Thank s for the nice review, this is indeed a fabulous lens and I am shooting it now for 2 years.I got a 120-300mm recently too .The reason why I got it was to get the best technically possible setup for my images. I could have achieved similar results with older lenses as well but with the latest DSLRs (D5/6) it gives me what I want. Fortunately I was able to afford it, otherwise I would be using a sigma/tamron zoom. I am very thankful to be able to use this equipment now and enjoy it a lot. On our journey to achieve the best results in imaging we crave for the most pleasing instruments. I will stay with F mount.
Matthias Walter
November 7, 2020 4:14 am
Hi Nasim
Very good article – thanks! Did you do the resolution tests on a D850?
Best, Matthias
Khashayar
October 21, 2020 5:10 am
How valuable is easy framing of moving objects at even 800 mm?. As a Nikon 1 user, I really regreat reception for the great 70-300 cx, that would create unbeleivably easy framing handheld at even 810mm in such a (relatively) tiny size and weight; it undesevedly did not receive its due appreciation, partly because of Nikon strange approach to Nikon 1 systems pricing and stange upgrades, and mostly due to vast unuiformed and semi-armchair reviewers throwing around their quick useless reviews flying all over internet. Thankfully Thomas Stirr had great reviews of the system here in photographylife that convinced me to buy it. The little gem is sharper than off brand 150-600s and Nikons own 200-500 as told by Thomas Stirr. But thats not even the most important of its capability. Its VR is nothing short of wow. Such a breeze to carry all day. Not everyone is going to sell their long Tele photos, and serious hobbyists would have never looked back if just have gotten themselves to explore the lens. It is such an unbeleivable mistake for Nikon that the system was not continued. I would imagine with current sensor technoligillies the one system would have put many other brands larger cameras to shame in long tele category. It created amazing macro like images too. What a loss for those who enjoy creative photography AND particularly for Nikon. The serious users still dream of the systems “proper” comeback.
I agree that the Nikon 1 system had an amazing potential. They could have created a system with very fast AF and burst rates and super long telephoto options. But Nikon choose to make the usual slow 3.5-5.6 lenses when they could have made an 1.8-2.8 standard lens like Canon 1 inch compacts. Also the whole system was overpriced with unexciting lens options.
Pieter Kers
October 10, 2020 7:50 am
Hai Nasim,
First of all i like your way of testing the equipment and the added photos of Robert Andersen and John Lawson are really beautiful.
As i understand the results of the lenstests you do are related to the MP of the sensor/camera body, so you cannot directly compare a d810 test with a d850 test. Then maybe it is a a good idea to publish the bodyname /MP of the sensor with the diagrams.
Pieter, who said that I compared D810 vs D850 for Imatest measurements? I thought I removed all the references for prior tests. Basically, I re-tested the 400mm, 500mm and 600mm lenses on the 45 MP sensor, so the prior D810 tests are no longer relevant. Not all the lens reviews have been updated yet, so I will be working on those as soon as I can.
hai Nasim, i just was reading some older reviews and noticed hat the imatests were made on different MP-bodies. It was not related to this specific review. So i thought it would be a good idea to publish the camera body- sensor MP information in the imatest diagrams to make it more clear. Maybe i am wrong: A possible problem i found in the 19mm pce review. ( 14-24mm at 18mm vs the 19mm )
colorAZeta.it
October 7, 2020 5:18 am
Thank you Nasim for your review, this 600mm E FL is really a good lens without a doubt, and quite hand-holdable… Imagine that I grew up with the Nikkor AF-I 400mm f2.8, a beast of 6.3kg! I would appreciate you add a direct comparison (with the same metrics) with the mighty 800mm E FL either at 800/840mm and at 1000mm, with TCs (14, 17, and the special 1.25x for the 800mm). Apart from the price, the weight of the 800mm is 800gr more, but image quality should see a very positive bump :-) Sometimes animals are too far away in the areas around me you have never enough reach :-)
JHD
October 5, 2020 6:38 am
Is there a big difference between this model and the early Afs-600 in terms of skarpness and contrast?
Bjorn Vink
October 3, 2020 4:46 am
Hi Nasim, great review! in the evolution process from dslr to mirrorless I think telephoto (zoom) lenses didn’t change that much in size. The optics designers of Sony did something interresting (out of the box) with the 400mm f2.8 , Only one large cheap -normal glass- element up front and than a nice gap to the next elements that have similar dispersion as fluorite. And those expensive elements have a much smaller diameter/volume. So a nice weight saver and better balance, more weight to the back of the lens AND costs. I estimate that Sony makes more money on this lens. It also seems to outperform the contemporary Canon and Nikon designs. I just bought a Z 70-200 s lens and it performs outstanding. but it’s still heavy. Canon got it right with their compact 70-200 f2.8 version but it performs a bit less well. As always, to keep the industry going, optical designers should think out of the box and make some compromisses to keep costs and size down while maintaining optical quality, sensors get more and more discriminating.
Sony undoubtedly saves a fortune by not using very large/very expensive Fluorite elements at the front of their supertelephoto lenses (like Canon and Nikon). By all accounts, the new Sony 600 F/4 and 400 F/2.8 are fantastic and set new standards for reduced weight in the class (recently matched by Canon). Every day I run into a new wildlife photographer who has made the switch to Sony and is delighted with the cameras and the lenses. That said, I have seen no objective testing to support the proposition that the Sony 400mm f/2.8 or 600mm f/4 actually outperform the equivalent Canon and Nikon offerings from an optical standpoint. For the benefit of those who might be interested, here is some objective data on the Nikon 400’s performance. DXO Mark score for Nikon 400 F/2.8 E FL on Nikon D850 (See: www.dxomark.com/Lense…D850__1177). Lenscore tested the Nikon 400mm 2.8 E FL on their 200MP CCD sensor and ranked it highest among all supertelephoto lenses they had tested as of 2015 (See: www.lenscore.org/). It would be very impressive if the Sony outperforms the Nikon (and/or Canon) optically. Please share the data on that point as I have heard it mentioned by some folks but cannot seem to find the source. Thanks!
John Fragoulias
October 2, 2020 7:40 pm
I will stick with my Sigma 500mm f4 sport prime paired to my D850 and D500, I primarily shoot hand held.
Elaine Lansdown
October 2, 2020 12:02 pm
A beautiful lens. Any chance of encouraging Nikon to make more lenses that can resolve for the D850? At the moment, there are pitifully few that make the grade.
Sorry, I wasn’t talking about more 500-800 mm lenses, I was talking about more of the regular range of lenses. There are plenty of lenses out there, but not many that can resolve 47mp. I’d like to see more primes and regular zooms that are guaranteed to be able to resolve the D850.
Alex
October 2, 2020 8:47 am
I have the lens. I have used it for landscape, wildlife, cityscape, moon photography. The lens amazed me every time. I hand hold this lens for more than 50% of shooting cases. When on a tripod, I use RRS fluid gimbal head.
Thank s for the nice review, this is indeed a fabulous lens and I am shooting it now for 2 years.I got a 120-300mm recently too .The reason why I got it was to get the best technically possible setup for my images. I could have achieved similar results with older lenses as well but with the latest DSLRs (D5/6) it gives me what I want. Fortunately I was able to afford it, otherwise I would be using a sigma/tamron zoom. I am very thankful to be able to use this equipment now and enjoy it a lot. On our journey to achieve the best results in imaging we crave for the most pleasing instruments. I will stay with F mount.
Hi Nasim
Very good article – thanks! Did you do the resolution tests on a D850?
Best, Matthias
How valuable is easy framing of moving objects at even 800 mm?. As a Nikon 1 user, I really regreat reception for the great 70-300 cx, that would create unbeleivably easy framing handheld at even 810mm in such a (relatively) tiny size and weight; it undesevedly did not receive its due appreciation, partly because of Nikon strange approach to Nikon 1 systems pricing and stange upgrades, and mostly due to vast unuiformed and semi-armchair reviewers throwing around their quick useless reviews flying all over internet. Thankfully Thomas Stirr had great reviews of the system here in photographylife that convinced me to buy it. The little gem is sharper than off brand 150-600s and Nikons own 200-500 as told by Thomas Stirr. But thats not even the most important of its capability. Its VR is nothing short of wow. Such a breeze to carry all day. Not everyone is going to sell their long Tele photos, and serious hobbyists would have never looked back if just have gotten themselves to explore the lens. It is such an unbeleivable mistake for Nikon that the system was not continued. I would imagine with current sensor technoligillies the one system would have put many other brands larger cameras to shame in long tele category. It created amazing macro like images too. What a loss for those who enjoy creative photography AND particularly for Nikon. The serious users still dream of the systems “proper” comeback.
I agree that the Nikon 1 system had an amazing potential. They could have created a system with very fast AF and burst rates and super long telephoto options.
But Nikon choose to make the usual slow 3.5-5.6 lenses when they could have made an 1.8-2.8 standard lens like Canon 1 inch compacts.
Also the whole system was overpriced with unexciting lens options.
Hai Nasim,
First of all i like your way of testing the equipment and the added photos of Robert Andersen and John Lawson are really beautiful.
As i understand the results of the lenstests you do are related to the MP of the sensor/camera body, so you cannot directly compare a d810 test with a d850 test.
Then maybe it is a a good idea to publish the bodyname /MP of the sensor with the diagrams.
Pieter, who said that I compared D810 vs D850 for Imatest measurements? I thought I removed all the references for prior tests. Basically, I re-tested the 400mm, 500mm and 600mm lenses on the 45 MP sensor, so the prior D810 tests are no longer relevant. Not all the lens reviews have been updated yet, so I will be working on those as soon as I can.
hai Nasim, i just was reading some older reviews and noticed hat the imatests were made on different MP-bodies. It was not related to this specific review. So i thought it would be a good idea to publish the camera body- sensor MP information in the imatest diagrams to make it more clear.
Maybe i am wrong:
A possible problem i found in the 19mm pce review. ( 14-24mm at 18mm vs the 19mm )
Thank you Nasim for your review, this 600mm E FL is really a good lens without a doubt, and quite hand-holdable… Imagine that I grew up with the Nikkor AF-I 400mm f2.8, a beast of 6.3kg!
I would appreciate you add a direct comparison (with the same metrics) with the mighty 800mm E FL either at 800/840mm and at 1000mm, with TCs (14, 17, and the special 1.25x for the 800mm). Apart from the price, the weight of the 800mm is 800gr more, but image quality should see a very positive bump :-)
Sometimes animals are too far away in the areas around me you have never enough reach :-)
Is there a big difference between this model and the early Afs-600 in terms of skarpness and contrast?
Hi Nasim, great review! in the evolution process from dslr to mirrorless I think telephoto (zoom) lenses didn’t change that much in size. The optics designers of Sony did something interresting (out of the box) with the 400mm f2.8 , Only one large cheap -normal glass- element up front and than a nice gap to the next elements that have similar dispersion as fluorite. And those expensive elements have a much smaller diameter/volume. So a nice weight saver and better balance, more weight to the back of the lens AND costs. I estimate that Sony makes more money on this lens. It also seems to outperform the contemporary Canon and Nikon designs. I just bought a Z 70-200 s lens and it performs outstanding. but it’s still heavy. Canon got it right with their compact 70-200 f2.8 version but it performs a bit less well. As always, to keep the industry going, optical designers should think out of the box and make some compromisses to keep costs and size down while maintaining optical quality, sensors get more and more discriminating.
Sony undoubtedly saves a fortune by not using very large/very expensive Fluorite elements at the front of their supertelephoto lenses (like Canon and Nikon). By all accounts, the new Sony 600 F/4 and 400 F/2.8 are fantastic and set new standards for reduced weight in the class (recently matched by Canon). Every day I run into a new wildlife photographer who has made the switch to Sony and is delighted with the cameras and the lenses. That said, I have seen no objective testing to support the proposition that the Sony 400mm f/2.8 or 600mm f/4 actually outperform the equivalent Canon and Nikon offerings from an optical standpoint. For the benefit of those who might be interested, here is some objective data on the Nikon 400’s performance. DXO Mark score for Nikon 400 F/2.8 E FL on Nikon D850 (See: www.dxomark.com/Lense…D850__1177). Lenscore tested the Nikon 400mm 2.8 E FL on their 200MP CCD sensor and ranked it highest among all supertelephoto lenses they had tested as of 2015 (See: www.lenscore.org/). It would be very impressive if the Sony outperforms the Nikon (and/or Canon) optically. Please share the data on that point as I have heard it mentioned by some folks but cannot seem to find the source. Thanks!
I will stick with my Sigma 500mm f4 sport prime paired to my D850 and D500, I primarily shoot hand held.
A beautiful lens. Any chance of encouraging Nikon to make more lenses that can resolve for the D850? At the moment, there are pitifully few that make the grade.
Read my post above, no issues with resolving the D850’s sensor.
Sorry, I wasn’t talking about more 500-800 mm lenses, I was talking about more of the regular range of lenses. There are plenty of lenses out there, but not many that can resolve 47mp. I’d like to see more primes and regular zooms that are guaranteed to be able to resolve the D850.
I have the lens. I have used it for landscape, wildlife, cityscape, moon photography. The lens amazed me every time. I hand hold this lens for more than 50% of shooting cases. When on a tripod, I use RRS fluid gimbal head.