200-500f5.6 Priced Under $1,400: Are You Excited?

trolley

trolley said:

I will be excited tomorrow - that's when it arrives
Not sure the wife will be quite so excited though

The transport company messed up, so now it's tomorrow!

heartyfisher

trolley

So first thoughts (compared to the 300mm f4 AFS-IFED):
It's feckin huge! I'm going to need a new bag - well, wider at least. And heavy - like a bag of coal is heavy!
Autofocus in good light (we actually had sunshine last night) was good. Didn't really get a chance for BIF, but I'm sure it'll be OK. And with the TC14E-II on, it still worked well, although AF was a bit slower I think. And even with that lot on & set to DX crop (so 1050mm f8) I could magnify the image in View NX & use it for bird id. I'm not claiming that the IQ was brilliant but it didn't degrade as much as my old Sigma 150-500 without a TCE.
And I refused to tell my wife how much it was, so she hasn't complained - yet

dissent

Make sure you mention what a 500/4 prime goes for, before you tell her the price of the 200-500. Then it sounds quite reasonable, actually.

Photobug

+1 to what @dissent said. Got to always sell your investment .

Ironheart

Or just lie

retread

Lies will just get you into more trouble when she finally finds out and she will.

Ironheart

Voice of experience?

trolley

It's my money - or so I'm told

John_B_Gouge

Mine arrived this week, hoping to shoot some wildlife tomorrow, it is a heavy lens!

Photobug

Local dealer will price match B&H/Adorama, but can't do 4% via Rewards program but will provide discount on the LowePro case. Looks like I am ordering from B&H. I like to support the local "brick & mortar" but there is $124+ difference.

trolley

John_B_Gouge said:

Mine arrived this week, hoping to shoot some wildlife tomorrow, it is a heavy lens!

Not only heavy. I've just bought a bigger bag (Lowepro Flipside 500 AW) to cart everything around in!

John_B_Gouge

trolley said:

John_B_Gouge said:

Mine arrived this week, hoping to shoot some wildlife tomorrow, it is a heavy lens!

Not only heavy. I've just bought a bigger bag (Lowepro Flipside 500 AW) to cart everything around in!

It just fits in my Flipside 400AW attached to my D750 with the lens hood reversed
Still room around it for other bits and pieces so the 500AW should be ideal

PB_PM

Heck, I put a 300mm F2.8 in a Flipside 300 (bigger and heavier than the 200-500) and it fits just fine, albeit without the camera body attached.

trolley

It was the width at the front end with the lens hood that was the problem. In the 400 I didn't think I had much more room than in my mini Trekker

Photobug

I have NAS real bad. Gave up on the local dealer and placed an order for the 200-500 lens last night. Ships on May 5 since they have been closed. Guess I need to order a lens plate from RRS. I ordered the 95mm B+W filter 2 months ago from Adorama and it's still on back order. Hopefully the filter shows up soon.

Someone posted a link to the Ape Case Neoprene Camera Strap, $12.99, for use with the LowePro 13x32 lens case. I looked it over and it looks more comfortable then the strap that comes with the LowePro case. The nice thing about the case and the strap, it won't cost me any thing since I am a B&H Rewards member. I just have to wait the 4-6 weeks for the coupon to order them. Can't wait.

Rusty

I too recently got the 200-500 and like others have mentioned its heavy and big.

Finding a bag (within my parameters) that would accept the lens with body, D7200 no grip, attached was not easy. If you haven't seen it check out the thinktank turnstyle 20. Wildlife is about all I'm after so there's a lot of walking and this bag is pretty comfortable so much so I would get the smaller version for my other set up.
I am surprised the combo fits in the bag but it does. Good luck

dissent

I got a Think Tank Glass Limo for general transport of the 200-500 on one of my DX bodies. Helpful that there is room for another lens and other goodies too.

trolley

God knows if this will work, but anyway:
Here's 3 images from the 200-500mm f5.6 on my D800. They're 100% cropped (I hope).
The woodpecker was about 40 feet up a tree and the base of the tree is about 25 feet from me (if you like trig). It was handheld and taken in FX. s196.photobucket.com/user/trolley_photo/library/200-500
The goldfinch was also handheld at 500mm (maybe with VR on - I can't remember. Distance about 13 feet. s196.photobucket.com/user/trolley_photo/library/200-500
The sparrow was taken with a TCE-14EII on and dx sensor crop. s196.photobucket.com/user/trolley_photo/library/200-500
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Photobug

Trolley - nice images. I am gong to have to look a tthe Think Tank Glass cases.

DaveyJ

Well there sure is no padding at all in the Think Tank sling packs......I am using the D7200 with either the 70-300 or the 200-500......

Photobug

The 200-500 lens arrived this morning. Holy smoke, the box is 18" tall. My wife took one look at the monster and said, exactly how much did you pay for that lens? After opening the box and seeing the packaging I under stand why the box was so tall.

That soft bag is certainly not a case. Now I need my 4% Rewards to order the case and Ape Case Neoprene Strap.

Took a few pictures this afternoon...WOW. Can't wait to get outside and shoot some what life with this lens.

Fatcharlie

The threads on the collar came off, Nikon Support repaired the collar at no cost.

Very pleased with the lens, works great on the D4 but takes some care to work on the D810.

framer

Photobug said:

Trolley - nice images. I am gong to have to look a tthe Think Tank Glass cases.

I have both the glass limo and the glass taxi models. Don't overlook the smaller Glass Taxi case I'd bet it would do the job. If you want to carry the lens w/attached body you might need the limo.

framer

spraynpray

£100 off in the UK at the moment. :-(