in between therefore still lots to learn!…I am planning for an upcoming photo trip to a remote part of BC (CANADA) to photography grizzly in their natural habitat. I am currently using a D750 with a variety of lenses. The most important lens especially for this trip is the zoom. I own a Nikon 80-400 4.5-5.6G. I know it is not the fastest lens nor does it have the longest reach that may be required for this trip…We will be travelling in a small zodiac where a monopod but not a tripod can be used. I am thinking of renting the Nikon 200-500 for this trip as a 500 was recommended by our guide…do you think there will be a noticeable difference aside from the extra 100mm reach? Is it worth the cost and hassle of the rental ….since there are no rentals available locally I need to have one shipped to me at an extra cost….Thanks in advance!!
philippe
August 9, 2023 3:21 pm
Good evening, Hesitating between the 200-500 and the 80-400 because of the weight, I read your article with greet interest. However, I am a bit puzzled by the MTF chart you are presenting here for the 80-400 and the one of your article dedicated to the 80-400. The latest one seems to be much more favorable for the 80-400 than the one used here. Is that because it is not the same lens that was used than in the test of the 80-400 ?
Vincent
April 27, 2023 12:10 am
So interesting! Thanks! I was wondering which 1.4 teleconverter was used here. I have the II, and am wondering if i should buy the III to combine with my nikon 200-500. Also, what would be the results with the 2.0 teleconverter? Would i lose too much?
John
February 21, 2022 3:24 pm
Thanks, this review convinced me to buy it for my D7500. Shipping tomorrow!
John
February 2, 2022 5:02 pm
Nasim, I was wondering if the “Imatest Score” scale used in this revue is the same scale as you use for newer, sharper, Nikon Z lens tests? There seems to be a huge difference in maximum values.
MartinC
December 19, 2021 9:34 am
The VR on the Nikon is outstanding, as is the weatherproofing. I was out photographing Red Deer stags in typical Scottish Highland rain in very overcast low light, shutter speed around 1/25, still managed amazing sharpness on my old unforgiving D800………a superb lens in every respect.
K2_
January 16, 2021 9:08 am
Thanks for this comparison, i’ll get the nikkor 🙂
Jimmy
September 30, 2020 4:00 pm
This lens is almost perfect price/performance wise, if it weren’t for the sample variation, the lack of weather sealing and the lack of an arca-swiss compatible lens collar. The Tamron 150-600 G2 does have weather sealing and arca compatible lens collar, but the downside is that it is much softer near the edges and has significant vignetting on FF.
Michael
June 3, 2020 4:03 pm
Just one comment. Combined with the Z50 the 500-200 works excellently with the TC1.4 and TC2.0 converters. I did notice some tendency for back focussing and AF-Fine Tuning might be important to get the best out of the system. Actually after the AF-Fine-Tuning I use my system mostly with the 1.4 times converter getting really pleasant results. I take of the converter only in difficult light conditions. With the 2.0 converter I have mixed feelings – cropping into the picture of the 1.4 converter gives often better results.
This is absolutely no problem – I get very sharp images after doing the AF-Fine Tuning. I would call my 700 mm combination pixel sharp. The AF works reliably in all modes. VR of course as well. With the 2.0 times converter AF still works. However, the sensitivity towards light reflexes etc increases, the contrast decreases and the resolution as well. I also AF-Fine Tune at 500 mm only and I see clear improvement when stopping down the lens to F8, F11, and even F16 for the combinations with 500 mm, 700 mm, and 1000 mm, respectively. Nevertheless its possibly the fastest and most light weight solution to 1000 mm with AF and VR capabilities. With the crop factor of the APS-C sensor you get some amazing magnifications. Furthermore, as the sensor size is smaller the loss of resolution at the edges of the image is less. I do not know if I can upload images in the forum otherwise I would send you some test images.
Hi Michael, I’m planning on moving to mirrorless and I was wondering if I could use a F lense with the FTZ and a TC 1.4 on a Z50 or Z6 II. It´s the only way, us, Nikon users can get reach on a Z system. Either that or switching brands! Thanks a lot and keep on “shooting” photos Pedro
Both my Z6 & Z 9 have AF fine tuning but is rather pointless because the AF is done on the same plane – the sensor itself. AF fine tuning comes into its own on DSLRs where the AF is taken off the mirror, pentaprism then the AF sensor so there’s more room for alignment error. Not sure if any Nikon camera allows for AF fine tuning at different focal lengths on zoom lenses. Some will argue that Nikon included fine tuning on its mirrorless cameras for good reason – I tried it on the Z6 but the resulting difference was minimal so never bothered again.
Carl Galdos
June 1, 2020 1:59 pm
Oops — newbie with discussions — re: Nikon 200-500. I have been using it for a couple of years now, on a Nikon D7200, for nature (birds, wildlife) as well as Air Shows, quite often handheld — and it has given me wonderful results. As a newbie here, I don’t know how to post some examples — Birds, Foxes, Blue Angels, the Moon etc. Thank you. Love the website, comments and excellent advice.
Hi Nasir…great article! Question….I am not a pro nor a newby…somewhere in between therefore still lots to learn!…I am planning for an upcoming photo trip to a remote part of BC (CANADA) to photography grizzly in their natural habitat. I am currently using a D750 with a variety of lenses. The most important lens especially for this trip is the zoom. I own a Nikon 80-400 4.5-5.6G. I know it is not the fastest lens nor does it have the longest reach that may be required for this trip…We will be travelling in a small zodiac where a monopod but not a tripod can be used. I am thinking of renting the Nikon 200-500 for this trip as a 500 was recommended by our guide…do you think there will be a noticeable difference aside from the extra 100mm reach? Is it worth the cost and hassle of the rental ….since there are no rentals available locally I need to have one shipped to me at an extra cost….Thanks in advance!!
Good evening,
Hesitating between the 200-500 and the 80-400 because of the weight, I read your article with greet interest. However, I am a bit puzzled by the MTF chart you are presenting here for the 80-400 and the one of your article dedicated to the 80-400. The latest one seems to be much more favorable for the 80-400 than the one used here. Is that because it is not the same lens that was used than in the test of the 80-400 ?
So interesting! Thanks!
I was wondering which 1.4 teleconverter was used here. I have the II, and am wondering if i should buy the III to combine with my nikon 200-500.
Also, what would be the results with the 2.0 teleconverter? Would i lose too much?
Thanks, this review convinced me to buy it for my D7500. Shipping tomorrow!
Nasim, I was wondering if the “Imatest Score” scale used in this revue is the same scale as you use for newer, sharper, Nikon Z lens tests? There seems to be a huge difference in maximum values.
The VR on the Nikon is outstanding, as is the weatherproofing. I was out photographing Red Deer stags in typical Scottish Highland rain in very overcast low light, shutter speed around 1/25, still managed amazing sharpness on my old unforgiving D800………a superb lens in every respect.
Thanks for this comparison, i’ll get the nikkor 🙂
This lens is almost perfect price/performance wise, if it weren’t for the sample variation, the lack of weather sealing and the lack of an arca-swiss compatible lens collar. The Tamron 150-600 G2 does have weather sealing and arca compatible lens collar, but the downside is that it is much softer near the edges and has significant vignetting on FF.
Just one comment. Combined with the Z50 the 500-200 works excellently with the TC1.4 and TC2.0 converters. I did notice some tendency for back focussing and AF-Fine Tuning might be important to get the best out of the system. Actually after the AF-Fine-Tuning I use my system mostly with the 1.4 times converter getting really pleasant results. I take of the converter only in difficult light conditions. With the 2.0 converter I have mixed feelings – cropping into the picture of the 1.4 converter gives often better results.
Hi Michael, I am really fascinated to hear that you can combine the 1.4 converter with Z50 and the 200 – 500mm. Sounds great!
This is absolutely no problem – I get very sharp images after doing the AF-Fine Tuning. I would call my 700 mm combination pixel sharp. The AF works reliably in all modes. VR of course as well. With the 2.0 times converter AF still works. However, the sensitivity towards light reflexes etc increases, the contrast decreases and the resolution as well. I also AF-Fine Tune at 500 mm only and I see clear improvement when stopping down the lens to F8, F11, and even F16 for the combinations with 500 mm, 700 mm, and 1000 mm, respectively. Nevertheless its possibly the fastest and most light weight solution to 1000 mm with AF and VR capabilities. With the crop factor of the APS-C sensor you get some amazing magnifications. Furthermore, as the sensor size is smaller the loss of resolution at the edges of the image is less. I do not know if I can upload images in the forum otherwise I would send you some test images.
Hi Michael,
I’m planning on moving to mirrorless and I was wondering if I could use a F lense with the FTZ and a TC 1.4 on a Z50 or Z6 II.
It´s the only way, us, Nikon users can get reach on a Z system. Either that or switching brands!
Thanks a lot and keep on “shooting” photos
Pedro
I understood you cannot do af-fine tunning on mirror less cameras, only on dslr
Both my Z6 & Z 9 have AF fine tuning but is rather pointless because the AF is done on the same plane – the sensor itself. AF fine tuning comes into its own on DSLRs where the AF is taken off the mirror, pentaprism then the AF sensor so there’s more room for alignment error.
Not sure if any Nikon camera allows for AF fine tuning at different focal lengths on zoom lenses. Some will argue that Nikon included fine tuning on its mirrorless cameras for good reason – I tried it on the Z6 but the resulting difference was minimal so never bothered again.
Oops — newbie with discussions — re: Nikon 200-500. I have been using it for a couple of years now, on a Nikon D7200, for nature (birds, wildlife) as well as Air Shows, quite often handheld — and it has given me wonderful results. As a newbie here, I don’t know how to post some examples — Birds, Foxes, Blue Angels, the Moon etc.
Thank you.
Love the website, comments and excellent advice.