Nikon 200-400Mm F4G Af-S Vr If-Ed Zoom-Nikkor

Product Information

Personally, I sold my 200-400mm f/4 and use the 200-500mm f/5.6 when I need a good telephoto zoom, as I’m often dealing with distant subjects. But that loss of a stop is something that you might not be able to tolerate, even given how good the higher ISO results are with recent cameras. If I were mostly shooting sports where I had good sideline access, I probably would have kept the 200-400mm; the 200-500mm isn’t a good substitute for that type of usage, in my opinion. So knowing what I know now would I buy this lens again? Absolutely, yes. For me its been a great addition to my collection as I think it would be to anyones. The optics are incredible even wide open at 400mm and it is more than usable with a TC attached if you really need that extra reach and have reasonable light. If you shoot larger birds, animals or sporting events then I wouldn’t hesitate for a second in recommending this lens as the ability to zoom can be a life saver at times and the VR, whilst no good at freezing fast action, can sometimes give you that little advantage you need when shooting slow targets in low light. I’ve shot wildlife, people and even panoramic images with this lens so it truly is a versatile bit of kit! Indeed, using this lens was one of the ways I first noticed the gaps in the D2 series autofocus system. When my subject was dead on one of the T sensors or covered multiple sensors, the lens was snappy fast. When my subject was small and landed in or near the dead zone between sensor coverage, autofocus performance suddenly lagged. What about sharpness differences? While I provide much more detailed sharpness comparisons later in the review, take a look at the Nikon-provided MTF charts for both lenses. Here are the two lenses compared at their wide focal length (180mm and 200mm):

The tripod collar is an integral component of the lens and cannot be removed. The tripod foot itself can be unbolted from the tripod ring, and Canon supplies two different sized tripod feet. While the feet are fine and well made, I personally prefer to replace the Canon supplied ones with a third-party lens foot that has an integrated dovetail built-in, allowing for a much lower profile.

Once you get to use the lens for a while, it doesn't seem quite so huge, but it is heavy. At 56 years old, I'm not up to using this handheld for more than a few minutes, so for me a monopod is a must-have companion.

Finally, the newest version of the lens was tested directly against my old copy, using the same support setup, body, and targets for testing. This pattern has repeated and gotten more reliably seen as the sensor resolution has gone up. I wouldn’t be happy with the 200-400mm f/4 on a D810 at long distances. Sure, you may stop down from time to time, but to get those fast shutter speeds for action and shallow depth-of-field to isolate the subject, you’re shooting wide open. the manual focus super telephotos. This is very handy when you want to focus on a set point, like a nest, shoreline, infinity, or home plate, just by tapping a button.

Sell or trade used photo and video kit with MPB

Basically, my initial impression was right, but there were camera components that intrude and made it tougher to get a clear handle on the problem. Put simply: at very long distances (300 feet or longer) the lens performs clearly less well than at shorter distances. Note that this implies something for teleconverter use, too, as you generally are using teleconverters for more distant subjects.

Light falloff: There's noticeable corner vignetting wide open, which is mostly gone by f/8. Generally, I haven't found the vignetting to be a problem. The type of subjects you'd usually shoot with this lens actually benefit a bit from the darker corners at f/4. I am considering the VR2 version so I guess that would focus much faster even with the TC14 than the 200-500. One variable that some people using these lenses aren't aware of is simply surface heat. When you're shooting and the ground heats up, you get heat waves that can interfere with light waves and impact optical performance, especially on more distant objects where there are more heat waves to shoot through. Because one of the things that I was experiencing was far focus problems, I had to rule out heat waves, which isn't an easy thing to do, as it turns out. Even shooting in winter doesn't always absolve you of this issue—I've seen heat waves coming off roads in the sun when the ambient temperature was below zero. When people herd it was that lens, they suddenly thought it was the lens, and not Art Wolfe, who made the pictures great, and people started looking for these again. I find my far smaller, lighter and less expensive 80-400mm VR far more convenient for carrying around, as well as having a wider zoom range.Bokeh: There's just a teeny bit of complexity to the out-of-focus areas at smaller than the maximum aperture that keeps me from saying the bokeh is excellent. I'm not sure where that's coming from, as the lens uses a very well-rounded 9-blade aperture, and there are no real chromatic aberration issues that would cause that. Some of the bokeh complexity may be VR artifacts, as I can see a difference when using VR versus when not using VR. You're really pushing it with the oldest AF cameras like the N2020, N6006 and N8008. No AF, confused exposure modes, and no VR. Manual focus is fine, along with electronic focus indications.

VR On, Off — the main Vibration Reduction switch, controls whether it is operative or not (Vibration reduction is somewhat self cancelling on tripods).All said, the people who buy 200-400mm pro zooms are serious shooters, and this new VR II should be at least as excellent as the original. Chromatic aberration: Very consistent and at very low levels across all the apertures and focal lengths. Surprising for a zoom lens, actually. Those four ED elements are doing their job. I should also report that the 400mm f/5.6 (an AI-S lens) also outperforms the 200-400mm at longer distances in my experience (though not at shorter distances). That's assuming that you can focus it carefully enough, since it is a manual focus lens.