FYI: the Nikkor is VERY handholdable with excellent balance on the D3s (and I assume on the D4). It's similar to the Nikkor 200-400VR in handling, just feels a bit heavier.
That "balance" for handholding is a bit of a myth, and has no foundation either in practice of photography or in physics.
What needs to happen in order to facilitate handholding is to place much of the lens/camera (setup) mass close to the photographer's body. Such desired, when handholding, proximal shift in mass often results in a major imbalance of the setup on a gimbal head.....because those two scenarios, as well as requirements, are quite different.
All Canon's MKII supertelephoto lenses have such proximal mass shift by virtue of their design/overall weight reduction. That is a very good development for handholding, although it causes some difficulties with on-gimbal balancing.
Lastly, please do not start selling your 600IIs and 800Ls yet .......the above is just my reflection/speculation in response to some recent Canon and Nikon long lens developments.
Petkal aka Supertelemaster
But how else can one afford to buy the new kid on the block.
Seriously the lens may look good and have terrific IQ and one who shoots in both camps could use it on both Canon and Nikon bodies but for that price I'd rather save a lot of cash and pick up a 200-400L. The seductive power of the darkside is getting weak and losing its 36 MP shine.
As a matter of fact, we do not even have to tremblingly await the prices of those new long lenses. I feel the existing 800L MkI price adjustment is in the making already.
Folks, get your 800L while you can at a low price of $13,250.
PetKal wrote:
Robert, I think we better put that kinda sentiment on hold until the 200-400L price, 800L MkII price and 400 DO MkII price become known.
Exactly Peter!
Also, remember the 800VR will sell for less than then the $18k MSRP. How much less is a good question, but that's still one heck of a lot of green. The reality is that all of the newly redesigned superteles are up in price so we may as well start getting used to paying way over $10k going forward. With all the money printing going on around the world Inflation is finally starting to hit home.
Some random thoughts on the 800VR...
Hots:
- I'm not too surprised but none-the-less intrigued that Nikon chose to use fluorite, once the exclusive domain of Canon in the photography world. Good move Nikon.
- Interesting idea to offer the lens with a dedicated high-performance 1.25x TC.
- MTF chart! Wow!
Nots:
- Price (no surprise there)
- weight: Nikon chose not to jettison the front meniscus element which is disappointing. Even if that would have required an optical redesign it would have been worth it -- low weight is hugely important to me. I'm worried that Nikon didn't put weight reduction high enough on their supertele redesign needs list.
- MFD still sucks.
The optical performance of the 800VR looks very promising, but I have no intentions of ponying up that kind of cash for this baby at this point in time. Rather, I'm waiting for either a redesigned 500VRIII or 600VRIII with dedicated TC to go with a 36MP D4x(!), or a high-performance high resolution Canon body, in which case I may just have to come back to the "light" side. In fact the only reason I'm not shooting Canon right now is the absence of a suitable body for my needs. I just love my D800.
Gary, if Nikon succeeds in setting a new standard of IQ excellence with Nikkor 800, then I think the lens will become highly desireable, and quite a few folks will go for it.....beg, borrow or steal.
I am waiting for 800L MkII and 1DXs.......I think those two items will show us all who owns the world's DSLR technology.
PetKal wrote:
Gary, if Nikon succeeds in setting a new standard of IQ excellence with Nikkor 800, then I think the lens will become highly desireable, and quite a few folks will go for it.....beg, borrow or steal.
I think you're right Peter, if the 800VR is all it's cracked up to be it certainly will sell better than those with sticker shock might think at the moment. A few years ago I paid $9000 for my 500VR (the Loonie was lower at the time). Many thought that price was ridiculous...now it seems like a bargain compared to the newer superteles. Attitudes do change with time.
But more important to me is the possibility that Nikon might "pull out the stops" on a redesigned 500VRIII or 600VRIII -- THAT's what I'm hoping for.
PetKal wrote:
I am waiting for 800L MkII and 1DXs.......I think those two items will show us all who owns the world's DSLR technology.
That would be a very nice combo for sure...just need more pixels.
Interesting discussion on price but if you look back at the value of the US$ to the Yen when the last series of Superteles were introduced they are actually cheaper in yen now. The difference is the yen has clobbered the U$ in recent years. Since 2003 the yen has been as low as 140Y/$ and a few months ago was 75Y/$. Present is about 90Y/$
But how else can one afford to buy the new kid on the block.
