Photography Life

PL provides various digital photography news, reviews, articles, tips, tutorials and guides to photographers of all levels

  • Reviews
  • Learn
  • About Us
  • Forum
  • Search
Home → Reviews → Cameras and Lenses → Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6E VR Review

Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6E VR

By Nasim Mansurov 178 Comments
Last Updated On July 2, 2020

«»

Table of Contents

  • Overview and Specifications
  • Focusing
  • Optical Features
  • Lens Comparisons
  • Summary and Recommendations
  • More Image Samples
  • Reader Comments
Disclosures, Terms and Conditions and Support Options
guest

guest

178 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
John
John
February 21, 2022 3:24 pm

Thanks, this review convinced me to buy it for my D7500. Shipping tomorrow!

1
Reply
John
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.

0
Reply
MartinC
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.

2
Reply
K2_
K2_
January 16, 2021 9:08 am

Thanks for this comparison, i’ll get the nikkor 🙂

1
Reply
Jimmy
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.

0
Reply
Michael
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.

4
Reply
Colin
Colin
Reply to  Michael
June 5, 2020 8:27 am

Hi Michael, I am really fascinated to hear that you can combine the 1.4 converter with Z50 and the 200 – 500mm. Sounds great!

0
Reply
Michael
Michael
Reply to  Colin
June 5, 2020 4:12 pm

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.

1
Reply
pedro solipa
pedro solipa
Reply to  Michael
March 28, 2021 9:41 am

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

0
Reply
Oscar Vargas
Oscar Vargas
Reply to  Michael
June 17, 2021 9:45 pm

I understood you cannot do af-fine tunning on mirror less cameras, only on dslr

1
Reply
Paul B
Paul B
Reply to  Oscar Vargas
September 16, 2022 10:13 am

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.

0
Reply
Carl Galdos
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.

0
Reply
Carl Galdos
Carl Galdos
June 1, 2020 1:54 pm

Nikon 200-500mm

2
Reply
Imtiyaz K
Imtiyaz K
May 30, 2020 2:13 am

Hi Nasim, As always masterful analysis of the famed 200-500mm 5.6.
Among the sample images which are of course great, I dint see any picture of a bird in flight that can give a fair indication of speed of focus acquisition of this lens. A bird like kestrel or a swift requires very quick focus for sharp picture, specially when they have just taken off from their pirch.
I am reasonably confident many super telephotos can’t handle such speed, assuming the camera is capable.
Do you think I make sense?
I will be honoured to see your response.

Cheers,
Imtiyaz

0
Reply
Michael Tuzio
Michael Tuzio
January 27, 2020 12:14 pm

Has anybody notices that the 200-500 lens does not fit tight on the camera body? I put mine on my d850 and noticed it kind of wobbles on there not like any of my other lenses they fit tight and dont move.

0
Reply

Learn

  • Beginner Photography
  • Landscape Photography
  • Wildlife Photography
  • Portraiture
  • Post-Processing
  • Advanced Tutorials

Reviews

  • Camera Reviews
  • Lens Reviews
  • Other Gear Reviews
  • Best Cameras and Lenses

Photography Tutorials

Photography Basics
Landscape Photography
Wildlife Photography
Macro Photography
Composition & Creativity
Black & White Photography
Night Sky Photography
Portrait Photography
Street Photography
Photography Videos

Unique Gift Ideas

Best Gifts for Photographers

Subscribe via Email

If you like our content, you can subscribe to our newsletter to receive weekly email updates using the link below:

Subscribe to our newsletter

Site Menu

  • About Us
  • Beginner Photography
  • Lens Database
  • Lens Index
  • Photo Spots
  • Search
  • Forum

Reviews

  • Reviews Archive
  • Camera Reviews
  • Lens Reviews
  • Other Gear Reviews

More

  • Contact Us
  • Subscribe
  • Workshops
  • Support Us
  • Submit Content

Copyright © 2023 · Photography Life

You are going to send email to

Move Comment