p.148 #1 · Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR
Here's a fairly tight crop (from the short end of the zoom) of the claws of a large male Kangaroo about 30 meters away IIRC.... seems like a good reason not to mess around with these bad boys.... D800 with the 200-500VR, one of the few lenses in my kit that never seems to disappoint.
p.148 #8 · Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR
My question: I am looking at the 200-500mm lens for my D3 and D800E. I have read a lot of the performance variability on new lenses from Nikon over the years. Is that still going on or do they have their processes/quality variations together now that they have had several years of manufacturing and assembly? How many people here have had to send back the first lens back for one that worked for you?
p.148 #9 · Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR
@DesertDiesel - can only give you my experience. Bought a used 200-500 from KEH to pair with my D7200. Other than a very loose manual focus ring, no other issues with it. Image quality meets my needs. Probably could have returned because of the loose ring, but since my eyes won't let me manual focus anyway, just taped it so it wouldn't move.
p.148 #13 · Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR
DesertDiesel wrote:
My question: I am looking at the 200-500mm lens for my D3 and D800E. I have read a lot of the performance variability on new lenses from Nikon over the years. Is that still going on or do they have their processes/quality variations together now that they have had several years of manufacturing and assembly? How many people here have had to send back the first lens back for one that worked for you?
I believe it is much more likely than not, that you will get a perfect copy your first try.
When I settled on mine, I think I sent one back (during the process). And maybe I should have AF fine tuned that one a little more, before making the decision. I now can AF fine tune a lens rather quickly. But when I first started, it was tedious drudgery. BTW, Trenchmonkey (Will) has an excellent handle on how to AF one of these in a few minutes. Short and sweet.
I may be wrong, but I believe that some of the people who reject some copies of this lens, simply do not understand the *reason for the need for AF fine tuning*, or *do not bother* with AF fine tuning. I emphasize the word *some* and am *not* referring to anyone on this forum.
Just because a brand new copy of a Nikon lens, is a considerable number of increments out of AF, does not mean that the optics are not tack sharp.
Just giving my opinion; i.e. I am not trying to start a big debate. But perhaps someone can add to this, to further help you.
p.148 #18 · Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR
nuclearjock wrote:
So would you say the 200-500 takes the 1.4 tc well??
Just kidding. I was pleasantly surprised when I tried that setup for myself. Beautiful shots.
Thanks.
I say it takes it well at f/10. At f/9 is okay most of the time. I don't like it at f/8 wide open, seems to have weird out of focus transition with almost a double image. And with these tiny birds that OOF area often falls on part of the bird and looks bad. I have some f/8 images that look good if focus is nailed and DOF covers the entire subject. f/10 is the sweet spot but that requires a lot of light which always limits its use. Still on sunny days I like using it as needed.
