Nikon AF-S FX NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED Vibration Reduction Zoom Lens with Auto Focus for Nikon DSLR Cameras

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If you want to do serious wildlife photography, "big glass" is inevitable. But the price of a 500mm or 600mm prime lens can set you back half the price of a new car! The Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6 E ED VR is a serious prosumer "budget" solution for those who cant justify such a massive cash setback - and even for many who could. Once you get used to steadying it and using your camera with it, it really can resolve almost to the pixel level - even wide open at 500mm, even hand-held. I already have several bird pictures where the tiniest feather details are crisp and clean at 100%, and I am by no means an expert at wielding this thing yet! Focus with my D810 was dead-on to where I was aiming; I found the hardest part to be the aiming bit - at 500mm and f/5.6, you dont have a lot of leeway on depth-of-field. The silent wave motor and vibration reduction are truly silent; unless youre looking through the viewfinder, you wont know either is operating. Out-of-focus backgrounds are largely smooth and clean, not harsh; color and contrast expose fine gradations and subtlety. Of course, this *isnt* a five-figure super-prime lens. It doesnt have the latest nano-coating for flare protection; because its an externally extending zoom, it doesnt have the environmental protection of Nikons most rugged lenses; as many reviewers note, the zoom ring has a *lot* of travel between 200mm and 500mm; auto-focus, while sufficient for most wildlife and for focus tracking, does not instantly acquire its target; and its an f/5.6, not an f/4, so you have to bump up the ISO an extra step in poor lighting. But these are minor compromises for a major cost reduction, without sacrificing a lot of sharpness. It handily beats out my old 80-400mm ED VR in every measure, and in my opinion also bests the newer 80-400mm G VR-II that I rented from BorrowLens last year. Ill finish off with a few more personal observations. First and most important, it doesnt fit in any camera bag I own, nor many that I could find in my local camera store; I had to buy an Ape Case ACPROLC18 from Amazon just to have something to protect it and carry it around in - the dust cover that comes with it is frighteningly thin. Second, unlike some reviewers, I dont have any problem with the lens hood; it locks on great when following the alignment symbols, though I do not feel a lock when its reversed for storage. Third, I found my camera with this lens had a tendency to under-expose in difficult lighting (backlight, haze); Ive had the camera set to a full +1.0 stop exposure compensation for many of my early experiences, but set to normal in good light. Fourth, 95mm is not a universal filter size; B+H does not list its latest nano-coated filter for this size lens, for example. Lastly, I will re-iterate: this is a big lens, and it takes practice to hold it and use it properly. Until you get the hang of it, there will be a lot of blurry shots; before you give up on it, take some extra time to verify the problem isnt behind the camera rather than in front of it, learn the ins and outs of the lens, and if necessary take the time to micro-adjust the focus. Nikon really hit it out of the park with the 200-500mm f/5.6 E ED VR. Tack sharp and sufficiently fast in use, it will be on my camera for many future wildlife adventures.

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This is a great lens and I am happy with my purchase. I bought this lens to replace my Nikon 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6. The Nikon 55-300mm gave me great results, but the Nikon 200-500mm takes things to a whole other level. The 200-500 allows me to photograph birds better because at 500mm, I am standing far enough away that they are not frightened of me, so they sit there longer and do not fly off right away. The 55-300mm started to lose a lot of sharpness past 270mm, but the 200-500mm is sharp all the way out to 500mm and the 200-500mm focuses almost silently. If you have the money to afford this lens, I strongly recommend you buy it, it will open up a whole new world of possibilities. I use this lens with my DX body Nikon D5200 and it works great and allows full use of autofocus features.

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As a person that enjoys photographing birds I have been waiting for this lens for many years. I have been using the Nikon 300 f4 for years with a 1.4 to shoot birds but it was never flexible enough for me. This lens focuses very quickly and Ive found it to have great picture quality. Having the VR function is very helpful for handheld shooting is awesome. Ive been eagle hunting to get some good pictures for the past two weeks but for some reason they are all hiding on me now. I am just thrilled at the potential of this on my D7100. The only issue, that was not a surprise is it is heavy. I actually pulled a muscle in my neck while out shooting with this monster. Bring a tripod or monopod while using it. If for no other reason to get the weight off your neck. Oh and the reason I finally pulled the trigger on buying it now was the free filter, these are BIG filters and starting around $125 so that was a great discount. Thanks Amason.

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I took me a while to justify getting this but I finally caved. I mainly to wildlife/birds and without getting into crazy Prime lenses, this is it. It is heavy but that comes with the territory. It is super sharp at max zoom which is awesome. If I had to nit pick the one thing that is hard to get used to is that twisting to zoom on this can take like 3 regrips to from min to max zoom. I usually just grab the front near the hood attachment and push it out to zoom when I need to get something really fast. This is to be expected though when you want a lense from 200-500mm. this is priced fair in comparison to Sigmas and Tamerons and while I do not own those, I have gotten to shoot with them and really do believe this lense does perform better. My main target is flying birds, especially raptors and after having this I could never go back to something smaller. As with any Camera gear purchase, do your research, a big lense is not always better, it all depends on what will use it for. For the regular photographer, this is not something they really need, If are really into wild animals or other things that require a lot of magnification , this is something to consider.

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Ive been using the 200-500mm on my D7200 for all my nature photography and on a crop sensor I am getting a 750mm all out from this lens; Its all Ive herd and read on reviews well worth it. Ive been using my D7200 sensor on 1.3X factor in order to step up my FPS and increase the focus speed of the lens. This lens has a lot of glass although well worth it its a bit slower in locking on focus Compared to my FX-70-300mm but still well worth it and more. Its 4 lb 9.8 oz so if your a free hand photographer like me be ready for the weight. Chromatic aberration? None that I have seen so far and I am getting some sharp Images as well. This is a tough sturdy well made lens No joke! nothing flimsy about this Nikkor and NO lens creep. It came in Nikon boxing with lens hood and I got a five (5) warranty for registering it with in ten days of purchase Although Amazon will offer its own warranty before closing the Order.

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First the delivery : fast but the Nikon box looked like ... used (loose opening, inside parts not tight - I know Nikon well, everything inside is pretty tight when new), so no 5 stars. Whatever ... the content (lense, accessories) are ok though. The lense : very good surprise. All along the range its tack sharp with my D5. The barrel is wide (so.. quick zoom full ramge is a bit tricky) and extend (no good for the dust but, yah, I knew it). The 200-500 is surprisingly portable and shooting without tripod will be no problem (even if the cam + lens is around 8.8 lbs). VR is very good. Zoom is quick without being stunningly fast. Ill update the review and plan to use it for fast sports, in the dust. But Nikon really made a good job, in keeping all that glass, at a pretty good aperture for the range, in a quite lightweight package and mostly for a very useful range (per comparison the 70x200 + TCIII starts at 5.6 too and the 70-200 F4 + TCIII at F6 ! ... for a maximum reach of 400mm).

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This Nikon 200-500mm lens fits a special niche to complement my assortment of other shorter telephotos. For the price, the lens sharpness is on par with much more expensive prime telephotos. The constant f/5.6 aperture is great when zooming out to 500mm without losing another stop of light and slower shutter speeds, especially for outdoor sports or birding. The autofocus is very fast and VR gives you ~4 extra stops extra performance in lower light situations and hand holding. The lens hood is huge and I was able to narrow down to an Ape Case lens case to fit both the lens and reversed lens hood. Many other cases just fit the lens but not with the hood. I permanently store this lens in the lens case along with the Nikon lens bag. A 95mm protective filter is not the cheapest filter out there, but cheap insurance to have one. Another needed aftermarket purchase is a sturdy ~70mm length arca plate. This will save you from needing to spend another $200+ on a replacement collar/foot combination from RRS or Kirk. The arca plate screws into the original collar and can be used with a monopod or tripod. My greatest long distance photos were from the once in a lifetime super blood blue moon. I shot this mounted on a tripod and using a remote trigger in mirror up position to minimize shutter and mirror vibrations. Recently I purchased a 1.4 teleconverter for my 70-200mm f/2.8g lens. It can also be used on this lens too for an effective 700mm at f/6.3. If you are considering this lens, do consider if you need something wider as <100mm.. If so then a 80-400mm would be my 2nd choice. But if starting at 200mm is a needed minimum, then this 200-500mm is the best price performance without adding another digit to the price tag.

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Super lens! I am 511" and 210lbs and I can hand hold this without too much difficulty. I attached three photos - sunset, full moon, and iguana - all handheld at full zoom. In the sunset, the trees in the foreground are about 2500 away; the bridge is about 3.5 miles away; and we all know how far away the sun is. The iguana is about 200away and I did crop the photo. I using it on a Nikon D5100.

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One of the reasons I buy from Amazon - no, Im not a shill - is its seamless return policy. Id only used it once, when I returned an 18-300mm lens that Id bought for my D7100 because it wasnt substantially better than my 18-140mm kit lens. By allowing me to do that, though, I was able to buy a 70-200mm f/2.8 that changed my photography life. Amazon has its reasons. Fast forward. I now shoot with a D750. The 70-200 - and the 14-24mm and 24-70mm - are still my reference. A week before the 200-500mm was delivered I shot a series with the 70-200mm coupled with a TC-20e 2X extender: Very good, but the degradation at 400mm was obvious. Still, when I received the 200-500 I unpacked carefully, and saved the packaging. If the IQ wasnt going to be substantially better than what I had, I was going to send it back. In fact, I assumed Id do so. I just threw the packaging away. 1. Image quality is almost - not quite, but almost - up with the Nikon pro zooms. Color, excellent, bokeh, beautiful and smooth. 2. VR is as advertised: 4.5 stops. Stunning. 3. Auto focus is slower than the other pro lenses, but accurate. Fast enough to capture an eagle leaving its nest at 300 yards. 4. With a body that handles noise well - I love the D750 - its easy to shoot at even ISO 1600 and crank the shutter speed up to 1/4000 to get the in-flight bird shots we all love. Bottom line: Fabulous. Way better than expected. The holy trinity, for me, has become the holy quartet...

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Love this lens.. upgraded from a Nikon 300mm f4 after the motor died. This lens is just as sharp if not sharper. Focus is faster than my 300mm with 1.4tc attached. Love love having Vr.

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