Photographylife's 80-400 af-s review up

I have to say that Nikon's recent string of lenses are all excellent and the best available at their respective purpose, budget and FL. Nikon knew full well that people were going to be using these lenses at 24 and 36MP and that fuzzy wasn't going to cut it. The 80-400 soundly thumps the Bigma or any prime plus t.c. anywhere near the price. If you can't get a sharp shot with it, and I mean really sharp with any late model Nikon the fault lies behind the camera.

Do you own one?

No, but as I mentioned above, I have rented one for 5 days from Lensrentals for Florida birds and it was superb. Out of this world detail with the "e," poppin' nano-coated microcontast, 90 percent keeper rate for autofocus on varied subjects, great VR, everything you'd want in a mid tele and then some. I've used most of the big guns and the 80-400VR is right there in every respect except wide f stop which I never use anyway. Subject isolation is just fine at f 5.6-f8/400mm on FX. I know you returned yours, Al, and maybe are still feeling raw about it, but it might be time for a reset, given the number of superb pics that many have posted here and elsewhere.

Regarding price, I can rent a fancy lens for a hundred days for what it costs to own one, so that is what I'll do for a while. Some of you are complaining about the price, and I have to ask, how important is your photography to you that you can't come up with 30 bucks a day to shoot long in style? I know for sure anything else I've ever used between 80 and 400mm is either superfluous or a step down by comparison for what I shoot.

Photo Pete said:

Photo Pete wrote:

Strange about the two stop effectiveness of image stabilisation at 400mm. I don't hesitate to shoot at 1/30th of a second at 400mm with this lens and the results are superb.

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1/30 at 400mm hand-held is truly extraordinary. Would you mind sharing a couple of example shots? Thank you!

Jane79 said:

Jane79 said:

Photo Pete wrote:

Strange about the two stop effectiveness of image stabilisation at 400mm. I don't hesitate to shoot at 1/30th of a second at 400mm with this lens and the results are superb.

Click to expand...

1/30 at 400mm hand-held is truly extraordinary. Would you mind sharing a couple of example shots? Thank you!

Click to expand...

See the post I made a little while ago. The shot of the CD case was 1/20th second at 400mm. This is very typical.


A very boring shot, but it serves its purpose as an illustration of VR effectiveness.
--
Have Fun
Photo Pete

Reilly Diefenbach said:

Reilly Diefenbach wrote:

No, but as I mentioned above, I have rented one for 5 days from Lensrentals for Florida birds and it was superb. Out of this world detail with the "e," poppin' nano-coated microcontast, 90 percent keeper rate for autofocus on varied subjects, great VR, everything you'd want in a mid tele and then some. I've used most of the big guns and the 80-400VR is right there in every respect except wide f stop which I never use anyway. Subject isolation is just fine at f 5.6-f8/400mm on FX. I know you returned yours, Al, and maybe are still feeling raw about it, but it might be time for a reset, given the number of superb pics that many have posted here and elsewhere.

Regarding price, I can rent a fancy lens for a hundred days for what it costs to own one, so that is what I'll do for a while. Some of you are complaining about the price, and I have to ask, how important is your photography to you that you can't come up with 30 bucks a day to shoot long in style? I know for sure anything else I've ever used between 80 and 400mm is either superfluous or a step down by comparison for what I shoot.

Click to expand...

Yes, I agree with this, renting is probably the way to go for those of us who aren't sure about purchasing the lens given the mixed reviews and experiences. I am planning to try one from a local rental location sometime this summer.

Jon

Photo Pete said:

Photo Pete wrote:

Photo Pete said:

Photo Pete said:

Photo Pete wrote:
Strange about the two stop effectiveness of image stabilisation at 400mm. I don't hesitate to shoot at 1/30th of a second at 400mm with this lens and the results are superb.

Click to expand...

1/30 at 400mm hand-held is truly extraordinary. Would you mind sharing a couple of example shots? Thank you!

Click to expand...

See the post I made a little while ago. The shot of the CD case was 1/20th second at 400mm. This is very typical.

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/51401022

A very boring shot, but it serves its purpose as an illustration of VR effectiveness.
--
Have Fun
Photo Pete

Click to expand...

Thank you!

BTW, the Kirk tripod collars are now shipping. I received mine and it's superb. It is a breeze to loosen/tighten/rotate, and it does not have to be very tight to lock down. The knob is plenty large and comfortable too.... thank you. Also it has a small, unobtrusive brace that supports the front area of the lens. I don't notice that part at all in use and the foot already has the Arca type male dovetail built in.

I liked this review for its comprehensive lab testing but the findings differ from my experience with images taken in the field handheld or on monopods where a whole different set of parameters exert themselves. i have a 300f4 and TC's and in the field I get more keepers with the new 80-400. With the D800 or D7100 It is useful in low light as well as well lit high speed situations, but more importantly it is a joy to carry around a lightweight, highly flexible, sharp wide open lens with good VR and superb autofocus.

I was in the Farne Islands this week photographing Atlantic puffins flying in various directions at around 40mph. Keeper rate was over 80%. Because of the light weight I could have kept this going all day, but actually I had what I wanted within 30 minutes. Immediately after I was shooting terns attacking people at 15 feet with the same lens. The next day picking out a marauding kestrel in a flock of angry terns at 100 metres. So versatile.

I also have a 300 f2.8vr and 500 f4vr which I use with the D800 but I have to admit that the D7100 80-400vr afs combination has been such a pleasure to use that I have left these others behind in the last month or so. I'm just amazed at it's versatility.

For anyone wondering what the lens can be used for in bird photography the D7100 flickr gallery at my signature below has many recent examples.

i own the 300f4 and 1.4tc 1.7tc 2xtc and all worked great in good light but because i shoot in low light for bird at a bird bath near home in the bush you need to shoot in manual mode+flash and tc do not like low light i went for the sigma 500f4.5 and would not need a tc and use it with a d7100 and works great combo and have a friend that just got the 80-400 and love it before that she used 120-400 sigma but felt she could not match me with sharpness or bokem but feels she is on a level playing field i still have the 300f4 and use it for BIF as the 500 is to heavy for me to hand hold i look forward to the new 300f4vr but not willing to pay $3,000 for it

Anyone that want to see what this lens is capable of should review this wide selection of shots with the lens:

LINK

I don't even read his reviews anymore. Seeing his comments on the Sigma 35 and his review of the 58 f1.4 Nikkor I've decide He's such a Nikon fanboy you can never expect him to say a bad thing so long as it has a Nikon badge.

3LPC Photography said:

I don't even read his reviews anymore. Seeing his comments on the Sigma 35 and his review of the 58 f1.4 Nikkor I've decide He's such a Nikon fanboy you can never expect him to say a bad thing so long as it has a Nikon badge.

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I don't really know why you say this.

He gives the Sigma 35 f1.4 a glowing review if you read his summary. Quote from his summary

"As you can see from this review, the Sigma 35mm f/1.4 is optically astonishing. Its center performance at the maximum aperture of f/1.4 reaches such high numbers that many other lenses cannot even get to when stopped down to f/8! It has very fast and accurate autofocus, practically no distortion, little chromatic aberration and has superb color rendition that seriously rivals expensive and exotic lenses. On top of that, it is built extremely well with its metal construction and it handles similarly to the Nikon 35mm f/1.4G (which was my favorite 35mm lens before the Sigma)."

He even states: "On top of that, it is built extremely well with its metal construction and it handles similarly to the Nikon 35mm f/1.4G (which was my favorite 35mm lens before the Sigma)."

So, his old favourite 35mm was the Nikon, but now is the Sigma! Hardly someone that is not impressed with the lens!

I have the Sigma and the Nikon and I have to say that his review is very accurate. I too like the Sigma more than the Nikon.

The Nikon80-400 also gets a few well directed barbs and doesn't give it a full glowing review that you seem to think that a "Nikon Fan Boy" would. Another quote:

"With all these advantages, the Nikon 80-400mm also has some flaws. First, while its autofocus performance is excellent, autofocus accuracy can be iffy in some situations (I covered this in detail on page 2). In short, the lens sometimes hesitates / chatters when autofocus is continuously engaged, going back and forth in small steps, as if is unsure if focus is properly acquired. This behavior is not very noticeable at short focal lengths, but it does occur at 300mm and longer, similar to what you see on lenses like Nikon 70-300mm VR. Second, although Nikon redesigned the tripod foot, it is still very unstable for long focal lengths. Third, although you can attach any Nikon TC to the lens, they all seem to impact lens sharpness and contrast significantly.

At its current price of $2,699, I struggle to see good value with this lens. Yes, it is better than any other zoom lens in its class overall, but lenses like Sigma 50-500mm OS typically go for almost twice less that amount and give you a much better value."

I also own this lens and as great as it is, his criticisms are spot on, as are his praises. It is an excellent lens but for the almost $3,000 price tag it would want to be.

As for the Nikon 58 f1.4G. It is a little difficult to sum up his thoughts but he does go on to explain why it doesn't measure up on the test bed and that can be said for many an exotic lens designed for a specific purpose. Much of these attributes are really not quantifiable through test shots of resolution charts and need to be shown in a photo. He does a good job of demonstrating these attributes with some excellent photos, IMO.

Really, you should be able to read between the lines with any of these reviews. I think Nasim does an excellent job with his reviews and for mine he is basically spot on with nearly all of his observations. No, I don't think he always gets it right, but then who does?

Hi Lance,

I eat my words in regards to my previous post. I think I mixed up a review. Though I will stand by my comment that he is far to easy on teh 58.

3LPC Photography said:

Hi Lance,

I eat my words in regards to my previous post. I think I mixed up a review. Though I will stand by my comment that he is far to easy on teh 58.

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Fair enough. I can't argue with that.