Excellent Value
By Chip
from Westchester, NY
Verified Reviewer
Was front-focusing on my D7100. But on D3x and D4s it is spot-on and the center sharpness (at f/6.3) edges out the 200-400 (at f/5.6) even at 500.
No perceptible CA! This I did not expect in a lens at this price.
I don't have the new 80-400 VRII. But I did have the 80-400 VR and this lens outperforms the 80-400 VR by a wide margin optically.
Now this lens is not perfect. The cneter of balance changes with zoom and the included foot is really not long enough. Put a long ARCA plate on the foot if you're going to monopod or gimble this lens.
It's lighter than the 200-400... and lighter than the 300 f/2.8... by enough to make hand-holding practical for birding. But when extended to 500mm, its front-weight resists panning.
The VR is the best I have experienced in any Nikon lens... even better than the 70-200 VR2. I was shooting 1/150th at 500mm with no visible loss of acuity.
This is made in China and the telescoping design just begs for trouble if the lens is banged or even rested while extended. I'd urge collapsing it before setting it down horizontally. But brand new, the tolerances are certainly tight and the extension barrel exhibits no wiggle whatsoever. Hope it remains that way over time. This lens is not as robust and "knockabout" as the 200-400 f/4 or 70-200 f/2.8. But I think if you treat it gently, it will maintain collimation.
This lens will never optically replace Nikon's super telephoto primes, of course. But it isn't shamed by them, either. And for the price, this lens will easily satisfy birders/railfans for whom the primes are priced out of reach. If you're going on safari... I don't know if this lens can handle the jostling of a moving vehicle.
For a day at the zoo, this lens would prove too bulky. I'd go with Nikon's lightweight (but razor sharp) 70-200 f/4 plus a 1.4 teleconverter instead.
But if you need 500mm and want it without teleconverters, this lens will not disappoint.
I applied no color or sharpness corrections to the images. I shot raw and converted to JPG in the old, old PhotoShop 4 (not the recent Photoshop 4). So the camera did not get a chance to apply sharpening or any distortion corrections.
All photos were handheld with VR activated in normal mode. All photos are crops with no scaling except any applied by B+H's web site. Nor did I perform an resampling actions, such as tilt or distortion correction. These images are pixel-for-pixel except for JPG compression for uploading here.
PHOTO 1: D7100 ISO 400 210mm 1/1600 f/6.3
The stop sign was the focus point, situated 100 yards away, yet you can read words inside the postman's truck.
PHOTO 2: D4S ISO 640 410mm 1/800 f/6.3
The transformer is an example of high contrast colors which would reveal chromatic aberration if there was any. This was a closer target about 175 feet away. Used single-center-point focus near the top of the transformer canister.
PHOTO 3: D7100 ISO 400 500mm 1/1250th f/5.6
The dam house was 1300 feet/400 meters away. Notice the window grating easily resolved. Perhaps just a hint of blue fringing on the right edge of the conduit running vertically up the side of the telephone pole. I applied no extra contrast to present an honest pre-post sample of what a 19-element lens will deliver. Some contrast is lost with so much glass, of course. But LightRoom and PhotoShop can easily restore contrast if you're willing to sacrifice some dynamic range. But look how the lens captures the slender stems of the flora just to the right of the dam house.
(Edit: B+H won't allow me to add a third image to this review. I'll try to append it once I'm done with this one.
Yes, I would recommend this to a friend
Excellent ValueBy Chipfrom Westchester, NYVerified ReviewerWas front-focusing on my D7100. But on D3x and D4s it is spot-on and the center sharpness (at f/6.3) edges out the 200-400 (at f/5.6) even at 500. No perceptible CA! This I did not expect in a lens at this price.I don't have the new 80-400 VRII. But I did have the 80-400 VR and this lens outperforms the 80-400 VR by a wide margin optically.Now this lens is not perfect. The cneter of balance changes with zoom and the included foot is really not long enough. Put a long ARCA plate on the foot if you're going to monopod or gimble this lens.It's lighter than the 200-400... and lighter than the 300 f/2.8... by enough to make hand-holding practical for birding. But when extended to 500mm, its front-weight resists panning.The VR is the best I have experienced in any Nikon lens... even better than the 70-200 VR2. I was shooting 1/150th at 500mm with no visible loss of acuity.This is made in China and the telescoping design just begs for trouble if the lens is banged or even rested while extended. I'd urge collapsing it before setting it down horizontally. But brand new, the tolerances are certainly tight and the extension barrel exhibits no wiggle whatsoever. Hope it remains that way over time. This lens is not as robust and "knockabout" as the 200-400 f/4 or 70-200 f/2.8. But I think if you treat it gently, it will maintain collimation. This lens will never optically replace Nikon's super telephoto primes, of course. But it isn't shamed by them, either. And for the price, this lens will easily satisfy birders/railfans for whom the primes are priced out of reach. If you're going on safari... I don't know if this lens can handle the jostling of a moving vehicle.For a day at the zoo, this lens would prove too bulky. I'd go with Nikon's lightweight (but razor sharp) 70-200 f/4 plus a 1.4 teleconverter instead.But if you need 500mm and want it without teleconverters, this lens will not disappoint.I applied no color or sharpness corrections to the images. I shot raw and converted to JPG in the old, old PhotoShop 4 (not the recent Photoshop 4). So the camera did not get a chance to apply sharpening or any distortion corrections. All photos were handheld with VR activated in normal mode. All photos are crops with no scaling except any applied by B+H's web site. Nor did I perform an resampling actions, such as tilt or distortion correction. These images are pixel-for-pixel except for JPG compression for uploading here.PHOTO 1: D7100 ISO 400 210mm 1/1600 f/6.3The stop sign was the focus point, situated 100 yards away, yet you can read words inside the postman's truck. PHOTO 2: D4S ISO 640 410mm 1/800 f/6.3The transformer is an example of high contrast colors which would reveal chromatic aberration if there was any. This was a closer target about 175 feet away. Used single-center-point focus near the top of the transformer canister.PHOTO 3: D7100 ISO 400 500mm 1/1250th f/5.6The dam house was 1300 feet/400 meters away. Notice the window grating easily resolved. Perhaps just a hint of blue fringing on the right edge of the conduit running vertically up the side of the telephone pole. I applied no extra contrast to present an honest pre-post sample of what a 19-element lens will deliver. Some contrast is lost with so much glass, of course. But LightRoom and PhotoShop can easily restore contrast if you're willing to sacrifice some dynamic range. But look how the lens captures the slender stems of the flora just to the right of the dam house.(Edit: B+H won't allow me to add a third image to this review. I'll try to append it once I'm done with this one.Yes, I would recommend this to a friend
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