Heading to Homer and want to bring a backup lens for my D500. Would you suggest the Nikon 200-500 or the Nikon 80-40? The tour leader told us to bring a 70-200 for most of the shots but a longer lens for portraits, etc.
Sorry to be bringing up such old gear but that is what I have now.
You're gonna get answers all over the map on this. I can only speak to the 200-500VR, which was my single most used wildlife lens for a decade (mostly on a D500). The VR is still perhaps the best I've experienced, and the unit I had was extremely sharp @ 500/f5.6. I have had some pretty big exotic primes, so those are my comps.
Some don't care for the size and handling...never bothered me (and I was kayaking with it a lot). AF speed was fine. Not blazing but tracks well...did BIF quite well. A lot of that has to do with learning the gear. Not enough emphasis on that IMO.
Anyway...the lens is a bit better on a Z9 if you ever go that route. I'm sure some folks will share their 80-400G experiences soon.
Thanks for your reply. I will stick with the 200-500 as I use that most of the time. I was just looking for something lighter. Not getting any younger or stronger.
The 80-400 seems like a true backup to the 70-200 if that's the lens that you'll use the most, and it's got the extra reach you might need. The 200-500 doesn't really help if your 70-200 kicks the bucket.
