80-400mm will be the best overall choice. It is fast to focus and VR is very good and the zoom range works well for the large mammals and birds found in Alaska. The 200-500mm is another option but I found its autofocus to be less adept than the 80-400mm on my D500 camera.
The Sigma and Tamron to me were inferior in overall use to the Nikon 200-500mm lens. The new Sigma 200-600mm is an option but an extremely heavy one requiring the use of a tripod or at least a monopod much of the time.
A 100-500mm lens would be ideal but no one makes a lens with this focal length range. I have gotten acceptable performance with the 80-400mm lens with the TC-14 III teleconverter with my cameras, which included the D7200.
For overseas travel I love using the 500mm PF along with the 80-400mm zoom lens. They are for my needs a perfect combination and make for a comparatively low weight and compact kit to haul around.
I recently cruised to Alaska and did several wildlife excursions. I have a D850 and rented the Nikon 500mm f/.5.6 PF, and I'm glad I did. I also took along my 24-70 f/2.8, 70-200 f/2.8, 1.4x and 1.7x TCs. I was pretty well covered for everything I encountered.
elkhornsun wrote:
The Sigma and Tamron to me were inferior in overall use to the Nikon 200-500mm lens. The new Sigma 200-600mm is an option but an extremely heavy one requiring the use of a tripod or at least a monopod much of the time.
I have a Sigma S 150-600mm, Tamron 150-600mm G2, and the Nikon 200-500mm (don't ask lol). I also find the 200-500mm better in overall use. FWIW, the new Sigma is 60-600mm and does cover the 100-500mm range very nicely. But as you said, it's on the heavy side.
elkhornsun wrote:
For overseas travel I love using the 500mm PF along with the 80-400mm zoom lens. They are for my needs a perfect combination and make for a comparatively low weight and compact kit to haul around.
The PF lens are definitely difficult to beat for their performance, size, and weight.
dan.h wrote:
The top one is the A7 and Sigma 150-600 C, while the bottom one is the D850 and 80-400mm. From what I know of both lens, they get softer towards the edges, but the Sigma more so. This leads me to believe the top image is not cropped as much (if at all), while the bottom image is, as the edges look better, as if I'm looking at just the center of the original. Also, the definition in the out of focus areas look more well defined and more in focus in the bottom image leading me to believe it's the shorter focal length.
The image taken with the Sigma 150-600 C looks to have some kind of filter on it, which appears to be degrading your image. It would be difficult to compare as such. Both lens are capable and can provide good results. I may give the edge to the 80-400mm as the better lens however. It's better built and easier to travel with as well, but if you need 600mm, then it's moot.
At 7.7 lbs the 180-400mm is not something I would use with it being mounted on a tripod with a gimbal head. The advantage of the 80-400mm, 200-500mm, and 500mm PF for me has been the ability to shoot with them hand held and cover situations far more quickly than if I had to adjust the location and height of a tripod and level it or when shooting from a small boat.
I owned the 200-400mm lens and used it 100% of the time mounted on a tripod. It was fine for motor sports where I would set up for a specific place on the track and did not have to be mobile.
I do not worry about edge to edge sharpness at is very seldom something that will be noticeable in my wildlife or landscape images. In fact there are times where I will apply slight blurring or darkening at the edges so that the viewer is drawn more to the subject.
Make sure you get the AF-S NIKKOR 80-400 mm 1:4,5-5,6G ED VR, not the predecessor. Also, if you buy a used copy, make sure that it is in good shape, including the VR unit. My hunch is that this lens shows a little bit more variation or is more likely to misalignment due to (heavy) use, compared to Nikons 10k telezooms.
I'll just note that my Nikon 200-500 is much sharper, focuses faster and more accurately, and has much better VR than the Tamron 150-600 G1 or G2 models that I have owned.
