p.38 #1 · Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR
From today in some harsh light. Still working on dialing the AF in on the D7100 and having a tough time but I think its the body and not the lens. Ran into a newspaper photographer from Birmingham today using the 200-500 f5.6 and he loves it. This coming from someone that typically uses a 200-400 f4 and a 400 f2.8 I think that says a lot.
p.38 #7 · Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR
Lance,
Your shot has so much more detail than I would expect from an image taken at 7m. The photo really is lovely, and would be an amazing advertisement piece for Nikon
p.38 #10 · Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR
OwlsEyes wrote:
Lance,
Your shot has so much more detail than I would expect from an image taken at 7m. The photo really is lovely, and would be an amazing advertisement piece for Nikon
regards,
bruce
Thank you very much for your kind comment, Bruce. Much appreciated!
And as an advertisemnt piece for Nikon, all I can say to them is, "my bank account is waiting!" .
p.38 #13 · Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR
And I said in an earlier post, that the lens does not produce quality feather detail. But then again, I failed to note the "Lance B exception". Truly amazing, Lance.
However, let's not get carried away......Lance works wonders with any piece of equipment. He is a truly remarkable photographer....unequalled in my opinion.
p.38 #14 · Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR
ariel777 wrote:
And I said in an earlier post, that the lens does not produce quality feather detail. But then again, I failed to note the "Lance B exception". Truly amazing, Lance.
However, let's not get carried away......Lance works wonders with any piece of equipment. He is a truly remarkable photographer....unequalled in my opinion.
Thank you very much for your very generous comments, Ariel. Much appreciated!
p.38 #20 · Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR
I had a chance to test the 200-500 this morning at the beach shooting surfers. My main goal was to see how it would compare with a 300 f2.8 and 1.7TC shooting at f5.6 from the same location at the same time of day, which means harsh back light conditions.
1) Used a tripod with a video head
2) I did not have the 200-500 lens hood
3) VR on in sport mode
4) All shots at f5.6
5) Body was a D7200 (with 1.3x crop on)
If your not familiar with surfing, surfers move quickly in all three planes, but humans are a lot bigger than birds.
After reading that the AF speed wasn't all that fast on the 200-500, I assumed the worst. In reality it's not bad at all and faster than I expected. Most of the time I was able to nail focus, in the conditions above.
I probably do get a slight higher hit rate with the 300 f2.8 and the 1.7TC. These days with the D7200 there is less need to use the 1.7TC, because I shoot in crop mode for the additional FPS. Certainly build and AF speed with the 1.4TC is better on the prime.
Basically I achieved similar results in terms of over all IQ and sharpness. I had the zoom set to about 400mm with an effective 800mm FOV. I used AFC with 21point dynamic AF, which seems to work well on the D7200.
The lens seems to handle real world conditions with moving targets just fine. When shooting video, the versatility of the zoom was nice. I think the lens is a great value, its worth having if you prefer to shoot with out TC's and can't afford the prime. I used a RRS MRP-113 plate and it balanced nicely with the stock foot.
Beautiful photography!
. 
A most beautiful start to that relationship, Birdmistress!!