Nikkor 200-500

[bulldurham]

I have no idea where Pond guy is getting his images from, but I think Derrel is completely on the spot as to his intentions. These four images taken at either 5.6 or 8 at 1/1250 should be enough to dispel the notion the 200-500 is a POS as Pond intones. As to having the Sigma Sport over this lens, I'd strongly suggest you try both out first. The sigma is a beast to carry around...not that the 200-500 is a lot lighter, but enough so that it is easily carried for twice to three times as long as the sigma with minuscule differences in shot quality.

Brown Thrasher

Limkin

Osprey

Another Osprey

 

[jcdeboever]

I have no idea where Pond guy is getting his images from, but I think Derrel is completely on the spot as to his intentions. These four images taken at either 5.6 or 8 at 1/1250 should be enough to dispel the notion the 200-500 is a POS as Pond intones. As to having the Sigma Sport over this lens, I'd strongly suggest you try both out first. The sigma is a beast to carry around...not that the 200-500 is a lot lighter, but enough so that it is easily carried for twice to three times as long as the sigma with minuscule differences in shot quality.

Brown Thrasher

View attachment 120757

Limkin

View attachment 120758

Osprey

View attachment 120759

Another Osprey

View attachment 120760

Those are great. One thing I noticed with these big zooms is that there is a big learning curve for noobs like me. Granted, mine (150-600 C) was kind of botched out of the box. However, now working correctly, I find it a steep learning curve. You have loads of experience and it shows. Additionally, the learning curve is drawn out longer because guys like me do not have a lot of time to practice. You may be surprised but I take a lot of notes from guys using these long zooms and it helps but gaining ground is slow and tedious.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

[bulldurham]

Make sure your infinity controller on the lens body is set for 8 or 15m (not sure which it is on the 150-600) to infinity so you get a faster focus lock. Do not put it on FULL.

 

[gckless]

Make sure your infinity controller on the lens body is set for 8 or 15m (not sure which it is on the 150-600) to infinity so you get a faster focus lock. Do not put it on FULL.

I can vouch this definitely improves AF speed. I had mine out for the first time this weekend and forgot to flip the switch at first, the difference is noticeable. I found AF speed good, never experienced any hunting at all and tracking cars on track was smooth. Never missed a focus point I had selected, never had a "what the hell was I focused on" moment reviewing the photos. The zoom ring range can be a problem, going from 200-500 is not a one-grip maneuver if you don't grip it far enough from the beginning. I found it plenty sharp when good technique is practiced, but it's no substitute for more expensive primes. Overall, I'm happy with it. I did have it on a monopod, I was out there for about 6 hours, but I think hand-holding this for a couple hours with a quick break or two wouldn't be out of the question.

I'm not sure if it was just because of the heat waves/air quality or not, but I found some of my photos at long focal lengths somewhat weird looking and soft. I do think it was probably the heat waves from the way it looked. I'll try to remember to upload it later so you guys can take a look, as I did get some clean long shots.

 

[jcdeboever]

Make sure your infinity controller on the lens body is set for 8 or 15m (not sure which it is on the 150-600) to infinity so you get a faster focus lock. Do not put it on FULL.

Yes sir, @astroNikon and I figured this out when we were shooting in a snow blizzard... It's 10mm to ∞ on the Sigma

 

[astroNikon]

Make sure your infinity controller on the lens body is set for 8 or 15m (not sure which it is on the 150-600) to infinity so you get a faster focus lock. Do not put it on FULL.

Yes sir, @astroNikon and I figured this out when we were shooting in a snow blizzard... It's 10mm to ∞ on the Sigma

That switch reminds me of some other lenses I have. My 300/4 had a Limited/Full switch. On limited when it went to refocus it would use the entire focus turn to refocus. On Limited it would jump to the closest minimal focus .. so to say. I have the switch on other lenses too and I keep them all on Limited including my Tamron 150-600 I keep on 15-infinity. Unless I'm doing more "up close" work then I go on FULL.

 

[JacaRanda]

Make sure your infinity controller on the lens body is set for 8 or 15m (not sure which it is on the 150-600) to infinity so you get a faster focus lock. Do not put it on FULL.

Yes sir, @astroNikon and I figured this out when we were shooting in a snow blizzard... It's 10mm to ∞ on the Sigma

That switch reminds me of some other lenses I have. My 300/4 had a Limited/Full switch. On limited when it went to refocus it would use the entire focus turn to refocus. On Limited it would jump to the closest minimal focus .. so to say. I have the switch on other lenses too and I keep them all on Limited including my Tamron 150-600 I keep on 15-infinity. Unless I'm doing more "up close" work then I go on FULL.

I switch mine back and forth. Many birds most often take off into the wind to obtain lift easier. There are times that I am able to position myself with the wind at my back so the birds will take off towards me. Having the limiter on has caused me to miss a good deal of shots with birds coming towards me (inside of the 15 meters).

As always, use what works best or most for each situation. When I remember, I like to start out with my switch in zero to infinity because in many cases what I shoot is within 15 meters. The difference in AF speed from zero to forever versus 15 meters to forever is less important to me. (not as easy to switch anymore with the neoprene cover over the lens).

 

[gckless]

So here are a few examples. Keep in mind these are straight out of camera, not edited, and at "normal" JPEG quality (versus "fine" from camera), so they are a tiny bit softer than they could be.

f/5.6, 500mm, 1/1600, ISO320
DSC_7473 by Gilbert Kless, on Flickr

f/7.1, 500mm, 1/250, ISO100
DSC_7457 by Gilbert Kless, on Flickr

f/6.3, 500mm, 1/2000, ISO500
DSC_7393 by Gilbert Kless, on Flickr

f/5.6, 500mm, 1/4000, ISO320
DSC_8448 by Gilbert Kless, on Flickr

That last one is what I was talking about talking about with the heat.

 

[gckless]

Had the lens out again this weekend at the Ferrari Challenge, I find it a touch soft at 500mm wide open. Have to stop down to f/8 or so to get really clean shots. Or maybe it's my technique at that length? Anyway, here's one of my favorites:

f/6.3, 500mm, 1/1250, ISO560


This is straight out of camera, fine JPEG from a D7200.

 

[dannylightning]

Had the lens out again this weekend at the Ferrari Challenge, I find it a touch soft at 500mm wide open. Have to stop down to f/8 or so to get really clean shots. Or maybe it's my technique at that length? Anyway, here's one of my favorites:

f/6.3, 500mm, 1/1250, ISO560


This is straight out of camera, fine JPEG from a D7200.

nice. looks good.