suteetat wrote:
Certainly I think 100-400GM is the best zoom that I ever tried and does not give up much in term of sharpness to the top primes. Couple it with 1.4x TC should still be perfectly great. I have not try 2.0x TC with it and A7r iii yet. I wonder how the focus is.
However, I shoot mostly birds and for that I am almost always at 500-700mm range with my 500mm, more often with 1.4tc on it and some cropping. So I don't really have as much use for 100-400 right now.
I had a blast with it in Kenya though. Unfortunately my next safari trip won't be until 2020 ...Show more →
Per my experience, The 2X TC works with A7Riii but the AF is finicky, but works great with A9, even at F11 it tracks the birds fine, sharpness is acceptable but noise becomes an issue due to higher shutter speed forces the higher ISO. So I rarely use the 2x with 100-400 GM but would be great with 400 F2.8 GM. The sharpness of the 100-400 GM is very closed to my Nikon 600 E FL, just does not like the busy bokeh at the higher aperture.
suteetat wrote:
Certainly I think 100-400GM is the best zoom that I ever tried and does not give up much in term of sharpness to the top primes. Couple it with 1.4x TC should still be perfectly great. I have not try 2.0x TC with it and A7r iii yet. I wonder how the focus is.
However, I shoot mostly birds and for that I am almost always at 500-700mm range with my 500mm, more often with 1.4tc on it and some cropping. So I don't really have as much use for 100-400 right now.
I had a blast with it in Kenya though. Unfortunately my next safari trip won't be until 2020 ...Show more →
Per my experience, The 2X TC works with A7Riii but the AF is finicky, but works great with A9, even at F11 it tracks the birds fine, sharpness is acceptable but noise becomes an issue due to higher shutter speed forces the higher ISO. So I rarely use the 2x with 100-400 GM but would be great with 400 F2.8 GM. The sharpness of the 100-400 GM is very closed to my Nikon 600 E FL, just does not like the busy bokeh at the higher aperture.
ke3vg wrote:
Per my experience, The 2X TC works with A7Riii but the AF is finicky, but works great with A9, even at F11 it tracks the birds fine, sharpness is acceptable but noise becomes an issue due to higher shutter speed forces the higher ISO. So I rarely use the 2x with 100-400 GM but would be great with 400 F2.8 GM. The sharpness of the 100-400 GM is very closed to my Nikon 600 E FL, just does not like the busy bokeh at the higher aperture.
I had a chance to play with 400/2.8GM for an hour with 2x TC on A7r iii and it was impressive. It was sharp sharp sharp. Only had a bit more CA than I expected but easily correctible. Bokeh was very pleasing. For 3kg with little to no compromise with 1.4x, 2x TC, there is a lot going for it.
Oh well, no budget for that for now If Nikon is not following suit with lighter weight super tele like Sony and Canon and if animal eye AF works really well and if Sony finally make a body that is comfortable in my hand for fast action shots, it would be really tempted to move to Sony for all my tele stuffs
But for now 500PF gives me a pretty good compromise when 500/4e FL is not suitable due to size and weight.
suteetat wrote:
I had a chance to play with 400/2.8GM for an hour with 2x TC on A7r iii and it was impressive. It was sharp sharp sharp. Only had a bit more CA than I expected but easily correctible. Bokeh was very pleasing. For 3kg with little to no compromise with 1.4x, 2x TC, there is a lot going for it.
Oh well, no budget for that for now If Nikon is not following suit with lighter weight super tele like Sony and Canon and if animal eye AF works really well and if Sony finally make a body that is comfortable in my hand for fast action shots, it would be really tempted to move to Sony for all my tele stuffs
But for now 500PF gives me a pretty good compromise when 500/4e FL is not suitable due to size and weight....Show more →
Suteetat, great to hear your experience with 400mm and TC, I can't wait to get my hands on it. Just spoke to my camera shop and according to him, I should have it by the end of next week.
Currently I use Nikon 600 E FL, great lens with handhold able weight for few minutes at a time but love to have 400 with 2.8 for great looking bokeh and easy to maneuver through vegetation and mud. I have A9 and A7Riii and very happy with it performance so if this lens works out, I will be moving to Sony completely. Will see what happens.
thanks again for sharing your experience.
Genes Home wrote:
PLEASE NOTE: This is a thread about the new Nikon 500mm PF lens.
PLEASE TAKE COMMENTS AND DISCUSSION ABOUT OTHER THINGS TO THE APPROPRIATE FORUM.
I'm not sure who made you moderator.
I really DON'T CARE about your Sony and Canon stuff, or even about your Nikon 600mm lens.
Others do enjoy reading comparisons with other lenses and how they work/don't work with certain teleconverters, how the bokeh is, etc., so long as it doesn't stray too far from the original topic.
More sad news reports for Canada supply...I think Brad is a little off here as he orders from TheCameraStore and as far as I understood from them it was their store that only got one lens, not all of Canada....still....with NPS orders all taking priority I don't think a 500PF is in my future....basically if SONY announces what I want, Nikon will lose a $5K sale that they otherwise would have had.....
http://www.naturalart.ca/voice/blog.html :
"What about the 500mm f5.6 PF? Man, am I ever getting a pile of email about this one - and most emails are expressing hope that I will be reviewing the lens. So...
• Yes, I am getting a 500mm f4E PF and YES I will be doing a full review of that lens. But...
• It appears that Nikon's production schedule for this lens doesn't match demand for the lens too well. In Canada the "scuttlebutt" (2nd hand and I can't vouch for its accuracy) is that only ONE 500mm f5.6E PF will be shipped into the country in 2018. IF that's true, you can probably bet that lens won't go to me - as unbelievable as that seems! ;-)
Note that Nikon Canada does have a Priority Purchase Plan for NPS members for the 500mm f5.6E PF and I AM on that list. So as soon as I can lay my hands on a 500 PF I will begin testing it. But no promises when that will be...your guess really is as good as mine!"
arbitrage wrote:
More sad news reports for Canada supply...I think Brad is a little off here as he orders from TheCameraStore and as far as I understood from them it was their store that only got one lens, not all of Canada....still....with NPS orders all taking priority I don't think a 500PF is in my future....basically if SONY announces what I want, Nikon will lose a $5K sale that they otherwise would have had.....
http://www.naturalart.ca/voice/blog.html :
"What about the 500mm f5.6 PF? Man, am I ever getting a pile of email about this one - and most emails are expressing hope that I will be reviewing the lens. So...
• Yes, I am getting a 500mm f4E PF and YES I will be doing a full review of that lens. But...
• It appears that Nikon's production schedule for this lens doesn't match demand for the lens too well. In Canada the "scuttlebutt" (2nd hand and I can't vouch for its accuracy) is that only ONE 500mm f5.6E PF will be shipped into the country in 2018. IF that's true, you can probably bet that lens won't go to me - as unbelievable as that seems! ;-)
Note that Nikon Canada does have a Priority Purchase Plan for NPS members for the 500mm f5.6E PF and I AM on that list. So as soon as I can lay my hands on a 500 PF I will begin testing it. But no promises when that will be...your guess really is as good as mine!"...Show more →
It's a real shame that they can't get more lenses to a country with what I suppose is a not insignificant wildlife shooter population, Geoff. I'm particularly baffled by this complete lack of supply, because over here, it wasn't hard to get one at all. I did jump on the pre-order train rather late, but my camera store managed to secure a copy for me within days after the release. I get that Japan is a larger market than Canada, but still I find it weird that they couldn't channel more supply to you guys.
arbitrage wrote:
More sad news reports for Canada supply...I think Brad is a little off here as he orders from TheCameraStore and as far as I understood from them it was their store that only got one lens, not all of Canada....still....with NPS orders all taking priority I don't think a 500PF is in my future....basically if SONY announces what I want, Nikon will lose a $5K sale that they otherwise would have had.....
They already lost mine. I guess they had to supply one to back up their claim that the lens would be available mid-September in Canada.
Genes Home wrote:
PLEASE NOTE: This is a thread about the new Nikon 500mm PF lens.
PLEASE TAKE COMMENTS AND DISCUSSION ABOUT OTHER THINGS TO THE APPROPRIATE FORUM.
I really DON'T CARE about your Sony and Canon stuff, or even about your Nikon 600mm lens.
Thank you
As someone who's considering an upgrade to my long lens situation i've found it very interesting reading other people's experiences and different reasons for their choices. If all I want to hear is how the 500 PF is the best lens ever produced I'll read a Nikon brochure.
A bit of a bummer. I tried 500PF with Z7 and FTZ adapter. AF works well but at least for static object. I have not had a chance to try any tracking yet.
However, looks like the problematic shutterspeed/VR issue is the same on Z7.
L to R SS 1/200, 1/100, 1/40.
I tried 1/60 also and it looked about the same as 1/100.
At this rate, for handhold, I would not go below 1/200. Unfortunately, my hand is not
steady enough at 1/40 but still better than 1/100-1/60.
100% cropped from the center on a building about 200m away @f5.6
at close distance, 1/160 appears ok as well.
F5.6, 1/160, iso 180.
This is an uncropped picture, I just adjusted shadow and exposure a bit in NEF and
downsized for jpg.
at close distance, 1/160 appears ok as well.
F5.6, 1/160, iso 180.
This is an uncropped picture, I just adjusted shadow and exposure a bit in NEF and
downsized for jpg.
Your pigeons just look like our North American pigeons!
Genes Home wrote:
PLEASE NOTE: This is a thread about the new Nikon 500mm PF lens.
PLEASE TAKE COMMENTS AND DISCUSSION ABOUT OTHER THINGS TO THE APPROPRIATE FORUM.
I really DON'T CARE about your Sony and Canon stuff, or even about your Nikon 600mm lens.
Thank you
Maybe you should try reading the FM Forum rules and guidelines:
The rules are very clear and simple to follow. If you do not agree or adhere to these rules, then you will not be permitted to post. FM moderators reserve the right to ban, revoke privileges, edit, move, delete or lock any thread that does not comply to the rules below:
If Nikon is not following suit with lighter weight super tele like Sony and Canon and if animal eye AF works really well and if Sony finally make a body that is comfortable in my hand for fast action shots, it would be really tempted to move to Sony for all my tele stuffs 
