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

jimo

Take the 200-500mm lens couple it with a TC14 then put it on a D500 and then do a AF Fine Tune adjustment. This is what you get.

Photobug

Oh my gosh jimo. Excellent shot. I was on a photo shoot Monday with my new 200-500 and the weather was BAD. Did get some deer and some birds but will have to crop them before posting. On the D7100 monitor they looked good and on my 23" monitor looks good, better than expected. Hopefully over the next 2 weeks I will have some to post. None as good as your shot. It's well done.

One_Oh_Four

Wow, Jim! Super!

I seriously start to think that I'd better sell my 80-400 AF-S and get me a 200-500..... Are there people out here that have / had both lenses and can make a first-hand experience comparison in image quality between both lenses?

The fact that the 200-500 is much bigger and heavier doesn't matter to me.

Cheers,
Erik.

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First outing with the new lens.

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Looking forward to cropping this image.

heartyfisher

One_Oh_Four said:

Wow, Jim! Super!

I seriously start to think that I'd better sell my 80-400 AF-S and get me a 200-500..... Are there people out here that have / had both lenses and can make a first-hand experience comparison in image quality between both lenses?

The fact that the 200-500 is much bigger and heavier doesn't matter to me.

Cheers,
Erik.

The 80-400 is a 5X vs a 2.5X . I think that is the explanation for the IQ of the 200-500 being slightly better. I think i have seen several reviews where it does show that the 200-500 is a bit better .. not that it can be seen clearly when you use them by themselves but you can see it when the TC are used. however I am not sure about the AF speeds and accuracy , I am not certain but I think the 80-400 AF may be better.

Photobug

Next series of photos taken with my D7100 and the new 200-500mm lens.

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All of the above shots are in the wild at Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in Necedah, Wisconsin. A monopod was used on all shots.

Photobug

Have used the new 200-500mm lens for shooting wildlife for the past two days. Impressive IQ. Definitely easier to use with the RRS lens plate. Make a nice flat surface for use on fence post to shoot buffalo and a great carry handle. Hopefully the zoom collar loosens up with usage. Just a tad stiff.

PB_PM

How do you find the focusing speed? Has anyone compared it to the AF-S 300mm F4D IF-ED? I'm looking to ditch my APO 120-300mm F2.8 HSM EX Sigma, due to it not focusing well on newer bodies, but I'm kind of concerned that the focusing speed of the 200-500 won't be up to snuff.

spraynpray

I think you will have to beg/borrow/steal/hire one PB as in my experience you will not be happy unless and until you try one yourself. I tried on at a show, but that isn't exactly like BIF.

PB_PM

Unfortunately that's not possible, no rental companies here seem to have them (nor nationally), nobody I know has one, and I'm not into theft. I also don't consider testing it in a store good enough for that either, so I'll have to rely on others experience.

Coastalconn

@PB_PM I own the 300 F/4d af-s. I met a guy with the 200-500 and shot with it for about an hour. IMHO the focus speed is very slow on the 200-500 compared to the 300 F4 even with the 1.4x TC. Maybe he has a bad copy, or I'm just really used to the big lenses, but his 200-500 seemed to crawl from minimum to infinity. It tracked fine once you had the target. It was ok if you started in the ball park. But if a bird came whipping by it could not catch it like the 300 F4 can. Optically it seemed very good though..

Ironheart

My experience (in the store, my camera shop doesn't have one for rent yet either) is that the 80-400 (which I have) is way more snappy than the 200-500 on focus, on a D500. If you can set the focus limiter to 6m to infinity, that helps.

The thing that put me off was the weight. It is a beast to handhold for more than a few minutes.

Photobug

PB_PM said:

How do you find the focusing speed? Has anyone compared it to the AF-S 300mm F4D IF-ED? I'm looking to ditch my APO 120-300mm F2.8 HSM EX Sigma, due to it not focusing well on newer bodies, but I'm kind of concerned that the focusing speed of the 200-500 won't be up to snuff.

Been on vacation at two of the best national parks the past 8 days and have used the 200-*500 for 6 or 7 of those days. The focus speed from close up to infinity does take a while but its not that bad. I had no problem tracking moving Bison, Elk, Bald Eagle, and a grey wolf.

I would try the lens at a dealer and see if you can rent one for a long weekend. I am very very pleased with mine. In 2 weeks or so you will start seeing some postings in PAD with this lens.

I have used it on a tripod, mono pod, and held it. The VR worked great for me. I have done a lot of free holding of the lens the past few days and its fine for the first 5 minutes and after that it becomes heavy.

PB_PM

Coastalconn said:

@PB_PM I own the 300 F/4d af-s. I met a guy with the 200-500 and shot with it for about an hour. IMHO the focus speed is very slow on the 200-500 compared to the 300 F4 even with the 1.4x TC. Maybe he has a bad copy, or I'm just really used to the big lenses, but his 200-500 seemed to crawl from minimum to infinity. It tracked fine once you had the target. It was ok if you started in the ball park. But if a bird came whipping by it could not catch it like the 300 F4 can. Optically it seemed very good though..

That's kind of what I figured. The Sigma I have is at least as fast or faster than the AF-S 300mm F4D, so I wouldn't want anything slower than that. Looks like I'll be saving cash for one of the Nikon big boys instead, I think I'd miss the F2.8 for winter shooting anyway.

To be honest none of the sample shots from the 200-500 really blow me away, they kind of fall into the, good enough, but not nick picker good enough. Sadly, I'm a nit picker...

Photobug said:

Been on vacation at two of the best national parks the past 8 days and have used the 200-*500 for 6 or 7 of those days. The focus speed from close up to infinity does take a while but its not that bad. I had no problem tracking moving Bison, Elk, Bald Eagle, and a grey wolf.

I would try the lens at a dealer and see if you can rent one for a long weekend. I am very very pleased with mine. In 2 weeks or so you will start seeing some postings in PAD with this lens.

I have used it on a tripod, mono pod, and held it. The VR worked great for me. I have done a lot of free holding of the lens the past few days and its fine for the first 5 minutes and after that it becomes heavy.

Yeah, just about anything should be able to keep up with big game and large birds, it's the smaller stuff that gets tricky.

Rental or borrowing from a dealer isn't possible, just the nature of being in Western Canada.

VR isn't a selling factor to me, I shoot from a tripod with a gimbal head 98% of the time for wildlife.

Photobug

I wish I could get a gimbal mount. During our 12 days in Grand Tetons and Yellowstone Natural Park, you see wildlife, stop, park, and grab the camera and take pictures. Not too often is there time to set up a tripod and mount the lens on the gimbal mount. Yes, I did see some who did this but they were not moving around throughout the park like we were. They were stationary for hours waiting for BIF or wildlife to appear.

NSXTypeR

I haven't really read the whole thread, but has anyone used this lens with the D500 yet?

spraynpray

I think @rmp has them paired and is pretty pleased with them.

manhattanboy

NSXTypeR said:

I haven't really read the whole thread, but has anyone used this lens with the D500 yet?

I have. It is heavy hand holding that combo but that is the way to go with this lens...better buy bandaids and some pain cream in advance.

Anyone see lensrentals review of this lens's performance? Not bad and completely trashes the 80-400. The Tammy does not look that bad at 400 either. Score one for the cheap teles.

pictureted

I use the 200-500 on a D500 quite frequently. Yes, hand holding works fine, but when possible I prefer a BH-55 and Side-Kick on a 3-Series Tripod.

The D500 focuses the 200-500 significantly better than the D810. The resolution is great wide open at 500mm, where I use it much of the time.