I'm very impressed with the AF-S NIKKOR 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6 G ED VR (1 Viewer)

Neil · Jun 18, 2013

I picked up the lens yesterday and took it out to the mudflats with me today. I also had the D800 back from service ( AF adjusted) and a V2 that I had bought from a friend. I had updated the firmware on the V2 and the FT1 to add Continuous focus.
Although very hot it was a nice morning. The AF is very fast and the color looks good. I used the VR on and off and it seemed very good.
Here are a few photos from today with both cameras.
Neil

Hor Kee · Jun 18, 2013

Lovely shots! How does it perform in low light? I hope the VR in this lens is much better than the older version just as advertised

Pasquier · Jun 18, 2013

Nice pix Neil, thanks for sharing - love the crab and mudskipper - and the skyline - I had forgotten how spectacular HK is,

RMWD · Jun 18, 2013

Nice images Neil. I too love the new 80-400VR and after using it for more than 2 months now am finding it's my preferred lens, though on a D7100. Not tried it properly on my V1 yet. Plenty of examples in my flick signature photo stream page.

Neil · Jun 18, 2013

RMWD said:
Nice images Neil. I too love the new 80-400VR and after using it for more than 2 months now am finding it's my preferred lens, though on a D7100. Not tried it properly on my V1 yet. Plenty of examples in my flick signature photo stream page.

Nice set Rich. If you can get a swift in flight the AFS must be good.
I was taken by surprise by this Great Egret flying by and I only got one frame with the V2 on the 80-400 but was happy with the speed the lens/camera picked it up.
Neil

RJM · Jun 19, 2013

Nice work Neil. These shots with the new firmware improved V2 should certainly make us reconsider digiscoping with a scope. I am still sitting on the fence about getting a V1 or V2. I definitely prefer the V2 handling and higher rez BUT the V1 uses the same battery as my D600 (which I will FINALLY pick up in July 8mos after I bought it, YAY!) and the V1 lens kit is still available new here for only ~JPY20,000 vs ~JPY60,000 for just the V2 body. Which would you choose? Or should I wait for a V3, ha!

Robinl · Jun 19, 2013

Neil, I have the Nikon 300mm F4 lens with 1.4TC combo. Besides the VR how does the 80-400mm compare. Although interested in this lens for my V1 (and D600) it is expensive and would really value opinions from this forum before deciding whether to buy (or not).

Neil · Jun 20, 2013

Robinl said:
Neil, I have the Nikon 300mm F4 lens with 1.4TC combo. Besides the VR how does the 80-400mm compare. Although interested in this lens for my V1 (and D600) it is expensive and would really value opinions from this forum before deciding whether to buy (or not).

I would never give up my 300/4 AFS lens for any Nikon lens. It's the best walk around birding lens I have. I haven't tested it against the new zoom yet but my feeling is with the 1.4x it has similar sharpness and without it just "a tad" sharper ( about 5%) at 300mm.
The main reason I need it is for going on safari to Botswana in August. I needed a longer zoom than the 70-200/2.8 AFS VR , which is ok for animals but not for birds.
In Sydney I photograph from hides a lot so the ability to zoom is also useful as I use the Nikon V1/V2 ( due to the silent shooting) and I need to be able to zoom from wrens to doves at 6 meters.
If I could only have one though I would choose the new zoom. It's very versatile and the nano coating gives it a nice color. I have a Nikon polarizer for it too but I haven't used it yet.
Neil.

Neil · Jun 20, 2013

There were about 70 cattle egrets out on the mudflats feeding on "planthoppers"( I thought they were moths) but they were about 40-80 meters away from the hide so I put the V2 on the zoom. I used the window ledge of the hide as a rest but also had VR on.
The group flight shot was with the D800
Neil.
ps the exif shows 1080 mm at full zoom with the V2

JPAC · Jun 21, 2013

The photos do look sharp. One thing putting me off that new zoom right right now (besides the high price) is the rumours of a 200-500mm f4-5.6 zoom. That with a TC14 and a D400 would be ideal for me. Fairly lightweight, AF and effectively 1050mm f8 at 24MP?

Frogfish · Jun 21, 2013

JPAC said:
The photos do look sharp. One thing putting me off that new zoom right right now (besides the high price) is the rumours of a 200-500mm f4-5.6 zoom. That with a TC14 and a D400 would be ideal for me. Fairly lightweight, AF and effectively 1050mm f8 at 24MP?

Life's too short to wait around on rumours. Look at those re. 7DII, D400, Pentax FF and so on. Even if there is an announcement then it would still be for next year (for the early adopters willing to pay top dollar on initial launch).

Neil · Jun 21, 2013

JPAC said:
The photos do look sharp. One thing putting me off that new zoom right right now (besides the high price) is the rumours of a 200-500mm f4-5.6 zoom. That with a TC14 and a D400 would be ideal for me. Fairly lightweight, AF and effectively 1050mm f8 at 24MP?

If that rumour is true then that lens could even be more expensive. I'm also not sure that a 2.1x zoom is very useful. I'm liking the 80-400 range.
I'm hoping that the V3 will come out with the Sony 1 inch sensor that's in the RX100. 20 megs with a 2.7x crop.
Neil.

jascha777 · Jun 23, 2013

hi Neil.
i'm also very impressed with this new zoom and have just got back from yellowstone where I had the chance to try it with the D7100.All shots are with the additional 1.3 crop. However i must add that the first copy I got was not so good and I struggled to get any decent shots with it-dropped in transit possibly?-but Mathers of lancashire replaced it without question and the new copy is superb!
Dont think I'll be selling the 300 f4 though.
Broad-tailed Hummer . Lazuli Bunting . Macgillivray's warbler . Lincoln's sparrow . Camberwell Beauty aka Mourning Cloak.
Best wishes,
Mark

Jon Taverner · Jun 23, 2013

Looking at the quality of those shots, I wish I'd done what you did and returned my lens to Mathers for a replacement rather than sell it as I very seldom got images that detailed. Up until my experience I was always sceptical about those who talked about 'bad copies' but now I have no doubt. When one is spending £2000+ on a lens, one would expect it have been through a rigorous checking process before being offered for sale.
The Hoopoe on my site was one of the few shots I got with the lens that I was happy with considering the lighting conditions and distance. It might be of interest to someone that the first Stonechat shot was taken with the 300f4 plus 2x converter.

http://s981.photobucket.com/user/JonTaverner/library/?sort=6&page=1

jascha777 · Jun 23, 2013

Hi Jon,
Hoopoe shot looks great,Stonechat shot makes we want the 2x!
With my first copy I must have taken well over 300 shots,directly comparing
results with the 300 f4 plus 1.4 and not one image even remotely compared to
the prime with converter,however the new copy is slightly better than prime plus
1.4 and really not that far off bare prime. I've had this experience with spotting
scopes as well-being a bird guide I get to look through a lot of scopes and the differences between copies of high end scopes-Swaro,Leica,kowa et al is really quite staggering-
motto being always try before you buy!

Best wishes,
Mark

Neil · Jun 23, 2013

jascha777 said:
hi Neil.
i'm also very impressed with this new zoom and have just got back from yellowstone where I had the chance to try it with the D7100.All shots are with the additional 1.3 crop. However i must add that the first copy I got was not so good and I struggled to get any decent shots with it-dropped in transit possibly?-but Mathers of lancashire replaced it without question and the new copy is superb!
Dont think I'll be selling the 300 f4 though.
Broad-tailed Hummer . Lazuli Bunting . Macgillivray's warbler . Lincoln's sparrow . Camberwell Beauty aka Mourning Cloak.
Best wishes,
Mark

Mark,
These look wonderful to me. Lucky you. I think that seals it for this lens. It's a keeper.
I'm heading down to Sydney tomorrow to shoot honeyeaters , so I hope to have some to show next week.
I'll try the teleconverter too.
Neil

Frogfish · Jun 24, 2013

jascha777 said:
hi Neil.
i'm also very impressed with this new zoom and have just got back from yellowstone where I had the chance to try it with the D7100.All shots are with the additional 1.3 crop. However i must add that the first copy I got was not so good and I struggled to get any decent shots with it-dropped in transit possibly?-but Mathers of lancashire replaced it without question and the new copy is superb!
Dont think I'll be selling the 300 f4 though.
Broad-tailed Hummer . Lazuli Bunting . Macgillivray's warbler . Lincoln's sparrow . Camberwell Beauty aka Mourning Cloak.
Best wishes,
Mark

Those are really nice shots Mark - especially the Hummer.

However distance to subject is always a major impact on the IQ of bird detail (people nearly always shoot Hummers at between 2 & 10m) so the first question to ask here is how far you were from each of those subjects shown ? Were you shooting handheld or on a mono / tripod ?

Why wouldn't you sell the 300/4 ? What convinces you to keep it ?

Thanks
Kevin

jascha777 · Jun 24, 2013

Neil,
I have to agree-a keeper.
In our quest for reach/weight/quality I think this is a significant lens from Nikon-particulary with the potential with the V series of cameras.There has been a lot of debate regarding the price of this lens and as a dedicated fan of the 300 f4 plus 1.4
I too initially baulked at the price-HOWEVER, now that I have had a chance to use the lens I feel that it really does represent good value for money - does anyone think the Canon 100-400 replacement will be much cheaper?- Anyway,looking forward to seeing your results in the near future.
All the best,

Mark

jascha777 · Jun 24, 2013

Kevin,
of course you are quite correct that I was fairly close to the Hummer and Butterfly-but the other three pics are the result of fairly large crops.
All shots are handheld with VR-although light wasnt really an issue-it is here in Scotland however!
Regarding the 300 f4- I really enjoy butterfly photography and havn't found a lens that solves the quality/distance from subject problem quite as well - plus to be honest I really dont think I would get what its worth!
Cheers,
Mark

Frogfish · Jun 24, 2013

Thanks for the response Mark. In Scotland the new 300/1.2 will be perfect for you

I'm very impressed with the AF-S NIKKOR 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6 G ED VR (1 Viewer)

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