Lighter 400mm f/2.8 anywhere in sight?

marcsantacruz

With Canon and Sony coming in with ~6.3lb (2.8kg) lenses, it's kind of a joke having an 8.4lb (3.8kg) Nikon offering. it's a great lens, but 1kg is a lot of weight to save.

Any hope of relief soon?

The 500 f/5.6 PF is very light, but starting to get pretty slow for birds in flight or sunrise/sunset wildlife photography. A 500 f/4 (or 400 2.8 + 1.4tc) to f/5.6 is half the shutter speed.

PB_PM

The 400mm F2.8E just came out less than a year ago, I doubt they’ll update it any time soon.

WestEndFoto

I shoot the 400 2.8E and it is quite a weight saving compared to the 400 2.8G. With a monopod it is no trouble at all. As PB_PM said, Nikon just upgraded it, so it is unlikely that there would be a replacement soon.

snakebunk

I don't know the exact date but the 400/2.8E has been out at least since the beginning of 2015.

The new long lenses from Sony and Canon are indeed exceptional. I didn't think it was possible to reduce the weight by that much, one more time. I hope Nikon will come out with something similar soon, but they still have some long E lenses missing and the new mirrorless system to work on. I am afraid it will take a few years.

PB_PM

Has it been 3+ years already, felt like yesterday... maybe they will update it. Long term I'm sure more light weight stuff like come as the Z-mount lineup fills out.

CaMeRaQuEsT

Don't think it'll happen, not with an F mount anyways...

WestEndFoto

The difference between the F and Z mount on a super telephoto is a rounding error. The differences only really matter at the wide end.

PB_PM

Unless of course the new F2.8 is a PF lens, that would do it.

snakebunk

Like WestEndFoto says the design of super tele lenses is pretty much the same regardless of mount. I think it would be great if Nikon could make them in two versions, one for F and one for Z mount.

HankB

Ignoring the PF factor for a moment, do the design constraints to deal with F mount's narrow throat make a super telephoto heavier?

WestEndFoto

HankB said:

Ignoring the PF factor for a moment, do the design constraints to deal with F mount's narrow throat make a super telephoto heavier?

No.